Frye Computer Systems' Netware Management

hen a program receives a Product of the Year award W from a magazine your level of expectation is probably higher than if you had purchased another program without that announcement on the cover of its package. Although I tried not to bias my examination of Netware Management, like the old Wendy’s commercial, I kept on asking myself ‘where’s the beef?‘ as I used the program. Now, don’t get me wrong, the program is extremely well suited for providing you with a view of what’s happening with respect to your Novell NetWare operating system. It’s just that from a network management perspective, it’s missing those trusty tools we normally take for granted-the ability to set thresholds and generate alarms. If Frye Computer Systems would add those features, as well as some additional facilities I will describe shortly, then I would probably agree that, from a network management perspective, it could be classified as the Product of the Year. Till then, it’s one of several excellent software products that can assist you in managing your network. More fully known as the Frye Utilities for Networks, Netware Management, this name probably served as the rationale for the selection of the executable program name of FUN. Running under DOS, as well as a DOS session under Windows 3.X, Netware Management is easy to install and fully supports Novell NetWare 2.1+ and 3.1+. Once loaded, Netware Management provides you with the ability to use 11 program modules which range in scope from providing detailed information about your file server to such trivial information as the version of NetWare you are using. The program includes a NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) which consists of hooks into NetWare that gather the appropriate information a NetWare file server computes. The FUN module then messages the NetWare extracted parameters to provide you with a detailed insight into your Novell network. Examining Program Screens