5.6 Upgrading NetStorage

5.6.1 About NetStorage

NetStorage provides secure Web access to files and folders on your OES and NetWare servers. It is a bridge between a company's protected Novell storage network and the Internet. Using a Web browser, your eDirectory users can securely copy, move, rename, delete, read, write, recover, and set trustee assignments for their files from any Internet-attached workstation, anywhere in the world, with nothing to download or install on the workstation.

NetStorage on OES provides local and Web access to files on many systems without requiring the Novell Client (see Figure 5-5).

Figure 5-5 How NetStorage Works on OES

The following table explains the information illustrated in Figure 5-5.

Access Methods	Authentication	NetStorage Server	Target Servers
Users have read and write access to files from Windows Explorer: Is enabled by the HTTP protocol with WebDAV extensions. Browsers: Users can access files directly by connecting to the NetStorage server. PDAs: PDA users with network connections can also access their files. Access is granted through login script drive mapping (NCP server required) or through Storage Location Objects.	File service access is controlled by LDAP-based authentication through the eDirectory LDAP server. Although it is shown separately, eDirectory could be running on the OES server.	The NetStorage server receives and processes connection requests and provides access to storage on various servers on the network.	NetStorage on OES can connect eDirectory users to their files and folders stored in the following locations: The same targets as NetWare if the NCP server is running Windows workgroup shares (CIFS or Samba shares) Linux POSIX volumes through an SSH connection. Linux volumes can also be made available as NCP volumes. Management of NSS volumes on OES through NetStorage requires SSH access to the server. See When Is SSH Access Required? in the OES 2023: Planning and Implementation Guide.

Access Methods

Authentication

NetStorage Server

Target Servers

Users have read and write access to files from

Windows Explorer: Is enabled by the HTTP protocol with WebDAV extensions.
Browsers: Users can access files directly by connecting to the NetStorage server.
PDAs: PDA users with network connections can also access their files.

Access is granted through login script drive mapping (NCP server required) or through Storage Location Objects.

File service access is controlled by LDAP-based authentication through the eDirectory LDAP server.

Although it is shown separately, eDirectory could be running on the OES server.

The NetStorage server receives and processes connection requests and provides access to storage on various servers on the network.

NetStorage on OES can connect eDirectory users to their files and folders stored in the following locations:

The same targets as NetWare if the NCP server is running
Windows workgroup shares (CIFS or Samba shares)
Linux POSIX volumes through an SSH connection.

Linux volumes can also be made available as NCP volumes.

Management of NSS volumes on OES through NetStorage requires SSH access to the server. See When Is SSH Access Required? in the OES 2023: Planning and Implementation Guide.

5.6.2 Platform Differences in NetStorage File Services

Although NetStorage provides the same basic services on NetWare and OES, there are significant configuration differences, most of which are a natural result of the platform differences between NetWare and OES:

Table 5-8 NetStorage Platform Differences

NetWare	OES 2015 SP1
NetWare servers store data on NSS volumes.	OES servers accommodate many different file systems, including NSS.
NetStorage is completely integrated with eDirectory and NetWare.	NetStorage is well integrated with eDirectory and OES.
NetStorage relies heavily on NCP login scripts to provision user access to the storage locations it points to.	NetStorage uses Storage Location Objects to provision storage locations that users access based on their rights.
NetStorage provides automatic Web access for iFolder 2.x when that service is installed on the same server as NetStorage.	An integration with iFolder 3.9 is not needed because the iFolder 3.9 Web Server provides Web access for iFolder users.

Despite these differences, NetStorage on OES is every bit as valuable as NetStorage on NetWare and is well worth the small amount of time required to install and configure it.

5.6.3 NetStorage Is Not Transferred

Because of the differences explained above, it doesn’t make sense to transfer an exact NetStorage configuration from NetWare to OES. Instead, you should move your data by using the Migration Tool, then install and configure NetStorage on the OES2 server.

For most networks, NetStorage needs to be installed on only one server; however, this might vary depending on the size of your network and your organization's needs. For example, if your company is geographically dispersed, you might want to install NetStorage on one server in each geographic region.

NetStorage can also be set up in a clustered environment so that if a NetStorage server goes down, another NetStorage server in the cluster can take over the function of the downed server, and users don't lose access to data.

For more information, see