Mac OS X "Tiger" Server Previewed

Remaining unmentioned in Steve Jobs' keynote speech at WWDC today are the many updates to the Server cousin of Mac OS X. As with the Panther Server release, Tiger Server will focus on open source, Windows, and ease of use. A preview DVD was, as with Tiger client, given out to WWDC attendees. Tiger will include some new content server options, including blojsom, a Java-powered "blog" server, which was inspired by Rael Dornfest's bloxsom.

It also adds a Jabber server that provides the option of serving iChat. SSL/TLS and Kerberos can be added for security. A single Tiger iChat client can have chats running on multiple servers, so a user can be on the main iChat server, while having private chats on a company server. Because it is Jabber, non-iChat (and non-AIM) clients can participate too.

Tiger Server also works to make network setup even easier with Internet Gateway Setup Assistant. In Panther Server, setting up a network with DNS, DHCP, NAT, firewall, and port mapping was easier than most other platforms, but still required a good deal of manual configuration, and separate configuration of each service. The Setup Assistant will provide single-button setup of it all.

A Software Update Server can cache and control Apple software updates. So once you're satisfied that the new OS update won't delete home folders, you can OK it for your users to download; and they won't take up your Internet bandwidth, because the server cached it.

Mobile Home Directories allows a mobile user to sync his home directory with a central server, backing it up and allowing an admin to manage it.

A new Windows migration tool will allow Windows admins to migrate from Windows-based servers. Tiger Server can act as a Primary Domain Controller for a Windows network, and the tool will migrate user and group account from an existing Windows PDC into Open Directory 2 and Samba 3.

Tiger Server will retain the pricing structure of the previous versions: $500 for the 10-client edition and $1000 for the unlimited client edition (the number of clients referring only to simultaneous file sharing clients).

Comments

Re:Blogs

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, your site is very impressive, especially the the ranting; I believe my favorite quote is something along the lines of you knowing everything about everyone within five minutes of meeting them.

I mention this as your perspective is the answer to your own question. I take it you are a nerd in high school and see yourself as existing on the fringe of whatever social structure exists at your school and your words indicate you have just made the fundamental realization that the fringe is not a bad place to be as it is where creativity often occurs (and you have also embraced the other half of that change in thinking the fringe is somehow a more powerful position than the mainstream; over time you will realize the validitity-- and necessity-- of both).

I say your perspective is the answer to your question because not everyone wants to make a site that is unique and stands out in terms of form. Many people want something easy to create that stands out in terms of content. Many technically inclined people who struggled endlessly to create unique and interesting websites simply because they had nothing to say. When they finally found something to say, they were more interested in getting their message out there in any form and lost the need for it to look unique and interesting.

The blog represents a tremendous step forward in publishing and pop-culture; a large step for humanity in some sense...

Re:Blogs

[Boss Sauce]

While the "check out my cool life" blogs get most of the press, the reality is that there are lots and lots of sites that use blog-type software to control publication. Slashdot, for example, is just a blog with a thick layer of automated security tacked onto its "comment" features.

As a method for handling ANY site which needs regular updating, blogs can't be beat.

Of course, make sure to check out manyforms, or do a lucky Google search for it...:o