Product Reviews

The launch of the client version of Mac OS X 10.2 was, perhaps, a little overdone. For those less enamoured of iCal and iChat, its advantages are the stability and maturity we had hoped of OS X 10.1.

To some extent, the server version of OS X 10.2 follows that model. Apple Mail Server is at last a good choice for those with simple needs and no desire to grovel around in sendmail or fork out for Communigate Pro. The performance of server-side Java has been boosted with an optimised version of Java 2, a new distinction from OS X 10.2 client. But look closely, and you'll find more than mere maturity.

In its drive to win over those currently serving mixed platform networks from Microsoft products, Apple has made PC connections simpler, and PC facilities better than before. This works, but it can seem easier, say, to get a Windows XP Pro system to print through the print server than for a OS X 10.2 client.

Open Windows

Those who would rather forget about the existence of PCs on their network will be reminded each time they go to connect to the server, and see shared Windows folders readily available to all. Given the similar cost between a decent rack-mounted PC loaded with Microsoft products and an Xserve, Apple could find themselves competing on Microsoft's home ground.

As soon as you come to add users or reconfigure existing ones in the new Workgroup Manager, the big changes are obvious. The new Password Server can force users to change their passwords periodically, and more. Once you've added a user, you will stumble across one of OS X 10.2's little quirks: their (server) home folder is not actually created until they first log into the server.

Improved control over resources now allows you to set quotas for home folder sizes, email volume, and knocks on to the Print Server

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with print quotas too. NetBoot at last supports OS X clients, so users can now boot in OS X 10.2 from the server. It also offers standardised systems, with a common Finder setup, Dock and so on. Network Install allows you to build and deliver a wide variety of software installers for clients.

Server all ties

How much you appreciate the other changes depends on your needs. Rendezvous, Apple's version of Zero Configuration, is supported, and NetInfo merges with LDAP to produce Open Directory, a flexible system to serve NetInfo information over LDAP and vice versa. This should prove a happy compromise between the NeXT legacy and practical needs to work with popular directory systems.

With all these new features, the administration applications have grown in number and complexity: Server Settings is the central controller, Workgroup Manager looks after users and groups. Server Status accesses logs, performance metrics and software monitoring, while Server Monitor remains the Xserve hardware watcher.

There are some problems with running old administration applications under OS X 10.1, and the best answer is to administer Server OS X 10.2 from client OS X 10.2 using this new suite. Some of the novel parts of Server OS X 10.2 have already revealed immaturity, particularly Workgroup Manager.

The lack of a bundled system for remote access to the server's desktop and Finder, and their control, needs to be rectified, particularly for those running a rack of 'headless' Xserves.

The weakest part of OS X Server remains the name server (DNS). There's no way of avoiding the clutches of Unix configuration files, without buying a third-party product. Given that DNS has to be configured before you can run a mail server, this does mar the otherwise smooth GUI admin experience. In time, if Rendezvous takes off, the importance of DNS may wane. But this would appear to be some years away, and a friendly tool to provide a first-cut DNS configuration would significantly improve OS X Server's accessibility.

Some have been unimpressed with the new features in the client version of OS X 10.2. No one looking at OS X 10.2 Server can fail to notice the changes. It is establishing itself as scalable over a vast range, accessible to administrators and clients, and is very cheap compared with Microsoft or Linux. Bundled free with Xserve, it's probably the best server on the market.