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Mac Web Servers: Wherefore Mac OS 9?
by David L. Hart, dhart@maccentral.com
Contributing Editor and Columnist
October 28, 1999, 11:45 am ET
Sometimes it's hard to keep up. Living in this technological era, where the latest digital devices are old-fashioned in 18 months, it often feels as if you're inundated in an avalanche of hardware specs, software standards, and a pile of hype.
Even for me, a semi-professional Mac watcher, my head is spinning from the rapid-fire release of new products from Apple, to say nothing of the "buzzword du jour" world of the Web. In recent months, Apple has introduced the iBook, Power Mac G4s, the iMac DV, AirPort, and now Mac OS 9.
To upgrade, or not to upgrade? That is the question. And wherefore (or "why," if you slept through Shakespeare in high school) should Mac webmasters consider upgrading to Mac OS 9?
Server-Side Dynamics Revisited
But before we get there, I want to relay some updates and comments from last week's columns on server-side enhancements that let you serve up dynamic content from otherwise static HTML pages. First, I'd like to clarify a point.
I explicitly avoided using the term "active server pages" to describe this capability because the term was commandeered by Microsoft for the Active Server Pages (ASP) component of its Web server software. Although I avoided the term, the functions I described were the same as those provided by Microsoft's ASP. ASP is just a specific implementation of server-interpreted HTML enhancements.
Next, I'd like to point out a few products that I overlooked.
Greg Meece of Pervasive Software wrote in to remind me of Pervasive's own Tango application development tool. Tango also allows you to integrate database access into your site.
Oliver Busch chimed in with a pointer to Modular Gateway Interface (MGI) from PagePlanet Software. MGI is a plug-in to WebSTAR with server side includes, send mail, forms processing, guest book, authentication, banner ad, database, and e-commerce functionality.
Tim Davis recommended CometSite from Digital Comet, which he says he has used for years and continues to use. CometSite is available for free download, but Digital Comet is no longer updating or supporting the product.
There's one more option if you are running WebTen from Tenon Intersystems as your Web server. Aestiva's HTML/OS provides another Web development environment, but requires WebTen.
Lastly, Al Delgado, a teacher with the Whittier School in Chicago, wrote in with a request for Maxum and other makers of these products. "I just wish that there was better support in terms of online examples to help folks who are not programmers or extremely efficient in coding HTML," Al wrote. "As an educator my time is limited and keeping up a site and renovating an existing site is time consuming." In fairness to Maxum, the NetCloak download includes examples for classified ads, guest books, polls, sending mail from forms, and others.
To 9 or Not To 9?
Now, we return to the topic of the week -- the arrival of Mac OS 9. In all fairness, I don't have a computer to install my copy of Mac OS 9 just yet. I hope to be able to discuss it in greater detail in a future column, but for now, I want to point out a few Mac OS 9 features that a Mac webmaster might consider when deciding whether to upgrade.
Some of these items are easy to read about on Apple's Mac OS site. More technical details are available in the Mac OS 9 article in Apple's Technical Information Library.
Feature #1 -- Open Transport 2.5. One of the unheralded features in Mac OS 9 is that it includes a significant update to the Open Transport (OT) networking architecture. From Apple's TIL article, "OT has been revised to include the implementation of Mentat Portable Streams version 3.3 and Mentat TCP version 3.5. As a result, clients to the Open Transport API can expect improved performance and stability." As I understand it, the OT improvements also have some security benefits.
Feature #2 -- Multiple Users. The multiple-users feature, nifty for households where a Mac is shared, can also provide another layer of security for your Internet server. You can create a profile for second user with limited access to the System Folder and other applications and run your Web server software as that user. Even if your system is breached, and even if someone gets physical access to your system, the most sensitive areas of your file system remain protected.
Feature #3 -- File Sharing over the Internet. Assuming you have separate Macs for your production Web server and development machine, you can now move files from one to the other using familiar Apple File Sharing, even if the two machines aren't on the same local network. If you don't like this option, Mac OS 9 also includes a remote access server so you can dial in to your computer to update your files.
Feature #4 -- Internet AppleScript. In Mac OS 9, AppleScript has become TCP/IP aware, which means you can automate tasks not only on your local computer, but also on computers anywhere on the Internet. I'm sure some clever AppleScripter will devise a way to take advantage of this feature in an AppleScript-based CGI program that runs across two or more machines.
Feature #5 -- Terabyte files. Okay, I don't really know how this could be an advantage for a Web server, but Mac OS 9 will let you work with files that are up to 2 terabytes (2,048 gigabytes) in size. Imagine how long a QuickTime movie you can fit into 2 terabytes.
Although the key selling points for Mac OS 9 have been on the client side, this short list shows that there may be reason to consider an upgrade on the server side. In the coming weeks, I'll try to install Mac OS 9 and provide further details. If any readers out there want to pass along there reasons for or against upgrading, I'll relay those comments in a future column.
For more columns by David Hart, click here.
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