Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I would second David Cotter's positive reviews. I only have a mere 20 years of development experience starting with a NeXT cube I bought back in 1990. Today I work for a 200b financial services company that runs twelve 10.4 Intel XServes. We are very cautious to upgrade as they machines are heavily used for production work in the marketing and reporting arm of the company where we heavily use Perl, AppleScript, shell scripts, Python, etc.. There has been perhaps 1-2 anomalies on individual machines that we had to reboot and do some repairs for - in perhaps 6 years of heavy use. We have hundreds of Windows, Solars and Linux servers, VMs, blades, network servers, you name it. Our 10.4 server reliability compares very well with the rest of our environment.
It was based on this experience I evaluated Snow Leopard Server by creating a Parallels 5 virtual machine on my Mac Pro desktop machine at home. I honestly wasn't sure it would work on a VM but I was running a live wiki/blog/calendar with people live connecting from all over for 2 weeks. There was one crash across a week of work - but I put my workstation running the VM to sleep several times and one of them the server didn't seem to wake up from correctly. That's tough environment for a server. I was very impressed with the improvement in management tools and the wiki is actually much better than the average wiki - my technical team that was testing it gave it rave reviews for usability.
I was so impressed that I decided to buy a Mac Mini Snow Leopard Server for my home. We aren't ready to upgrade at work yet - that will require several months of testing with a set of development servers. But based on my initial experience I would expect the testing to go fairly well.
I'm writing this somewhat preliminary review because that first guy was spewing hatred without any concrete facts and that's just rude. The fact is that with running a web server, blogs, e-mail, dns, open directory, file shares, etc. is very complex. Unlike reviews of simple products which might approach objectivity in some sense, complex products like server software can't be reviewed in an objective way. Reviews of OS X Server are going to be about how combining one particular guy with OS X Server for a while worked out. Apparently not very well for that first reviewer. My experience has been overall very good. Could be that the first guy is dumber than David Cotter or I, but it's probably because the kinds of things he was trying to do were not working out for him and the solutions were painful to find, if he could find them at all.
I understand this. Apple does not invest in the enterprise at all. The problems I've had with OS X Server are probably more difficult to resolve than on other platforms because of Apple's lack of interest, and the fact that far fewer people travel the OS X Server path. This results in far fewer hits in Google on your problem than you would expect with a Windows Server problem - tons of people have problems on Windows servers.
So here's my recommendation. If you are a computer novice that barely knows how to click a mouse but for some reason wants to set up a web server or wiki for your little company - OS X Server is DEFINITELY for you. It's actually ridiculously easy to set up most of the server features and if they work, which is likely, you are going to be very happy.
If you're moderately technical: 2-10 years of experience working with server technologies, or have a lot of experience but you just aren't that good, then you probably want to use a Windows server technology. You'll have lots of support, lots of stuff on the web, a broad range of software solutions, and there is a contractor around every corner that can help you out.
If you have a ton of experience and the most daunting technical problems don't really phase you any more (they might take days to fix, but they don't phase you), then I think you will really like OS X Server. You're going to need all that experience because Apple, or the few other OS X Server users out there, are not going to be able to back you up much. If you combine this experience with the right kind of use then OS X Server is a joy to use and is highly recommended. Hope that helps.
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Powerful yet streamlined, Snow Leopard Server makes it easier than ever for the people in your organization to collaborate, communicate, and share information. And because it's so simple to deploy and manage, Snow Leopard Server is perfect both for people who never thought they could run a server and for overtaxed IT departments.
The simple way to bring more power to your business.
More powerful--and simpler--than ever. Thanks to the legendary simplicity and unrivaled power of the Mac, a network server isn't just for big companies with large IT departments and huge budgets. Small studios, retail shops, even home-based businesses can all benefit. With Mac OS X Server as the operating system, you can make it easier for your employees to collaborate on projects and share files, automatically back up important data, host your own website and mail servers, and much more.
Cost-effective. Client-friendly. Having a server is also more affordable than ever. Snow Leopard Server costs just $499 for an unlimited number of clients, a fraction of what other server operating systems cost. Best of all, you don't need expensive hardware to run it--you can use an Xserve, of course, but you can also use a Mac Pro, an iMac, or even a Mac mini. With Mac OS X Server, you can deploy the server that's right for you.
Let Server Assistant be your guide. Like everything else about the Mac, setting up your server is incredibly simple. After installing the Mac OS X Server software on your server, Server Assistant walks you through the configuration process, whether you're setting up a small business network or connecting into your company's existing network. Server Assistant uses easy-to-understand language, so it makes sense to both technical and nontechnical users. It's streamlined, so it asks only the questions that apply to your situation, such as whether you want to set up mail, calendaring, and other services. And anytime during the process, you can get context-sensitive online help with a single click.
Next step: management. Once the Server Assistant process is complete, you're ready for the next stage: managing your server. Mac OS X Server makes that easy, too, with simple, innovative tools. The Server Preferences application lets you quickly manage users and groups on the server and, if you haven't already done so, set up all your key services. And to help you keep an eye on things, a Server Status Dashboard widget gives you at-a-glance information on the status of essential services such as mail, file sharing, your website, and more.
Now use your server. Once server setup is complete, your organization's users are ready to take advantage of all the services Snow Leopard Server has to offer. Before you know it, they'll be collaborating on projects and working more closely than ever. They can exchange files with each other, synchronize and share their contact information and calendars, schedule events, send secure instant messages, conduct live video conferences, send and receive email, contribute to and comment in wikis, publish a companywide blog, produce and distribute podcasts, and set up websites. And whether they're working onsite or remotely, they can do it all without jeopardizing the confidentiality of the information they share.
Simple administration. Efficiency expert. If you think it takes a dedicated IT department to run a server, think again. Snow Leopard Server is designed so people of all technical levels can easily manage servers. And it provides advanced features so you can have total control over your network.
Keeping it simple. Once you've set up your server, the Server Preferences application in Snow Leopard Server becomes your new best friend. With it, you can quickly manage users and groups on the server and, if you haven't already done so, set up key services such as file sharing, calendaring, instant messaging, mail, websites with wikis and blogs, virtual private networking for remote access, and backup settings for network clients.
Status reports. To help you keep an eye on things, a Server Status Dashboard widget provides a fast and easy way to monitor your server. You'll get at-a-glance information on the status of essential services such as mail, file and printer sharing, iChat, and more.
The end of manual labor. Adding clients to the network is quick and easy. In fact, it requires almost no effort. When you connect your Mac to the business network, it automatically detects and signs on to the server. After authenticating, the new computer is configured to use the services offered by your server, and your applications, such as Mail, iChat, and iCal, are configured and ready to use.
Disk space monitoring. Running out of disk space can reduce the reliability of your server. Mac OS X Server includes tools that monitor disk space and proactively free up space by deleting or backing up noncritical logs and utilities.
iCal Server 2. Push your agenda. With iCal Server 2, it's easy to share calendars, schedule meetings, and coordinate events within a workgroup, a small business, or a large corporation. Built on open standard protocols, iCal Server integrates with leading calendaring programs. Thanks to push technology, you can notify everyone about changes instantly. And unlike other calendaring solutions, iCal Server doesn't impose a per-user license, so you don't have to pay for additional licenses as your business grows.
An easy schedule. Does it sometimes seem like scheduling a meeting is harder than actually getting through the meeting? Using iCal Server, colleagues can propose and set up meetings, book conference rooms, and more, quickly and easily. iCal Server is a full-featured, standards-based calendaring solution designed to make your life easier.
Think of it as a one-stop shop for setting up calendar activities. Will everyone be free for a Monday morning meeting? Search for attendee availability and see just who is booked up. Need to reserve a projector, a particular conference room, or even a car? iCal Server can take care of that as well. Once the location and the time are set, iCal Server invites the right people and lets you include information such as agendas or to-do lists with the invitation.
A new web interface and push notifications. iCal Server 2 includes a new web-based calendar client, allowing users to view their schedule, set up meetings, and view the availability of others in their organization. The web-based calendar can be used with modern web browsers including Safari 3 and 4, Firefox 3, and Internet Explorer 7 and 8. In addition, iCal Server 2 offers push notifications, so you and your colleagues will know immediately when there's a new invitation or a change to an existing invitation.
Real-time calendar access from your iPhone. iCal Server 2 provides access to calendars from anywhere. iPhone users can securely access their calendar over the air, see calendar events, view notes, and see who has accepted or declined invitations. No syncing required.
Works well with others. iCal Server uses open calendaring protocols for integrating with leading calendar programs, including iCal in Mac OS X and popular CalDAV clients from Mozilla, Open Source Application Foundation, and others. These open standard protocols include CalDAV--a set of extensions to WebDAV--and interchange formats such as iCalendar, iMIP, and iTIP. For colleagues outside your organization who don't use iCal, you can now invite them to meetings over email. They'll receive a message with an attachment that, when opened, will add the meeting to their calendar, whether they use a Mac or a PC.
Apple is a member of the CalConnect Consortium and is committed to open, standards-based calendaring and scheduling protocols. To further the widespread adoption and deployment of these standards, Apple has made the complete source code for iCal Server 2 available through the macosforge.org website.
Address Book Server. Good with people. With the new Address Book Server in Snow Leopard Server, it's incredibly easy to access and synchronize contacts across multiple computers and the devices you own.
Introducing Address Book Server. While most companies store contact information in centralized LDAP directories, IT administrators usually prevent users from modifying or adding their own contacts to the directory. This makes it hard for users to maintain a centralized list of contacts and access those contacts on multiple computers and devices they own.
The new Address Book Server in Snow Leopard Server solves this problem. Not only does it store contacts on the server, but it allows you to access and use those contacts on each of your Mac computers. With Address Book, you can even synchronize contacts to your iPhone for accessing your contacts on the go.
How it works. Address Book Server uses CardDAV--the new protocol standard for exchange of contact information. With Address Book Server, contacts are stored as standard vCard files on the server, outside the LDAP directory. This allows users to easily modify contact information and add new contact fields, such as URLs for Twitter or Facebook accounts, without having to modify LDAP schema or get write access to the corporate directory server.
Users can access contacts directly in the Address Book application in Snow Leopard. To add a new contact, simply open Address Book and add a new card to the Address Book Server group. New contacts are accessible on all of your Mac computers and are immediately available to applications such as Mail, iChat, and more.
Simplified directory access. Address Book Server not only lets users search their personal contacts but acts as a gateway to let them search for contacts within the organization's directory service (sometimes called a Global Address List). When searched, Address Book Server delivers real-time results from personal address books as well as contacts stored in LDAP directories.
Podcast Producer 2. Office broadcasting. Podcast Producer 2 is a complete, end-to-end solution for encoding, publishing, and distributing high-quality podcasts--ideal for employee training, university lectures, presentations, and more. New features in Podcast Producer 2 offer more options for capturing, creating, and publishing podcasts, making it even easier to share critical content around your organization.
What is Podcast Producer 2? Podcasts are ideal for distributing university lectures, training a sales force, delivering product demos, or simply keeping employees, students, and customers up to date. Podcast Producer 2 simplifies the process of capturing, editing, and publishing them, letting your organization produce more podcasts with less work while maintaining a high degree of standardization among them. It's a workflow-based solution that automates the details, such as encoding content into specific file formats or adding standard title frames and opening videos. So the podcasts from your group will always have a consistent look and feel, and you'll never have to worry about missing an important step.
Easy setup. Setting up Podcast Producer 2 is now easier than ever with a new setup assistant in Server Admin. It provides an express mode that can configure Podcast Producer and all its related services in a matter of minutes, whether you're setting up a single Podcast Producer server or a cluster of servers.
Start and stop. A podcast starts with the Podcast Capture application in Mac OS X. This innovative tool makes it easy for users to capture high-quality audio and video from local and remote cameras, record screen captures, and upload existing content into Podcast Producer 2 for encoding and distribution. Podcast Capture records audio and video from a wide range of devices, including digital video cameras connected via FireWire, USB microphones, and iSight cameras.
Record at will. Recording a podcast is a snap. Simply open Podcast Capture, log in, and select the type of podcast you would like to record--then click Start. When finished recording, click Stop. Give your podcast a title, add a description, and pick the appropriate workflow. It's that simple.
Snow Leopard Server adds new video capture features. The new dual-source video capture enables you to create picture-in-picture podcasts. For instance, one video source can record a presenter and the other source can record a slideshow. Podcast Producer 2 can even detect inactivity in one of the video sources and automatically switch video sources so that the active source is displayed in the larger frame. Your video can use one of several Apple-designed templates, or you can design your own layout using Quartz Composer.
To convert a slideshow or other document into a video, you can use the new "documents to movie capture" mode. It renders any Quick Look-compatible file into a movie with transitions between images or pages.
And the new web podcast capture allows you to remotely capture and upload audio and video movies to a Podcast Producer server for encoding and publishing using any modern web browser on your Mac, PC, or iPhone.
It's automatic. Once recording is completed, the file is automatically uploaded to Podcast Producer 2 for processing. Podcast Producer 2 leverages the power of QuickTime X to encode content into standard formats such as H.264 and MPEG-4.
Easy-to-create workflows. Podcast Producer 2 includes the new Podcast Composer, an easy-to-use application that lets you create your own workflows to automate the completion and publishing of podcasts. It offers an intuitive interface that groups the process of building a workflow into seven stages and guides you through the steps required to create a workflow. You specify everything from import to notification, including details about which titles, transitions, and effects to use; what output format is used; where the podcast is published; and more.
Publish it. Once the podcast is complete, Podcast Producer 2 makes it easy and automatic to publish it to the right location--whether to a blog, to iTunes or iTunes U, to multimedia-enabled cell phones using QuickTime Podcast Storage Streaming Server, or to the new Podcast Library. Podcast Library provides long-term storage and organization for submitted and generated media files. Podcasts are delivered using automatically generated RSS feeds or with Atom feeds, which allows each feed to contain multiple versions or formats of the podcast for different devices.
Wiki Server 2. Easy group collaboration. Mac OS X Server makes it easy for groups to collaborate and communicate through their own wiki-powered intranet website complete with group calendar, blog, and mailing list. Users can create and edit wiki pages, tag and cross-reference material, upload files and images, add comments, use Quick Look with attachments, and access pages from their computer or iPhone.
Communication is key. Whether it's a small business or a workgroup inside a large corporation, all members need access to the same materials in order to work effectively. Wikis assist users in the clear exchange of information, eliminating confusion and ensuring that all members of a project have access to the resources they need.
The wiki blog is the perfect place for sharing team news and status reports or encouraging brainstorming. For shorter comments, there's a space at the bottom of the wiki page where users can share their thoughts or provide feedback. You have the ability to control who can add comments--nobody, only authenticated users, or anyone who has access to the wiki. Teams can also use the wiki for file exchange--uploading shared documents, images, or movies for distribution; even tracking revisions to documents. And shared calendars help users stay on track by ensuring that everyone can see meeting schedules and milestones.
Look and search. Wiki Server 2 now includes one of the most useful features in Mac OS X: Quick Look. Just click the Quick Look icon next to an uploaded document and you can view it without downloading the file. Quick Look supports all standard file formats including text documents, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, QuickTime, and PDF.
Also new in Snow Leopard Server is QuickSearch, which lets you search and find information in multiple wikis, blogs, mailing lists, calendars, and podcasts.
Customized web workspace. Wikis allow you to create custom, project-specific websites. Select from 20 built-in themes with different colors, fonts, and layout styles. You can customize these templates with your own banner image and a custom sidebar title that displays pages with a user-defined tag at initial login. Once the wiki is set up, it's easy to add, delete, and edit content in whatever way makes sense. No syntax or markup knowledge is required--what you see on the page is exactly what you get.
You can insert hyperlinks, link between pages, add images, attach files, and change formatting--all with a few clicks. Because wikis feature RSS support, team members can easily track changes and be notified when new content is added, edited, or tagged.
You can subscribe to RSS feeds for the entire wiki site, any individual page, or any tag or search results. And you'll never have to worry about making mistakes. Since the wiki maintains a complete history, you can always revert to a previous version of your document.
Once you create a wiki website and give access to members of the workgroup, everyone has the same capability to contribute to the site. It's not limited to text and images--users can access a group calendar to track meetings and deadlines or send messages to a mailing list to keep others informed. The blog feature is perfect for brainstorming or commenting on work. And there's an option for subscribing to a podcast--so anyone who missed that important conference call can catch up on the news.
New iPhone support. Wiki Server 2 brings business collaboration to the iPhone. You can securely log in to view confidential wikis and content, view your My Page for tracking content updates, and even tag pages, view comments, and review document changes--all from your iPhone.
Mobile Access Server. Connect from anywhere. Ensuring secure remote access to your business network is even more critical in today's mobile world. Mobile Access Server makes it easy for people to access their corporate network whenever and wherever they have an Internet connection.
Introducing Mobile Access Server. To access secure files remotely, most servers require you to use VPN services, which involve special configuration and an extra layer of authentication. You get security at the expense of convenience and, in some cases, extra cost.
Snow Leopard Server offers an alternative that provides all of the security with none of the hassle. Ideal for Mac and iPhone users, the new Mobile Access Server provides always-on, always-secure access to firewall-protected services from virtually anywhere in the world. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can access corporate websites, online business applications, email, calendars, and contacts, all without having to use VPN.
Perfectly integrated. Mobile Access Server integrates into your organization's existing directory service for authentication and single sign-on, so it doesn't require the installation or configuration of client software. Not only does this mean much less hassle for users, it also means many fewer support calls for your IT staff--and no extra charges for client software licenses.
Strong encryption and authentication. To keep data secure as it travels across the public Internet, Mobile Access Server uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to provide strong encryption and authentication of communication between your iPhone or Mac and the private network. To reduce unnecessary traffic, only information accessed and destined for the corporate network is sent through Mobile Access Server. IT administrators can even restrict access through Mobile Access Server to a select set of users and groups in your organization.
iChat Server. Secure instant messaging. iChat Server brings the collaborative power of secure instant messaging to your organization. Your employees can collaborate more effectively, transfer files securely, share a persistent chat room, conduct an audio conference, or--with iChat Theater--even broadcast a presentation, movie, or photo slideshow to other iChat users.
Secure and confidential. iChat Server is the ideal solution for providing users a secure channel for confidential communications. It now works with Open Directory and Active Directory to provide single sign-on authentication and ensure that whoever is using an instant messaging name is really that person. And since all text messages and file transfers are encrypted, information sent through your server is kept secure and confidential.
Industry standard. iChat Server is based on Jabber, the industry-standard IM protocol also known as XMPP. This enables support for Mac computers using iChat, as well as for other Jabber clients running on Windows PCs and iPhone.
Persistent chat rooms. iChat users can request iChat Server to create and host a persistent chat room. Perfect for virtual team scenarios, project-specific discussions, and real-time blow-by-blow updates, the chat room allows individuals to join at any time, leave when they need to--even log out and shut down--and come back to review all communications since the chat room opened.
Store and forward. Thanks to store-and-forward functionality in iChat Server, users can send messages to people who are offline, combining the advantages of IM with the advantages of email.
Federation. iChat Server federates with other iChat Server systems and XMPP-compliant systems, such as Google Talk, using the server-to-server capabilities of the XMPP protocol. This allows users on iChat Server to exchange secure IMs with users on another network as long as both servers are accessible via the Internet. These server-to-server communication sessions can be encrypted using SSL/TLS with public key certificates, and you can configure iChat Server to block communication with servers that don't support encryption.
File sharing. Share and share alike. Mac OS X Server is the easiest and most cost-effective way to share files between Mac computers and PCs, locally or over the Internet. Snow Leopard Server offers up to 2.3x faster file-sharing performance than earlier versions.
File sharing made easy. Whether you're supporting a creative team, a distributed sales force, a class of multimedia students, or just about any small business or workgroup, you know your users need to share information to work effectively. Mac OS X Server makes it easy to share folders and exchange files between Mac and PC systems without the installation of additional software.
Why a server? Productivity is greatly enhanced when users store work in centralized folders rather than on individual computers. With centralized file storage, all users have access to the same up-to-the-minute file. Since a single version resides on the server, there won't be any confusion about multiple versions of the same document. And users won't need to worry about losing important data in the event of a system failure or a lost or stolen laptop. The file is always safe on the server.
Sharing made easy. It's easy to share hard drives or individual folders and assign custom access permissions with Mac OS X Server. To facilitate collaboration, each group has its own shared folder on the server. Whether they're using Mac or PC systems, all group members can read and write to files in the shared folder, just as if they were using their own hard drive.
An affordable NAS replacement. Many businesses purchase network-attached storage (NAS) appliances to avoid client-access licenses. However, NAS appliances are slow, limit your storage expansion options, and provide little or no control over access controls or directory integration. With Mac OS X Server as your file server, you won't have these limitations. Users can share files between Mac, Windows, UNIX, and Linux systems while taking advantage of rich file system access controls, directory integration, and more. Best of all, Mac OS X Server scales to meet your future needs.
Time Machine backup. The Time Machine feature in Mac OS X enables users to go back in time and revisit their Mac as it appeared on a given day. By making a copy of everything on the system--digital photos, music, movies, TV shows, and documents--Time Machine makes it easy for users to recover their data and undo their mistakes.
Mac OS X Server can automatically back up your users' previous versions to the server or another designated hard drive on the network, protecting valuable data and freeing up disk space on individual hard drives--or eliminating the need for backup drives altogether.
Built-in file-level locking keeps any Mac or PC from overwriting changes when a file is opened by more than one user at a time; only the user who unlocked the file can make changes.
Native file services. Mac OS X Server makes it easy for you to set up central network storage that's accessible to clients throughout your organization. Using native protocols, it delivers file services to all the clients on your network: AFP, SMB/CIFS, NFS, and FTP. These flexible cross-platform file services enable groups to work more efficiently, share resources, archive projects, and back up important documents. Mac OS X Server even works in organizations with an existing directory service, allowing you to provide lower-cost file services while still integrating with a directory--such as Open Directory or Active Directory--for user and group account information, permissions, and authentication.
Flexible permissions. Mac OS X Server supports both traditional UNIX file permissions and access control lists, giving administrators an unprecedented level of control over file and folder permissions. With access control lists, any file object can be assigned multiple users and groups, including groups within groups. Each file object can also be assigned to allow and deny permissions, as well as assign a granular set of permissions for administrative control, read, write, and delete operations. Mac OS X Server supports a file permission inheritance model, ensuring that user permissions are inherited when files are moved to the server and rewritten when files are copied to the server.
Mail Services. Postmaster to the world. Mail services in Snow Leopard Server feature a new engine that outperforms previous versions and scales to handle tens of thousands of users. It's based entirely on open standards, providing compatibility with your existing network infrastructure--as well as with email clients on the Mac, PC, and even iPhone. And because there are no per-user licensing fees, you can add mail accounts without draining your software licensing budget.
Inbox, outbox. The ideal solution for small businesses or companies without an existing mail server, Mac OS X Server allows you to bring email in-house, using your own domain name rather than relying on an ISP to host your email. And Mail Server in Snow Leopard Server includes a new engine that not only outperforms the previous version but also outperforms high-end, enterprise-class mail servers.
If your organization already has a mail server, you'll appreciate how seamlessly Mac OS X Server integrates into your network, ensuring that all outbound email is forwarded--or relayed--through your company's mail servers.
Junk mail filtering. Mac OS X Server includes a powerful junk mail filter that analyzes the text of each email and assigns it a probability rating for being junk mail--and then marks the mail as potential junk. The filter is adaptive, always learning to distinguish between what is good and what is junk.
Virus detection and quarantine. Email is the primary mechanism viruses use to spread and propagate from one computer to another. That's why Mac OS X Server includes an antivirus engine to scan mail messages and attachments for viruses, automatically deleting or quarantining any offending files.
Vacation messages and server-side rules. Snow Leopard Server now includes support for vacation messages, which automatically notify people when a user is out of the office. It also supports server-side mail rules, an ideal feature for people who receive lots of email or who access their email from multiple locations. Mac OS X Server can filter email messages based on criteria the user defines and automatically place the message in the appropriate mailbox.
Mailing lists. Mac OS X Server makes it easy for people to communicate using group mailing lists. Any group on the server can be assigned its own mailing list by an administrator using Server Preferences. Or users can create their own group mailing lists using a simple web interface in their browser.
Secure email. With SSL/TLS encryption for SMTP, POP, and IMAP, Mac OS X Server can encrypt the data sent between the server and the mail client. This allows secure and confidential transport of mail messages and attachments within a network, and it's ideal for providing secure over-the-air email access for iPhone users.
Push email. With Mac OS X Server, you can keep users up to date wherever they go with push email. Users can receive immediate notification of and access to new email messages when they arrive. It's no longer necessary to constantly check for new mail messages.
Mail server clustering. You can cluster multiple mail servers using Xsan as the back-end data store, ensuring reliable data access for all servers in the cluster and making it easy to scale your mail server infrastructure to handle increasing loads. Mail server clustering allows a large number of mail service connections to be spread across multiple servers and provides automatic failover from one server to another. Using Xsan with Mac OS X Server, each IMAP, POP, and SMTP server has direct block-level access to the same data. If a server goes offline, another node in the cluster takes over processing of the failed server's spool file, and affected mail clients automatically reestablish connections to another server in the cluster.
Web hosting. From Apache to Zope. You don't need to be an experienced webmaster to host your own home page, website, or Web 2.0 application with Mac OS X Server. With its intuitive administration interface, you can immediately start up a static website or deploy even the most sophisticated of sites.
Get started easily. Mac OS X Server takes the complexity out of configuring, hosting, and managing websites. An intuitive administration interface makes it easy to get started with a static website, while providing advanced capabilities for professional webmasters responsible for deploying sophisticated services. It includes tools for serving dynamic content, CGI scripting, enterprise applications, encryption, and database integration.
Powered by Apache. Included in Mac OS X Server is Apache, the most widely used HTTP server on the Internet. Apache is preconfigured with default settings, so deployment is as simple as starting the Web service. Any HTML content saved to the server's default web folder will be served over the Internet automatically. Mac OS X Server offers experienced webmasters support for using Apache 2.2 from within the Server Admin application.
Deploy the Web 2.0. Mac OS X Server comes with everything you need for flexible and scalable web hosting, including the Apache web server; WebDAV for content publishing; CGI support; SSL support for encryption and authentication; and dynamic content hosting with server-side includes, Perl, Ruby on Rails, Tomcat, and Python. For hosting enterprise-class applications, Mac OS X Server includes a 64-bit Java VM optimized for the latest generation of Intel multicore processors.
Hosting multiple websites. Support for virtual hosting in Mac OS X Server allows you to host multiple websites on a single server. You can configure each website on your server to have a different domain name (using virtual domains) and even a different IP address. In addition, each website can be configured with unique security options and separate log files for tracking and reporting.
Secure web services. Mac OS X Server integrates OpenSSL with the Apache web server, providing support for strong 128-bit encryption and public key infrastructure (PKI) authentication using X.509 digital certificates. This high-grade security architecture protects credit card information and other confidential personal and business data transmitted during web transactions.
Video streaming with Mac OS X Server. QuickTime X, included with Snow Leopard Server, takes Internet video streaming to new levels with support for HTTP live streaming. Unlike other streaming technologies, HTTP live streaming uses the HTTP protocol--the same network technology that powers the web. That means QuickTime X streams audio and video using your web server instead of a special streaming server, and it works reliably with common firewall and wireless router settings. HTTP live streaming is designed for mobility and can dynamically adjust movie playback quality to match the available speed of wired or wireless networks.
Collaborative web publishing using WebDAV. Mac OS X Server includes support for Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, or WebDAV. This enhancement to the HTTP protocol turns a website into a document database that enables collaborative creation, editing, and searching from remote locations--particularly useful for updating content on a website. WebDAV works with popular web publishing applications, allowing web content creators on any Internet-connected computer to open files, make changes or additions, and save those revisions to the web server, even while it's still running.
Spotlight Server. Find it fast. Tired of looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack? It's easy to find content on network servers with Mac OS X Server. Spotlight Server lets you search for documents, files, and other content stored on your server--quickly and easily.
Find it fast. Spotlight Server provides an instant way to find content on servers in your network. Designed for workgroups with shared documents, projects, and files, this feature delivers lightning-fast search results for content stored on the server.
Advanced searches. The rich Spotlight vocabulary in Mac OS X lets you search for exactly what you want. Options include Boolean logic, quoted phrase searching, category labels, and range support. Use search terms and search logic to create project-specific Smart Folders, so workgroups can always find their shared work, no matter where the files were saved on your server.
Put your best assets forward. Finding your digital assets no longer needs to be a complex and expensive proposition. By combining the power of Spotlight Server with Cover Flow and Quick Look in Mac OS X, your users have a straightforward way to scan through thousands of files and preview items in Spotlight search results without opening them.
To safeguard your organization's data, Spotlight Server works with the file access controls in Mac OS X Server--users only see search results that they have permission to see. If they don't have access to a file, it never appears in their results. This makes it easy for everyone in a group to store files in a single shared location, while protecting confidential information from unauthorized viewing.
Client management. Command central. Mac OS X Server provides advanced tools for centralized management of users, groups, and computers in your organization.
Centralized management. Workgroup Manager simplifies system administration by providing centralized directory-based management of users, groups, and computers across your organization. For example, you can create standardized desktop configurations, set preferences, and establish password policies, as well as control access to hardware, software, and network resources.
For security-conscious environments, you can use Workgroup Manager to prevent users from burning media, mounting external hard drives, or running unauthorized applications. It also works with portable computers, ensuring that settings, configurations, and policies are maintained even when users are disconnected from the network.
Software update server. By deploying a software update server, administrators can control how and when client computers download new software, enabling access to approved software updates only. As the administrator, you now have time to evaluate and test software updates before deploying them throughout your organization. Snow Leopard Server even lets you save past versions of software updates, so you can revert to them if you discover an incompatibility in a new version.
At the same time, having a local caching software update server streamlines network use, saving the costs of multiple downloads of the same update and reducing unnecessary bandwidth consumption. By eliminating the need for each Mac OS X system to engage in multiple separate downloads for each software update, bandwidth charges (which add up quickly in large organizations) are reduced.
Fast iPhone deployment. Deploying iPhone across an organization is easy with the new iPhone Configuration Utility. An IT administrator can create Configuration Profiles that include corporate passcode policies and distribute them on Mac OS X Server. Configuration Profiles can also remotely create your company's VPN, email, and wireless network settings, making each iPhone secure and ready for business. And Configuration Profiles can be used to install certificates on iPhone for authentication to VPN servers, 802.1X-based wireless networks, and other corporate services. For iPhone users, installing a Configuration Profile is as easy as tapping a secure web link or receiving an email with the Configuration Profile attached.
System imaging. System Image Utility leverages the power of Automator, giving you an intuitive interface for creating NetBoot, NetInstall, and NetRestore disk images. Choose from a preloaded library of actions that allows you to specify settings, additional software packages, and installation procedures--then save them as a workflow that builds the installation image.
Starting up with NetBoot. The NetBoot service in Mac OS X Server enables multiple Mac systems to boot from a single server-based disk image, instead of from their internal hard drive. This allows you to create a standard configuration and use it on all the desktop systems in a department or classroom--or host multiple images customized for different workgroups. You can even create server configurations and run all your servers from one image. Updating the disk image on the NetBoot server updates all of these systems automatically the next time they restart. In addition, you can copy a directory server configuration to all clients using the same system image. For security-conscious organizations, NetBoot permits Mac computers to boot "disklessly"--without having to read from or write to the computer's local drive.
Software installations with NetInstall. NetInstall gives administrators control over the software installed in their organizations. Perfect for upgrading all your Mac clients to a standard or customized installation of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, NetInstall provides an easy method for standardized deployment. By creating server-based disk images with custom configurations, you can easily upgrade or restore Mac clients anywhere on your network--saving time and eliminating the expense of distributing software on DVD or external drives.
Restoring from NetRestore. Snow Leopard Server adds a new feature called NetRestore. It lets administrators build a disk image based on a drive that includes all their customizations--or based on a stock Mac OS X installation DVD. Then, using NetRestore, you can restore a Mac over the network using either the custom volume or the stock DVD.
Networking and VPN. To protect and to serve. With Snow Leopard Server, you don't need to be a networking expert to set up a bulletproof server for your organization. Using Server Assistant and Server Preferences, you can easily configure it--safely and securely--just the way you want.
Built-in firewall. A firewall is built into Mac OS X Server, making it easy to restrict access and block unwanted communications to your server. With just a few clicks, you can prevent connections outside your network from accessing services on your server. The enterprise-class firewall scans incoming IP packets and rejects or accepts them based on filters. You can turn off all access outside your network or customize the firewall to perform stateful packet inspection to determine whether an incoming packet is a legitimate response to an outgoing request or part of an ongoing session.
Secure private network access. Virtual private network (VPN) access enables your users to take advantage of network services while they're offsite and simultaneously prevent access by unauthorized individuals. Mac OS X Server supports standards-based L2TP/IPSec and PPTP tunneling protocols to provide encrypted VPN connections for Mac and Windows systems--and even iPhone. These VPN services use secure authentication methods, including MS-CHAP and network-layer IPSec.
Gateway to the world. Mac OS X Server takes the complexity out of configuring Internet settings. If you are using an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11n) as an Internet router, Mac OS X Server can automatically configure AirPort Extreme to make services such as iChat, Mail, Web, and VPN accessible on the Internet. If you don't have an Internet router, Mac OS X Server can set up your dual-Ethernet equipped Mac Pro or Xserve as a gateway between your local network and the Internet.
Enhanced core technologies. A foundation to build your business on.
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