Mac OS X Server

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Mac OS X Server is built on a fully compliant UNIX foundation. This battle-tested core provides the stability, performance, and security that organisations require. And full UNIX conformance ensures compatibility with existing server and application software. Mac OS X Server is the ideal platform for deploying groundbreaking enterprise applications and services.

Open source foundation.

At the heart of Mac OS X Server is the Mach 3.0 microkernel — based on the OSF/mk project from the Open Source Foundation. The Mach kernel provides services for memory management, thread control, hardware abstraction, and interprocess communication. In addition, Mac OS X Server includes the latest technological advances from the open source BSD community. Originally developed at the University of California, Berkeley, the BSD distribution is the foundation of most UNIX implementations today. Mac OS X Server is based largely on the FreeBSD distribution and includes the latest advances from this development community.

UNIX conformance.

Mac OS X Server v10.5 is an Open Brand UNIX 03 Registered Product, conforming to the SUSv3 and POSIX 1003.1 specifications for the C API, Shell Utilities, and Threads. Since Mac OS X Server can compile and run all your existing UNIX code, you can deploy it in environments that demand full conformance — complete with hooks to maintain compatibility with existing software.

Fine-grained multithreading.

The kernel in Mac OS X Server provides superior thread management and affinity algorithms for efficient handling of multithreaded applications on the latest generation of Intel multicore processors. It also provides precise control of real-time processing requirements, allowing a user-level thread — even an unprivileged one — to precisely specify its requirements for time-sensitive operations. Mac OS X Server implements the complete POSIX threading model (from the POSIX 1003.1c standard), ensuring that each thread can be scheduled independently for maximum efficiency.

Multicore optimized.

Mac OS X Server v10.5 features improved processor scheduling and affinity algorithms to take advantage of the latest generation of Intel multicore processors. With its advanced symmetric multiprocessing architecture, your applications can benefit immediately from the exceptional performance of today’s Intel processors. With multiple processors working in parallel, tasks can execute in little more than the time required to complete each task on a single processor.

Advanced server features.

While Mac OS X Server is built on the same robust UNIX architecture as Mac OS X, it adds industrial-strength features required for business-critical server deployments. Designed for “headless” operation, Mac OS X Server enables administrators to install and configure services without needing to connect a display to the server. Powerful remote administration tools permit secure service management from anywhere on the network or over the Internet, and support for SSH provides secure access from the UNIX command line. To keep critical services up and running, Mac OS X Server has built-in tools for monitoring systems, preventing accidental shutdown, and recovering services quickly in case of network or power failure.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.