Novell Embedded Systems Technology
Encyclopedia
Novell Embedded Systems Technology, or NEST, was a series of APIs
, data formats and network protocol stacks written in a highly portable fashion intended to be used in embedded system
s. The idea was to allow various small devices to access Novell NetWare
services, provide such services, or use NetWare's IPX
protocol as a communications system. Novell referred to this concept as "Extended Networks", and when the effort was launched they boasted that they wanted to see one billion devices connected to NetWare networks by year 2000. NEST was launched in mid-1994, and given the timing it seems its true purpose was as a counter to Microsoft
's similar Microsoft at Work
efforts, which had been launched in 1993. Neither technology saw any amount of 3rd party support, although some of NEST's code was apparently re-used in Novell Distributed Print Services (NDPS), and thus iPrint
.
NEST consisted primarily of a Novell protocol driver stack implemented in ANSI C
. The stack included drivers for then-popular networking hardware, including Ethernet
, TokenRing
, AppleTalk
(actually referring to LocalTalk
, a common confusion) and ISDN, as well as higher-level modules for protocols such as Novell's own IPX, and AppleTalk, and later TCP/IP. The NetWare Services Layer added support for application protocols, notably NetWare client services such as file servers and network time synchronization, and the NEST Requester which acted as a pipe-like endpoint for lightweight communications. Orthogonal to these services, NEST also included basic implementations of Novell's PSERVER and NPRINTER servers. Finally, NEST also defined an operating system
interface known as POSE (Portable Operating System Extension), which was a thin translation module defining all of the calls NEST needed to support its own functionality, things like memory management and process creation, which the developer ported to the particular platform of interest. NEST was deliberately written to be able to run from ROM
without secondary storage (i.e., it had no long-term state it needed to store).
Whereas Novell's own real-time multi-user multi-tasking operating system FlexOS was used as a primary test platform during development, NEST did not include its own operating system
, and was intended to be used on existing platforms and OSs. The code was deliberately modular, in order to allow developers to use as much or as little of the overall package as they needed. It was expected that developers would pick and choose the components they needed, for instance, a device reporting status over the network might choose only the NEST Requester, IPX and an Ethernet driver, removing the rest from their assembly. In contrast, Microsoft at Work could be used in a similar fashion, but it seemed that it was generally expected that end users would use the complete system as the basis of their devices in a fashion similar to the later Windows CE
.
Like at Work, however, NEST appears to have seen little real-world use. After the initial release in 1994, there appears to be little news on NEST, followed by another flurry in early 1996 when TCP/IP support was added, at which point Novell claimed there were over 80 companies using NEST, including major office machinery firms like Canon, Hewlett-Packard
, Ricoh
, and Xerox
. If any of these products actually shipped is unclear. NEST then went the way of at Work, and essentially disappeared from view.
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
, data formats and network protocol stacks written in a highly portable fashion intended to be used in embedded system
Embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger system. often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal...
s. The idea was to allow various small devices to access Novell NetWare
Novell NetWare
NetWare is a network operating system developed by Novell, Inc. It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, with network protocols based on the archetypal Xerox Network Systems stack....
services, provide such services, or use NetWare's IPX
IPX
Internetwork Packet Exchange is the OSI-model Network layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol stack.The IPX/SPXM protocol stack is supported by Novell's NetWare network operating system. Because of Netware's popularity through the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, IPX became a popular internetworking...
protocol as a communications system. Novell referred to this concept as "Extended Networks", and when the effort was launched they boasted that they wanted to see one billion devices connected to NetWare networks by year 2000. NEST was launched in mid-1994, and given the timing it seems its true purpose was as a counter to Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's similar Microsoft at Work
Microsoft at Work
Microsoft at Work was a short-lived effort promoted by Microsoft to tie together common business machinery, like fax machines and photocopiers, with a common communications protocol allowing control and status information to be shared with computers running Microsoft Windows. Similar efforts for...
efforts, which had been launched in 1993. Neither technology saw any amount of 3rd party support, although some of NEST's code was apparently re-used in Novell Distributed Print Services (NDPS), and thus iPrint
IPrint
In computing, iPrint, a technology developed by Novell, allows users to install printer-drivers from a web browser and to submit print jobs over the Internet or a local network through the standard Internet Printing Protocol ....
.
NEST consisted primarily of a Novell protocol driver stack implemented in ANSI C
ANSI C
ANSI C refers to the family of successive standards published by the American National Standards Institute for the C programming language. Software developers writing in C are encouraged to conform to the standards, as doing so aids portability between compilers.-History and outlook:The first...
. The stack included drivers for then-popular networking hardware, including Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
, TokenRing
IBM token ring
thumb|Two examples of token ring networks: a) Using a single [[Media Access Unit|MAU]] b) Using several MAUs connected to each otherthumb|Token ring networkthumb|IBM hermaphroditic connector with locking clipthumb|An IBM 8228 MAU...
, AppleTalk
AppleTalk
AppleTalk is a proprietary suite of protocols developed by Apple Inc. for networking computers. It was included in the original Macintosh released in 1984, but is now unsupported as of the release of Mac OS X v10.6 in 2009 in favor of TCP/IP networking...
(actually referring to LocalTalk
LocalTalk
LocalTalk is a particular implementation of the physical layer of the AppleTalk networking system from Apple Computer. LocalTalk specifies a system of shielded twisted pair cabling, plugged into self-terminating transceivers, running at a rate of 230.4 kbit/s...
, a common confusion) and ISDN, as well as higher-level modules for protocols such as Novell's own IPX, and AppleTalk, and later TCP/IP. The NetWare Services Layer added support for application protocols, notably NetWare client services such as file servers and network time synchronization, and the NEST Requester which acted as a pipe-like endpoint for lightweight communications. Orthogonal to these services, NEST also included basic implementations of Novell's PSERVER and NPRINTER servers. Finally, NEST also defined an operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
interface known as POSE (Portable Operating System Extension), which was a thin translation module defining all of the calls NEST needed to support its own functionality, things like memory management and process creation, which the developer ported to the particular platform of interest. NEST was deliberately written to be able to run from ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
without secondary storage (i.e., it had no long-term state it needed to store).
Whereas Novell's own real-time multi-user multi-tasking operating system FlexOS was used as a primary test platform during development, NEST did not include its own operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
, and was intended to be used on existing platforms and OSs. The code was deliberately modular, in order to allow developers to use as much or as little of the overall package as they needed. It was expected that developers would pick and choose the components they needed, for instance, a device reporting status over the network might choose only the NEST Requester, IPX and an Ethernet driver, removing the rest from their assembly. In contrast, Microsoft at Work could be used in a similar fashion, but it seemed that it was generally expected that end users would use the complete system as the basis of their devices in a fashion similar to the later Windows CE
Windows CE
Microsoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...
.
Like at Work, however, NEST appears to have seen little real-world use. After the initial release in 1994, there appears to be little news on NEST, followed by another flurry in early 1996 when TCP/IP support was added, at which point Novell claimed there were over 80 companies using NEST, including major office machinery firms like Canon, Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
, Ricoh
Ricoh
or Ricoh, is a Japanese company that was established in 1936 on February 6th, as , a company in the RIKEN zaibatsu. Its headquarters is located in Ricoh Building in Chūō, Tokyo....
, and Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
. If any of these products actually shipped is unclear. NEST then went the way of at Work, and essentially disappeared from view.