Novell NetWare is the campus network operating system. All students, faculty and staff have a Novell account.

Logging in to Novell enables you to access various services on the Lafayette network, e.g., printers and network storage space. Note that logging in to Novell is not required to access the Internet.

Your Network ID and password are used to log in to Novell. The initial password for student Network IDs is the randomly-generated password distributed on the case of the "Technology Orientation for New Students" CD. Initial passwords for employees are communicated to the employee by the department head. Initial passwords expire after first use and should be changed using the password change utility.

Your Network ID password will not expire, so be sure to create a strong password that would be difficult for a machine or human to guess.

When you log in to Novell a script runs that establishes the permissions, or access rights, associated with your account. The script also creates a shortcut (called a drive mapping) to your home directory

The default network storage limit for individuals varies based on when the network account was originally configured. If you need more space than you're currently alloted, your allotment can be increased (up to a max of 1GB) by contacting the Helpdesk. Requests for more than 1GB will be prioritized based on academic or administrative necessity.

Your home directory will appear in My Computer and Windows Explorer as a Network Drive with your Network ID as its name and the drive letter "U". The home directory is often referred to simply as one's "U drive".

Data stored on your U drive is accessible from on-campus and off-campus. Since network file servers get backed up nightly, saving files to your U drive provides an added layer of protection for your data.

There are several methods for connecting, or logging in to Novell:

Although logging in using the Novell client provides more efficient access to network drives, students can opt to use the Novell client or Novell NetStorage to access their U drives. Students who own their own computer can download and install the Novell client software from the ITS software download page.