Novell Vs. NT Security

NT4 uses a flat database compared to the tree structure that Netware 4x uses. The tree structure in Novell gives flexibility when you want to assign rights/permissions to areas based on CONTAINER. NT does not have this function.
NT has a group structure, which means you have to add users individually to groups.
To make NT more complex - you have 2 types of groups, Local and Global.
There are other issues - Container login script, Printing, and I'm sure more that the Directory Tree has overNT4.
The other draw back to NT4 is no ability to restrict directory size - careful consideration should be used here since this is your file server. The users could fill up the drive and crash that NT4 server.
I can talk more about it if you'd like. This is only a piece of the careful planning you'd have to do here.
snyderr@exchange1.focushope.edu

While rachel_s answer is correct for NT4 you are probably looking at migrating to 2000 which allows you to get very granular with your security, similar to what you can do with NDS

NT is popular because people have heard of it.

Blue Screens, DLL Hell, Rebooting, etc are MS issues that really have no equivilent in Netware or *nix.

You are absolutely correct that Novells security is better than NTs. Windows 2000 tries to copy NDS, but it does a poor job, and Microsft has decided to leave the bug fix for at least one of the flaws until WinXP.

MS is basically a mediocre solution for every circumstance. It excels at nothing, but a trained monkey could click their way through an install, so it seems cheaper to management.

Your best bet is to install ZENworks (even just the free starter pack that comes with the new clients) MS has nothing that can come close to that, and dollar wise, it will save your companya fortune. That will convince your management to stay with Netware far better than a technical argument that many techs don't even understand (never mind management).

Plan for twice the support to be needed for an NT shop as for a Novell one, simply due to the flat file structure of their users. 2000 is better, there's no doubt, but it still isn't a 10 year old product that wins Best Of awards every time it enters a competition... Look for examples of people usiong MAD. There are none. NDS, on the other hand you already know and use. Why spend money replacing a good solution when the economy is entering a recession?

That's my thoughts...
Kev

Rather than getting into an unsolicited virtual pissing contest regarding which OS is better(YAWN!!!), I think the first issue you need to consider is interoperability between Novell and MS. If you are running a completely Novell environment, I would look for a more pressing reason to introduce NT/2K than security reasons. Would be more problems than it's worth. Novell 5.x which we use (in conjunction with NT 4) has quite a bit of security built into it, and I would be hard pressed to explain why (on a security basis) we should ditch Novell and go with NT/2K. If there is another reason those at work want to switch to NT, you may want to post a follow-up detailing their reasoning.

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