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CIOs whose IT departments are relying on Windows-based or Linux/Unix-based servers could find cost savings and more manageable operations by switching to Apple's Xserve. Migrating to Xserve offers attractions that are particularly beneficial to small and medium-sized businesses, according to systems consultants and network engineers familiar with companies making the switch. "Xserves are great, particularly for a small or medium-sized business, as they really are set-it-and-forget-it simple," Andrew E. Filipowski, product manager at SolidSpace, told MacNewsWorld.
Re: So You Want Your CIO to Switch to Xserve?
Posted by: noazark 2007-04-24 13:46:04 In reply to: Jack M. Germain
FYI: Open Directory is not a competitor for Exchange; it is a competitor for, and integrates nicely with, Active Directory. Open Directory doesn't handle messaging, calendaring, or the other collaborative functions of Exchange, for which there is no effective competition. To clarify, Open Directory is Apple's LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, if my memory serves me) implementation, and a great one. This stores account, user, sharing, machine binding, privileges, etcetera, in a managed environment. There is an open source WebDAV-based collaborative calendaring solution for iCal, but it isn't, in my humble opinion, ready for enterprise deployment, and probably never will be. This is, of course, because Leopard Server will mark the debut of iCal Server. I'm unsure as to whether iCal Server will support Exchange integration, but it will be a killer app if so. One questions worth entertaining is whether you prefer the modular approach of Apple's iCal/Address Book/Mail solution, or the integrated Exchange.
Despite your article, the Xserve IS a great machine, with fantastic management tools, excellent modularity, lights-out management features, a very solid and VERY secure UNIX operating system with the refinement of an Apple product, brilliant heterogeneous environmental integration, great specs at a competitive price and, most importantly, OS X Server Unlimited Client Edition. That's right: UNLIMITED CLIENT. No CALs to buy... and THAT is why your CIO should want to switch to OS X Server and the Xserve architecture. Also, don't be fooled by Apple's website; you aren't limited to three years of AppleCare support. Just ask your channel rep about your options. Also make note of the Server Maintenance Plan.
OS X Server does have the occasional rough edge, such as the presence of the "Digitally sign all packets" and "Block man-in-the-middle attacks" checkboxes under the Open Directory -> Policy -> Binding tab of Server Admin, but they are few and far between and are well documented.
Anyhow, thanks for taking up the cause, but anything about this contentious subject really needs to be more polished than that if you're hoping to influence CIOs or the people who directly influence them. If you want your CIO to switch to Xserve, just talk them into meeting with an Apple Channel Rep who can lay it all out for them, especially the TCO advantages of a server OS that isn't licensed by client seat, but doesn't need the expertise required to deploy Linux in a heterogeneous environment. Also worth checking out is SUSE Linux from Novell... which still doesn't kick as much ass as OS X, but is superior to Windows any day.
Despite your article, the Xserve IS a great machine, with fantastic management tools, excellent modularity, lights-out management features, a very solid and VERY secure UNIX operating system with the refinement of an Apple product, brilliant heterogeneous environmental integration, great specs at a competitive price and, most importantly, OS X Server Unlimited Client Edition. That's right: UNLIMITED CLIENT. No CALs to buy... and THAT is why your CIO should want to switch to OS X Server and the Xserve architecture. Also, don't be fooled by Apple's website; you aren't limited to three years of AppleCare support. Just ask your channel rep about your options. Also make note of the Server Maintenance Plan.
OS X Server does have the occasional rough edge, such as the presence of the "Digitally sign all packets" and "Block man-in-the-middle attacks" checkboxes under the Open Directory -> Policy -> Binding tab of Server Admin, but they are few and far between and are well documented.
Anyhow, thanks for taking up the cause, but anything about this contentious subject really needs to be more polished than that if you're hoping to influence CIOs or the people who directly influence them. If you want your CIO to switch to Xserve, just talk them into meeting with an Apple Channel Rep who can lay it all out for them, especially the TCO advantages of a server OS that isn't licensed by client seat, but doesn't need the expertise required to deploy Linux in a heterogeneous environment. Also worth checking out is SUSE Linux from Novell... which still doesn't kick as much ass as OS X, but is superior to Windows any day.
