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 Apple today previewed Mac OS
X Server version 10.5 Leopard, the next major release of Apple's
award-winning UNIX server operating system. Leopard Server, scheduled
to ship in spring 2007, builds on Apple's legendary ease of use with
new Server Assistant and Server Preference features that make it easy
for even non-technical users to setup and manage a server with just a
few clicks of a mouse.
For the first time, Apple is delivering native
64-bit server applications that take advantage of the increased
processing power of 64-bit computing. Other new features include iCal
Server, the easiest way to share calendars, schedule meetings and plan
events; a wiki server that makes it simple for teams to share and
communicate; Spotlight Server, the fastest way to find content on
servers; and Podcast Producer, the ideal way to automate Podcast
production.
"Leopard Server brings a new level of 64-bit power together with
Apple's legendary ease of use in one server operating system," said
Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product
Marketing. "Leopard Server is our best Mac OS X Server release yet and
includes many new innovative features, such as iCal Server, a wiki
server and Spotlight Server, making it ideal for education, small
businesses and large enterprises alike, and a great alternative to
Windows and Linux servers."
Leopard Server enables small businesses and workgroups to take full
advantage of the benefits of a server without an IT department. Leopard
Server features a new setup interface with built-in Network Health
Check, a new Server Preferences administration interface and automatic
client setup support that automatically configures Mac OS X version
10.5 Leopard clients to use the server for all essential services,
including file and printer sharing, Mail, iCal, iChat, Address Book and
backup.
The core services in Leopard Server, including Apache 2, MySQL 5,
Postfix, Cyrus, iChat Server and QuickTime Streaming Server, are now
64-bit, allowing users to take full advantage of their 64-bit
hardware's performance and processing power, and to work with larger
data sets. Since Leopard Server is fully 32-bit compatible, users can
run 32-bit and 64-bit applications natively side-by-side.
For the first time, Mac OS X Server will include a calendar server
for users and groups to coordinate events, schedule meetings, reserve
resources and use time more effectively. iCal Server uses the open
CalDAV standard for integration with leading calendar programs,
including iCal 3 in Leopard, Mozilla's Sunbird, OSAF's Chandler and
Microsoft Outlook. Leopard Server also includes a wiki server to make
it easy for teams to create and share information through their own
shared website and provides web-based access to shared resources such
as team calendars, weblogs and Podcasts. Spotlight Server is the
fastest way to search and find content on servers within a network.
Designed for workgroups with shared documents, projects and file
archives, Spotlight Server works with Leopard clients to deliver quick,
lightning fast searches of content stored on mounted volumes across the
entire network.
With Podcast Producer, anyone can record content, automatically
upload it to the server and convert it into a Podcast. Using Xgrid,
Podcast Producer can leverage any Mac on the network to encode the
video. The Podcast can then be delivered over the Internet or even to
multimedia enabled cell phones over high speed wireless networks using
QuickTime Streaming Server.
Other new features in Leopard Server include:
- Mail Clustering for higher availability
and reliability when used with Xsan, Apple's clustered file system for
storage area networks*;
- iChat Server 2 with instant message
federation that lets users communicate with GoogleTalk and other XMPP
instant messaging systems;
- QuickTime Streaming Server 6 with
support for 3GPP Release 6 bit rate adaptation for smooth streaming
when delivering content to mobile phones regardless of network
congestion;
- new Adaptive Firewall technology to actively
monitor for attacks and proactively block individual hosts from
connecting to the server; and
- Xgrid 2 featuring GridAnywhere
for distributed computing in environments without dedicated
controllers, and Scoreboard for prioritizing job distribution to the
fastest available CPU.
*Xsan sold separately.
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