NW5 Minimum requirements for NetWare 5 Install

(Last modified: 26Nov2002)

This document (10016661) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

goal

fact

Novell NetWare 5.0

Formerly TID 2941199

fix

NetWare 5 has the following minimum system requirements:

+ A server-class PC with a Pentium* 100 mhz or higher processor.
+ A VGA or higher resolution display adapter (SVGA recommended).
  (Should be VESA compliant. For issues with VESA compliance, refer to Technical Information
  Document (TID 2943847 "NW5 GUI in SVGA on ATI Rage Pro Video Cards")
+ 350-700 MB of available disk space (50 MB for a boot partition, 650 MB for a NetWare partition).
NetWare 5 Operating System only - 350 MB
NetWare 5 with Default Product Selections - 450 MB
NetWare 5 with all Product Selections - 550 MB
NetWare 5 with all Products and Documentation - 700 MB

NOTE: Be aware that NetWare 5 now provides a swap file to handle situations where
memory requirements exceed physical memory. To view the Swap file on a NetWare 5
server, type SWAP at the console. For additional parameters, type HELP SWAP at the
console or refer to TID 2942642 "Virtual Memory Commands in NW5".

A typical initial swap file will default to about 2 MB of RAM. However, your server may
have additional Swap file requirements. Please refer to TID 2944438 "NetWare Server
Setup Checklist" for additional recommendations on installation requirements.

+ 64 MB of RAM minimum (128 MB RAM minimum recommended to run Java*-based applications).
+ One or more network boards.
+ A CD-ROM drive that can read ISO 9660-formatted CD-ROM disks. Computers with bootable CD-ROM
drives must fully support the El Torito specification.

A PS/2* or serial mouse is recommended, but not required.

NOTE: The system requirements listed above are minimum requirements. You can optimize the server
performance by increasing the amount of server memory, disk space, and processor speed.

Software Requirements

Before installing, make sure that you have the following software and information:

+ DOS 3.3 or later. (DOS 7 is included on the NetWare 5 License diskette. Do not use the version of DOS
  that ships with Windows 95*, Windows 98, or Windows NT operating systems.)
+ DOS CD-ROM drivers.
+ NetWare 5 Operating System CD-ROM.
+ NetWare 5 License diskette.
+ Novell · Client for DOS and Windows 3.1 x (optional, for installing from a network).
+ An IP address (optional, if the server will connect to the Internet). For information on receiving an IP address, contact your Internet service provider (ISP).
+ Network board and storage device properties, such as the interrupt and port address. For more information,
  contact your computer hardware manufacturer.

Boot Partition Size

Depending on the size of your storage devices (hard disks, CD-ROMs, etc.) and the amount of server memory, you might want to make the boot partition much larger than the suggested minimum of 50 MB. A larger boot partition will allow the server to perform a memory dump to the local drive, if required, for troubleshooting server problems.

Note: The boot partition should be at least 50MB to hold files requred for NetWare 5 on the DOS partition. Additional apce should be left to accommodate extra drivers desired for troubleshooting and recovering. This should include some space for a Core Memory image (coredump.) In the past, this would require the same amount of disk space as the total server memory. However, NetWare 5 supports coredumps that exclude unused cache. For example, one test server with 167MB or ram, including a swap file and 167MB of RAM, created a coredump of 14 MB total. However, it is entirely possible that all server RAM could be utilized, thus creating a coredump of 167MB of RAM. The more RAM available, the less likely it will be that the coredump will be the size of the amount of RAM installed.

In this case, the DOS p.artition would need be in the order of 67 MB to 217 MB in size. If you are not sure of your servers memory utilization, either create a DOS partition capable of handling a coredump of the size of memory plus enough disk space for the NetWare installation and any additional files needed, or be prepared to alter to the DOS configuration in the future. For more information on altering the size of the DOS partition, see TID 2926225 "Increasing size of DOS Partition".
.

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document

Document Title:	NW5 Minimum requirements for NetWare 5 Install
Document ID:	10016661
Solution ID:	1.0.12408884.2321783
Creation Date:	15Sep1999
Modified Date:	26Nov2002
Novell Product Class:	NetWare Novell eDirectory

disclaimer

The Origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information. However, the information provided in this document is for your information only. Novell makes no explicit or implied claims to the validity of this information.
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