Guggenheim Museum Chooses Novell Intranet and Internet Solution to Expand Global Presence
Articles and Tips: article
01 Jul 1997
The Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museum, home to one of the world's great collections of modern and contemporary art, is using state-of-the-art networking software from Novell, Inc. to advance its evolution into a truly international museum.
The Novell intranet and Internet solution will enable the museum to support instantaneous communication and collaborative work across a secure, centrally managed information system that will eventually link Guggenheim sites worldwide, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Guggenheim Museum Soho in New York City, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy, and the new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
"Telecommunications and data networks are essential to our growth as an international museum," said Leonard Steinbach, the museum's director of information technology. "We needed a network solution that encompasses both an intranet for internal communications and the potential to host Internet access for interaction with the public and the entire art world. Novell focuses entirely on networking, so we view them as the right partner to help us build a network that's secure, easy to manage and able to work with the systems we use today. I expect us to have a world-class, worldwide network at a cost we can easily afford."
According to Steinbach, an important advantage of the Novell solution is Novell Directory Services (NDS), a database of information on network resources and users that allows his staff to monitor, manage and control security across the entire network from one location and login.
With NDS, administrators can quickly scan through a hierarchical display to assign passwords and permissions, grant E-mail addresses, and use the related Novell Application Launcher software to distribute software out to user desktops. Users, meanwhile, can access the Internet and their appropriate applications and files with a single login from anywhere on the network.
"NDS is especially important because our staff travels from site to site in New York and around the world, and they need access to a common body of information and communication tools," said Steinbach. "NDS provides an excellent structure to accommodate our growth. As demands on our staff increase, and as our organization becomes more dispersed, NDS is a key technology for expanding the capabilities available to our users and keeping our costs in check."
The Guggenheim is also testing Novell's new BorderManager product, which enables organizations to extend their private networks across the Internet while maintaining the security, manageability, and fast performance that have been Novell hallmarks within the enterprise.
For example, the security features of BorderManager will enable the museum to use NDS to tightly control outside access to private information on the art collection and other confidential data. And a virtual private network feature uses advanced encryption technology to ensure secure Internet communications between remote sites such as museums in New York and Europe-a method for leveraging the Internet to avoid the high cost of dedicated phone lines.
Novell's GroupWise solution also allows the Guggenheim to use the Internet to send E-mail messages and share groupware capabilities such as calendaring and scheduling. A related Novell product, GroupWise Web Access, makes the entire system of collaborative applications accessible to user's over the Internet from any World Wide Web browser. Again, costs come down as Internet connections eliminate the need for dedicated lines and long-distance phone calls.
The Guggenheim solution upgrades the museum's existing network based on Novell's NetWare 3.0 to servers running IntranetWare-Novell's complete intranet and Internet access platform. IntranetWare hosts or provides file access for a range of applications, including the museum's admissions, art collection management, retail, human resources, and financial applications.
Other Novell software in use at the museum includes the Novell Application Launcher, GroupWise and the ManageWise network management solution. Novell is also working with the museum to develop Web-based intranet applications, such as employment and events information, for use with IntranetWare.
The Guggenheim Internet and intranet solution illustrates the broad range of third-party products and services available for use with Novell's network software. IntranetWare, GroupWise, and ManageWise run at the museum on Compaq Proliant servers optimized to deliver unmatched scalability and network performance. Other components of the solution include an Oracle 7 database and network peripherals from Eicon and Comtrol.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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