InformationWeek

April 26, 1999

Print this story

Mac Transition System

continued...page 2 of 2

Related links:

Networking Resource Center

And from our sister publications:

Computer Reseller News Rhapsody In Blue: Apple OS X Delivers

InternetWeek Apple OS Could Win Some IT Hearts

Mac OS X Server isn't all OpenStep and Unix. There's also the "Blue Box," a virtual Mac OS 8.5.1 environment that can be launched on top of Mac OS X Server and runs many Mac applications, such as Microsoft Office 98. There are, however, several Mac OS APIs that aren't implemented yet, and though many TCP/IP client applications run adequately, most server applications won't run on it. For example, I was unable to get Network Telesystems' excellent LAN TunnelBuilder virtual private network client software to work. Sound and video input, as well as serial ports, are not supported. This isn't a big issue, since the Blue Box is not critical for a server operating system and mainly exists as a convenience tool for system administrators.

Mac OS X Server, it seems, has many server personalities, but Apple is targeting its three main markets with the operating system. Since Apple wants to compete with Windows NT as an Internet Web server, the company has bundled into Mac OS X Server the fast, open-source, Apache Web server and a full WebObjects 4.01 developer suite with a 50-transaction-per-minute license.

A second market is education, typically an Apple stronghold. Here, the combination of Unix-like technology, open-source availability, and strong AppleShare support make Mac OS X Server attractive as a teaching tool and as a server platform for client Macs.

AppleShare IP 6.x is still an easier platform to deal with at the moment, though, especially since it includes IMAP and POP mail servers, and a domain naming system server--these aren't included with Mac OS X Server.

A third market is the multimedia industry, especially publishing. Here again, strong AppleShare support and administrative capabilities are in Mac OS X Server's favor. There are even some third-party Mac OS X applications, such as Helios' EtherShare and Xinet's FullPress prepress product.

Mac OS X Server's administrative tools are spread thin, and while some seem to have well-thought-out GUI interfaces, others really aren't clearly defined. There is, for example, no hard-disk examination tool you can use to administer disks online, such as the Disk Administrator tool under Windows NT. To execute any disk partitioning, formatting, or analysis of HFS partitions Blue Box uses, you must reboot the whole system under Mac OS 8.5.1 (not Blue Box) and then run HdSetup. For Unix File System partitions, the kind used by Mac OS X Server, you have to use the Unix command-line "disk" command.

Backing up files is also difficult. For the Blue Box and AppleShare HFS partitions, you need to get a third-party tool such as Dantz Development Corp.'s Retrospect. For the UFS partitions, you're on your own with just the help of the usual Unix command-line utilities.

It's sometimes hard to tell which tool you should use for network-configuration chores. The Network application and the Network Manager application let you specify name servers for your machine. The Network Manager application lets you administer NFS services, but the Network application lets you turn FTP, Telnet, Mail, and Web services on and off. The new Netboot administrative tool lets you configure users for your AppleTalk network and for Netbooting, but it maintains its own user database, which is separate from the Mac OS X Server database, and it doesn't keep them synchronized. Sendmail is included, but must be configured at the command line. This multiple, overlapping toolset shouldn't have been difficult for Apple to rationalize. Apple needs to sort out and unify its administrative interfaces for the next major Mac OS X release.

Conclusion
Apple doesn't hide the fact that you need to be an experienced Unix system administrator to manage Mac OS X Server. But the confusing array of GUI administrative tools may irritate those administrators. To reach its full potential, Apple needs to create a unified administrative interface for Mac OS X Server and get more third-party applications. The solution to the latter problem will come later in the year when Apple releases Carbon, a Mac-like set of APIs that will make it easier to port existing Mac applications to Mac OS X Server. The client version of Mac OS X Server, which will run modified OpenStep applications natively and Mac OS applications in the Blue Box, is also expected by year's end, though it's hard to imagine how Apple could make it more attractive to users than Mac OS 8.5.

Apple calls Mac OS X Server a transitional product. It's the first step into the future where, presumably, AppleShare IP Server will be folded into Mac OS X Server and Apple will have only one server product. Mac OS X Server is, at least, a potentially scalable platform for the future unified server product.