

              NOVELL TECHNICAL INFORMATION DOCUMENT

TITLE:              Major Features of Novell DOS 7
DOCUMENT ID:        014941
DOCUMENT REVISION:  A
DATE:               29MAR94
ALERT STATUS:       Yellow
README FOR:         NA

NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION:
Novell DOS 7

ABSTRACT:

This document discusses the features of Novell DOS 7 that make it
well suited as a workstation operating system on Novell networks.

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DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY.  NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT
OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION.
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ISSUE

     Major Features of Novell DOS 7:

     Why Novell DOS?

     Novell DOS 7 is a fully compatible alternative to MS-DOS. 
     The following features make it well suited as a workstation
     operating system for Novell networks:

          Enhanced memory management that moves the operating
          system, network drivers, and memory-resident programs
          (TSRs) out of conventional memory on all levels of PC
          systems with a 286 or higher processor and extended or
          expanded memory.

          Preemptive multitasking to allow multiple applications
          to be run simultaneously.

          Peer-to-peer networking using the same DOS Requester
          and VLMs for a "common client" with native NetWare.

          A data compression utility that effectively doubles
          storage capacity of the hard disk.

          Disk defragmentation for optimizing disk access.

          A read/write disk cache for better performance of both
          DOS and MS Windows applications.

          An undelete utility that recovers erased files, even on
          network drives.

          Complete on-line reference guide, command help, and
          menu-driven install and setup utilities for easy
          configuration changes.



     How does Novell DOS Work?

     Here are some of the key elements in the structure of Novell
     DOS, as a prelude to discussing how to troubleshoot it.  It
     is beyond the scope of this document to delve deeply into
     the syntaxes and functions of its many powerful components. 
     For a full list of all commands, along with a description,
     and syntax for each, refer to the DOSBOOK online help
     utility.

     Commands

     Novell DOS uses a set of internal and external commands
     similar to MS-DOS commands.  The following standard DOS
     commands have been significantly enhanced in Novell DOS:
     CHKDSK, DISKCOPY, HELP, MEM, REPLACE, UNDELETE, and XCOPY.

     Novell DOS also includes many new commands such as XDIR,
     CURSOR, XDEL, TOUCH, SCRIPT, and RENDIR.  Enter any command
     followed by a /H or /? for a quick list of its available
     parameters.

     SETUP

     SETUP is a full-screen menu utility for changing the Novell
     DOS configuration for all of its features, including the
     networking, memory management, disk utilities, security, and
     task management.  There are pop-up help screens available
     within the setup utility.

     Memory Utilities

     Novell DOS 7 comes with a host of utilities for optimizing
     memory, including full featured memory managers EMM386.EXE
     and HIMEM.SYS, DPMS.EXE, and MEMMAX.EXE.  Novell DOS ships
     with several memory-resident programs that take advantage of
     DOS Protected Mode Services (DPMS) to load much of their
     program code into extended memory, including the disk
     compression and disk cache drivers, file delete tracking,
     peer-to-peer network server, and CD-ROM extension driver. 
     Some of the most common memory management commands are
     described below.

     1.   EMM386.EXE

          EMM386.EXE is a flexible device driver for configuring
          the RAM on 80386 and above systems.  It can configure
          extended memory for both XMS (Extended Memory
          Specification) and EMS (Expanded Memory Specification).
          It can also provide upper and high memory, and moves
          the operating system into high memory.

          With EMM386.EXE loaded, and upper memory available,
          NetWare drivers, other device drivers, and TSRs can be
          loaded into the upper memory blocks (UMBs) between 640
          and 1024 KB.  EMM386 has many options including
          Multitasking support, DOS Protected Mode Interface
          (DPMI) memory support, and support for allocating video
          memory to conventional.

     2.   HIMEM.SYS

          HIMEM.SYS is a device driver used for configuring the


          memory of 80286 systems.  It can also be used on 80386
          systems where the more flexible functionality of
          EMM386.EXE is not necessary.

          HIMEM.SYS configures extended memory for XMS, and moves
          the operating system into high memory.  Some 80286 CPU
          support chips, such as NeAT chips, are used to move
          NetWare drivers, other device drivers, and TSRs into
          upper memory blocks.

          If an 8086, 8088, or 80286 system has a LIM 4.0
          expanded memory driver, HIMEM.SYS can use the page
          frame for moving the operating system.

          HIMEM.SYS also has the ability to load under a
          third-party 386 memory manager, such as QEMM386 or
          386^Max.  When loaded in this manner, it augments the
          other driver by moving the operating system out of
          conventional memory.

     3.   DOS=HIGH, DOS=UMB

          One of these two commands can be used in CONFIG.SYS
          file after the memory manager has been loaded
          (EMM386.EXE) so that the operating system can be loaded
          into high or upper memory, out of the conventional
          memory area.

     4.   LH, HILOAD, DEVICEHIGH

          LH or HILOAD can be used to load TSRs into the upper
          memory blocks.  DEVICEHIGH is used to load device
          drivers in the CONFIG.SYS file into the upper memory
          blocks.  The memory manager must be loaded before these
          commands are used.

     Disk Utilities

     Novell DOS includes a collection of various disk-enhancing
     utilities.  These include data compression (Stacker), disk
     caching (NWCache), file recovery (Diskmap, Delwatch,
     Undelete), and disk optimization (Diskopt).

     Multitasking Utilities

     Novell DOS has the ability to perform Multitasking or task
     switching.  It allows you to load multiple programs into
     memory and easily switch between them.  There is a pull-down
     menu which lists the current tasks that are loaded into
     memory, allows you to switch between them, and to create or
     delete other tasks.

     Multitasking allows several programs to run simultaneously,
     by very rapidly switching between all of the programs
     currently being run.

     Task switching allows only the program in the foreground
     (the currently active program) to run, while other tasks are
     suspended in the background.

     Multitasking requires a 386 processor, while task switching
     can be run on a 286 machine.



     Security

     Several different types of security are available with
     Novell DOS.  The most commonly used is machine security,
     which does not allow the machine to be accessed until a
     password is entered at boot time.  Security does not change
     the operation of the computer or the data in the computer in
     any way.

     Password security allows you to protect certain files or
     directories with passwords.  These files or directories
     cannot be accessed without providing the password.

     Lock is a utility that can be used to lock the machine
     temporarily while you step away from the computer.  It
     requires a password to restore access to the machine.

     NOTE: You cannot use FDISK to delete a partition while
     machine security is enabled.  Security must first be
     disabled through the setup utility.  Then FDISK will be able
     to delete partitions.

     Networking

     Novell DOS includes peer-to-peer networking Personal
     NetWare.  Personal NetWare allows two or more machines to
     share hard disks, CD-ROM drives, and printers.  After using
     appropriate hardware to connect the machines, Novell DOS
     PERSONAL NetWare is easily configured to use that hardware
     to connect the machines in a peer-to-peer type of a network.

     DOSBook and /H

     In addition to the printed documentation that comes with
     Novell DOS, a comprehensive on-line documentation is
     available through the DOSBook utility.  DOSBook includes
     full documentation for Novell DOS and PERSONAL NetWare,
     including command references, explanations of concepts,
     troubleshooting tips, message references, and so forth.

     Also, any DOS command may be followed by /H to display help
     context for that command.
