Novell Admins, don't miss the forest for the trees!

It's very easy for stressed and harried IT administrators to overlook answers lying right in front of them. So I wanted to remind NetWare administrators that Novell has many valuable resources available on its Web site—and to take a minute to review a few of the tools the site offers. While some of these resources may seem elementary, you'd be surprised how often (and quickly) they can be forgotten.

Novell's Product Resource Center is a great place to start. The company's done a good job mapping the resources it makes available to IT professionals. Whether you have questions about Novell, its educational programs, newsletters, product documentation, or technical support, you'll find all of this information neatly presented in the Product Resource Center.

A convenient navigation bar provides handy access to NetWare, GroupWise, and ManageWise information, among other products. NetWare alone has separate categories for the last three versions.

Included within each topic you'll find white papers, developer notes, patch lists, technical documentation, and more. It's easy to forget this information is there, so I recommend you bookmark the following links:

These sites provide excellent collection points, should you be seeking information on any of these three operating systems.

Novell's Support Connection is another useful utility. If you're troubleshooting a specific problem, you may want to begin here; a search feature is included to help find the information you're seeking. You could also proceed directly to the Support Connection Knowledgebase.

If NetWare downloads are your targets, you can skip a few screens by going directly to Novell's Software Downloads page. You'll find everything from HostPrint Eval 2.0 to Upgrade Wizard v3.0.6.22.

Interested in the Beta program? Novell's recently changed that section of its site. You'll find the updated Beta site here, and the Beta FAQ here.

If you can't find the information you're seeking, don't pick up the phone. Check out Novell's Support Connection Before You Call site for steps to follow before contacting Novell's support center for specific products, operating systems issues, and directory services problems. You'll also find issue resolution tips for client difficulties. Often, the information here will jog your memory or point you in the correct direction.