If you use multiple PCs, or have a laptop and travel a lot, two services provided by the Computing Infrastructure Technologies Group may make your life easier when it comes to working on documents at multiple locations or printing from here to there. Both of the services – iFolder and iPrint – are currently available only to users of Windows 98, XP and 2000 systems (Linux and UNIX versions are in the works) and are based on the Novell NetStorage system, which provides a bridge between the Lab’s protected Novell storage network As a result, users can have secure access to files from any Internet location – all connections are encrypted using SSL (secure socket layer). NetStorage, which allows users access to their h: drive via a Web browser, also scans stored files regularly for viruses and backs up all files daily.

Novell NetStorage allows users to copy, move, rename, delete, read, and write files between a local workstation and a Novell storage network, eliminating the need to email or copy data from one machine to another.

For Lab employees who find themselves working on documents from their office, lab, home or laptop on the road, always having access to the most current version of the document can be problematic. Novell iFolder solves the problem by automatically synchronizing the files on all of a user’s computers when the document is revised on any of the systems. For example, if a manager begins working on a report at the Lab, the same version will appear at the home computer should the manager want to do a little late-night revising – and those changes will appear in the document on the Lab computer. Because iFolder doesn’t download the files and only synchs the changes, the updates are almost instantaneous.

Although the synchronizing updates are made via the Internet, iFolder can also be used to work on documents off-line, such as on a cross-country flight, and the changes are synched once the user reconnects to a network.

In addition to providing users with consistently updated files, iFolder can also act as insurance. For example, a scientist traveling across the country to give a presentation may decide to burn her presentation onto a CD. But say her CD or laptop is lost or damaged. With iFolder, she can log in from any Internet connection and access the presentation in the iFolder directory on her Lab or home system.

“This is one of the most popular services I’ve seen in a long time,” said Dan Denton, who manages the Novell servers. Denton adds that the servers are very robust, ensuring round-the-clock reliability and access.

On the print side, Novell iPrint allows employees to access printers from a variety of remote locations via the Internet. Denton recalls how one Lab manager used the system to print out files for DOE in Washington. Users install printers and manage print jobs using a Web browser. Administrators can set up a list of available printers or create maps with printer locations to aid users in finding the printer closest to them.

More information and access to the services are available from the NetStorage Web page.