NDS on RS/6000 and S/390 will provide users with a unified network file access and security interface, allowing LAN resources, mainframes and Unix systems to be accessible from networked PCs via a single logon, said Michael Simpson, Novell's director of marketing for the Internet Infrastructure Division.

NDS allows network managers to administer user accounts and network resources from a single interface, which reduces the complexity of network administration and lowers management cost, Simpson said. "Without NDS, an administrator has to manually put in a user's name into each Oracle database ... the user needs access to," he said.

With now IBM on board, Novell said it had reached its objective to deliver NDS on more than 70% of Unix platforms by year's end. IBM plans to offer NDS on its RS/6000 servers later this quarter; NDS-enabled versions of S/390 will hit the market in 1998.

SCO, Inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Fujitsu Ltd. have already licensed NDS and will offer it on products by year's end, Novell said. Novell also offers NDS on its IntranetWare and NetWare network operating systems and will roll out a Windows NT version of NDS later this year. Under Novell's business plan, the company will generate revenue by selling network services that use NDS to the customers of its NDS licensees, Simpson said.

Novell hasn't yet signed up Digital Equipment Corp., Silicon Graphics, Inc. or Siemens Nixdorf Informationssystem AG, which also market their own Unix derivatives. However. licensees of SCO's UnixWare for the Intel platforms -- which include Siemens, Unisys Corp., Data General Corp., NCR Corp. and others -- also offer NDS, Simpson said.

Under the agreement, IBM has the option to add functions to NDS, such as directory-to-directory replication capabilities. IBM executives declined to provide details on which functions the company intends to add but said IBM is keeping the door open to tighter integration of NDS with its AIX Unix operating system and middleware products.