RE: NT versus Appleshare servers

Peter C.S. Adams(adamsp[at]cs.umb.edu)
Wed, 15 Jul 1998 20:10:33 +0200

"Harris, Matt" <HARRISMA@Mattel.com> wrote:
>Currently, NT servers are the way to go. One is more than enough for
>your needs. Advantages: Native File Sharing for NT and Mac Clients;
>One password list for all resources, even if you add a second server;
>Faster transfer speeds; Greater security options. [...] Appleshare IP
>is not as fast or robust as NT and has an inferior security model which
>requires a different user list on every server and won't integrate with
>NT unless you run PC MacLAN.

Except for two things: (1) last I saw, Mac clients and Windows clients
couldn't share the same directory on an NT server; and (2) AFP speed from
NT Services for Mac is TERRIBLE -- Appleshare 4 is faster on a low-end
server! Since the original post came from a guy with something like 30 Macs
and 5 PCs, he should get something that serves the Macs better than an NT
server. Currently, you do need to add client software to the NT machines to
access Appleshare IP 5; this will be remedied in Appleshare IP 6 (see
http://www.apple.com/appleshareip/ for details).

Appleshare servers are designed as departmental servers, not enterprise
servers, but if you want to share users and groups, that's pretty easy:
just copy Users & Groups files around, either on floppy or over the net
from a central server.

What in particular are you thinking of when you imply NT is more secure?
(It does have a lot more options.) Or are you just saying you like the
security *mode*l better? Personally, I think it's a drawback (one person's
advantage is another's design flaw, I guess.) For instance, if you are
logged in to your machine as "Steve Jobs" and want to connect to a server
as "Bill Gates," you have to restart Windows to do it, unless Guest access
is disabled on the NT machine.

>Main disadvantage: Jumping Icons - or use the SFM hot fix from Microsoft
>and get the new bug ... your Macs crash if they use recent items
>servers because of a new incompatibility between NT 4.0 SP3 SFM Hotfix
>and the Macintosh aliases which recent items creates.

Some pretty serious disadvantages. Add in the tremendous complexity of an
NT server and the high cost of either training or support.

Obviously, Appleshare servers are not for everyone, but neither are NT
servers. I still say a typical computer user wanting to set up a server for
30 Macs and 5 PCs should go with Appleshare. A company with 200+ users,
mostly PCs, and the budget for an full-time NT Administrator, would
probably be better off with an NT server, although, as you said, Unix would
be a serious contender.

By the way, for you Mac users with multiple usernames and passwords, the
KeyChain (last seen in PowerTalk) is making a comeback ...

--
Peter C.S. Adams <mailto:peter.adams@umb.edu>
Computing Services, UMass Boston (617) 287-5263
Mac OS: Year 2000 compliant since 1983!

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Wed Jul 15 1998 - 11:19:28 PDT