Network Operating Systems

By Stephen Bucaro

The purpose of a network is to permit users share resources located on other computers and to share peripheral devices such as printers. A network operating system (NOS) is specialized systems software designed to provide networking functionality. Most network operating systems provide the following functions;

1. Permitting connection and access to network resources such as application software, data files, and peripherals.

2. Control access to the network's resources by allowing access to a resource only to users authorized to use the resource.

3. Provide means to configure the networks resources for efficiency and ability to monitor and troubleshoot the network.

The main network operating systems in use today are:

 Various versions of Unix.
 Various versions of Windows.
 Novel Netware.

Novel NetWare

NetWare 3.x used the IPX/SPX protocol suite and lacks a centralized security database. Each NetWare 3.x server maintains its own security database called the "bindery". When a user logs in, the server locates the user's name and password in the binary and reads the account information to determine which resources it will share with the user. To access resources on three different servers, a user needs three separate user accounts.

NetWare 4.x organized user and resource information into a centralized security database called the Novel Directory Service (NDS). Users log into the NDS and are able to access resources anywhere on the network. TCP/IP is supported by "encapsulating" IPX/SPX packets inside TCP/IP packets. This made system performance less efficient by adding an additional layer of protocol.

NetWare 5.x removed the need for encapsulating IPX/SPX by using TCP/IP as its native protocol.

Unix

Bell Laboratories invented the Unix operating system. Bell Labs allowed Universities to modify the operating system for their own use. This resulted in many non-compatible varieties of Unix, including Sun Microsystems Solaris, and IBM's AIX. This fragmentation of the Unix operating system allowed Microsoft's Windows operating system to get a foothold in the network operating system market.

The Unix Network File System (NFS) enables a Unix system to treat files in directories on another Unix computer as though they were local files. The remote directory is "mounted" into the local file system, allowing the files to be shared transparently.