The battle for corporate intranets.

What was once simple browser technology is being called on to be the front end for large network applications and operating systems.

Only one area of network computing is hotter than the Internet, and that's the intranet-- the internal corporate network that capitalizes on the open and

Netscape's high-stakes chess game with Microsoft for Web browser dominance has focused attention on the importance and value of intranets (See Communication. News, November 1996, page 64). But the battle for market share in this new arena is being waged on a much broader front. involving suppliers of network operating systems, internetworking gear, application development tools. and database management systems.

Perhaps the intranet's greatest impact will be on suppliers of network operating systems (NOS), since it is being viewed as a possible alternative for providing file, print, and directory services. The intranet model calls for a three-tier architecture, with the Web browser as the user interface, a network infrastructure based on the Internet, and process engines to provide file and print services, applications processing, and other functions.

Novell has already begun to embrace the new model, positioning itself as a provider of cross-platform browser-accessible services. In September, it unveiled a new intranet brand of NetWare, called IntranetWare, and presented its road map for becoming a major intranet player. Novell's plan is to provide its huge number of NetWare users with an integrated set of tools for building intranets and to attract new intranet customers who have mixed NOS environments.

IntranetWare combines NetWare 4.11 with an IPX/IP gateway for Internet access, multinrotocol routing, FIP (file transfer protocol) support for downloading Internet files, Web authoring tools, NetWare Web Server 2.5, and Netscape's Navigator Web browser. Novell will continue to ship NetWare 4.11 as a separate product, but IntranetWare is its new flagship and there will be no future revisions to NetWare.

Next spring, Novell will release IntranetWare II, with remote access connectivity, virtual private networking, and an IP-based version of NetWare Connect Services complete with encrypted data and firewall. It will also include an updated Web server with Secure Sockets Layer support, back-end database connectivity, and a feature that lets Internet service providers host multiple Web sites on a single server.

IntranetWare III, due next summer, will add native TCP/IP, replication and advanced file services, and a proxy cache Web server. In addition, Novell is readying a version called Kayak for businesses with fewer than 100 users.

EXTRA CLIENT/SERVER DIMENSION

Among internetworking companies, Cisco Systems and Bay Networks recently enhanced their routers in part to he]p organizations set up and expand their intranets. Bay is embedding firewall software from Checkpoint Software in its routers to keep intranets secure as they become larger and more distributed. It is also providing modules for its hubs to detect intrusions and eavesdropping.

Cisco's new 7200 family of midrange routers comes with HTML management tools and can be used to connect a corporate intranet with an Internet service provider's point of presence.

Cisco has also unveiled a family of products called CiscoAdvantage that builds on its internetworking operating system to he]p network managers support multimedia applications and connectivity among the different systems commonly found on intranets. In combination with the firm's routers and switches, the products improve network security and simplify the management of Internet and intranet traffic.

Meanwhile, intranets are adding an extra dimension to client/server options, where the browser functions as the client to both a Web server and a database server equipped with a Web front-end. Thus far, however, the file-oriented characteristics of intranets can be a problem with high-volume, transaction-oriented applications. Such applications demand more than a basic browser as a client.

The solution lies not only in beefing up the browser, but in creating intranet applications using the object-oriented JavaScript language. As a measure of the intranet's importance, Oracle, Sybase, and Informix are already planning Web-aware versions of their database servers. These servers take SQL requests and send responses to the Web browsers in HTML.

Some vendors, including SAP AG, PeopleSoft, and J.D. Edwards, are rewriting their applications as a series of Java applets so users can utilize all the functions of a client/server suite with a Web browser.

Oracle says it will add Java applets to all its client/server business applications by the second quarter of 1997. The applets will allow users of its network computer and other platforms to access applications as needed by downloading them. With the current Web front-end, users can access data but not the applications.

In addition, Oracle has added Web capabilities to its development tools, so it is well-positioned with a complete set of intranet products. Meanwhile, Sybase's PowerSoft business unit has also begun beta testing a Web development tool, code-named Charlotte, which lets users create intranet applications with PowerBuilder or Optima++ using Java applets.

Not to be outdone, Informix has joined with Hewlett-Packard and Netscape to sell a line of intranet products based on its database management systems. Netscape's server software, and HP's Unix- and Windows NT-based hardware. Informix will integrate Netscape software into its database products and build in support for HP's OpenView management system.

PREPARING FOR THE NEXT WAR

Netscape's alliance with HP and Informix is part of its strategy to go beyond browsers and position it for what CEO James Barksdale calls the "next war"--the battle for corporate intranets. Netscape claims to be off to an impressive start, with 92 of the Fortune 100 deploying lightweight intranet applications based on its browser client and server offerings.

In October, Netscape unveiled its new client and server package for an intranet market estimated to reach $10 billion by the year 2000.

Its $49 client, called Communicator, combines the latest Navigator Web browser (version 4.0, code-named Galileo) with Collabra group discussion software, Messenger Web E-mail, Composer HTML authoring, and Conference collaborative software with voicemail, audioconferencing and whiteboard capabilities. The $79 professional edition adds Calendar scheduling software and AutoAdmin management tools.

On the server side, Netscape will offer the SuiteSpot 3.0 line of standards-based server modules for Windows NT and Unix platforms. Depending on the number of modules, the server will cost from $995 to $3,995.

In its new role as supplier of systems software, Netscape's biggest challenge may not be fielding the best technology but finding a way to support it. How will it meet the needs of large organizations used to daily, 24-hour support from vendors? To thrive, Netscape may not only have to compete with the Microsoft juggernaut, but also beef up support and find channel partners its users know and trust.

Data communications consultant Morris Edwards is program chairman of the Network Computing Solutions Conference and exposition, or NetCom, to be held in Fort Lauderdale, March 26 -27, in Chicago April 2-3 and in Atlanta April 16-17