Next message: Curtis Wilcox: "Re: [WinMac] Web Server"
A good, positive story about Mac servers has to do with the Army's recent
decision to go with Mac web servers instead of NT.
------------------
http://macweek.zdnet.com/1999/09/19/army.html
U.S. Army enlists more Macs
By Wendy J. Mattson
The U.S. Army's recent switch to a Mac OS server instead of Windows NT for
its public Web site may be just the beginning of a major shakeup in the
Army's platform strategy.
The Army, which has set up a Power Mac G3 running StarNine Technologies'
WebSTAR Server Suite 4.0 in a locked vault in the Pentagon, is considering
using more Apple products, Army Webmaster Stephen Bates told MacWEEK.
Bates said the switch to WebSTAR is going "remarkably well."
Sources said the choice of WebSTAR on the Mac OS originated with the lower
ranks instead of the top levels of the Army and generated flak from
Microsoft Corp., which complained bitterly about the Army's highly
publicized move. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeff Phillips emphasized that
the platform switch "is an exploratory move by one group and does not signal
a policy change."
Apple spokeswoman Vanessa Rios said the choice of the Mac OS for the Army's
Web site "is not a surprise, given [the OS'] reputation for security and its
popularity with design and publishing professionals."
Bates said his group is evaluating new Apple software, such as upgrades. "We
are considering using OS X Streaming Server and QuickTime streaming," Bates
said. "The Army Band and other organizations have expressed interest in
streaming audio content."
The Army has "a mix of Mac, Windows and Unix machines," Bates said. "We
certainly would like to see QuickTime ported to more platforms."
Bates said Army CIO Lt. Gen. William Campbell has directed the Web team to
share lessons it has learned "with our sister services, such as the Navy and
Air Force as well as the rest of the Army."
His team may give a presentation on the use of WebSTAR running on Mac OS at
the fourth Army Directors of Information Management Conference in March
2000, Bates said. The annual conference brings together
information-technology workers from different federal agencies as well as
commercial companies to compare notes on implementation, installations and
techniques.
The Army decided to use WebSTAR and Mac OS after its Web site was hacked in
late June. Working with the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Command, the
FBI late last month arrested 19-year-old Chad Davis of Green Bay, Wisc., for
the attack on the Army Web site. The Army cited security concerns raised by
the incident as the impetus for its switch to the Mac.
To determine its platform strategy, the Army reviewed the security analysis
provided on the MIT-based World Wide Web Consortium site and evaluated
security issues for its own Web site.
In addition, the Army's Computer Emergency Response Team tested a variety of
software packages, according to WebSTAR Product Manager Eric Zelenka, who
said he began working with Army personnel in June, assisted by the federal
group in Apple's sales force.
Zelenka said the Army was swayed by security features in WebSTAR Server
Suite 4.0, such as Secure Sockets Layer Level 2 and Level 3 encryption for
increased security, a proxy server for network security and access control,
and integrated FTP and e-mail servers.
With Windows NT, "system administrators can't know what is going on when
there is a problem and have to keep up with all the security patches from
Microsoft, which can create more problems," Zelenka said. With WebSTAR, "we
could create a feature to watch for problems and alert a system
administrator that action is needed, so people don't have to monitor the
server all the time."
In the wake of the Army's switch from Windows NT to the Mac OS for its Web
site, other U.S. military branches may decide to use Apple technology more
widely.
According to one online report, the U.S. Navy has had some problems using
Windows NT.
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., is using WebSTAR,
StarNine said. The Center handles the Navy's research, development, testing
and engineering for submarines and other systems associated with undersea
warfare, among other tasks.
Meanwhile, other federal sites have picked up on Apple technology. StarNine
said WebSTAR is in use at the U.S. State Department's main Web site; the
U.S. Peace Corps; the National Institutes of Health; the NASA Ames Research
Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in
New Mexico.
Other government agencies using WebSTAR and the Mac OS for intranets or
other Web sites include the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Commerce, as
well as several divisions in the Department of the Interior, including the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Geological Survey; and the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, StarNine said.
---------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Johnson
District Technology Coordinator
Greendale School District
Greendale WI 53217
jjohnson@greendale.k12.wi.us
> From: Percy Mett <p.mett@open.ac.uk>
> Reply-To: winmac@lists.best.com
> Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 13:26:27 +0000
> To: winmac@lists.best.com
> Subject: [WinMac] Web Server
>
> We currently host a Web server on an NT4 platform.
>
> What are the pros & cons of hosting a Web server under a MacOS?
>
> Percy Mett
>
> London
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