Mac OS X Server

Mac OS X web hosting dialogue window

Web hosting. From Apache to Zope.

You don’t need to be an experienced webmaster to host your own home page, website, or Web 2.0 application with Mac OS X Server. With its intuitive administration interface, you can immediately start up a static website or deploy even the most sophisticated of sites.

Get started easily.

Mac OS X Server takes the complexity out of configuring, hosting, and managing websites. An intuitive administration interface makes it easy to get started with a static website, while providing advanced capabilities for professional webmasters responsible for deploying sophisticated services. It includes tools for serving dynamic content, CGI scripting, enterprise applications, encryption, and database integration.

Web server options

Powered by Apache.

Apache icon

Included in Mac OS X Server is Apache, the most widely used HTTP server on the Internet. Apache is preconfigured with default settings, so deployment is as simple as starting the Web service. Any HTML content saved to the server’s default web folder will be served over the Internet automatically. Mac OS X Server offers experienced webmasters support for using Apache 2.2 from within the Server Admin application.

Deploy the Web 2.0.

Mac OS X Server comes with everything you need for flexible and scalable web hosting, including the Apache web server; WebDAV for content publishing; CGI support; SSL support for encryption and authentication; and dynamic content hosting with server-side includes, Perl, Ruby on Rails, Tomcat, and Python. For hosting enterprise-class applications, Mac OS X Server includes a 64-bit Java VM optimized for the latest generation of Intel multicore processors.

Hosting multiple websites.

Support for virtual hosting in Mac OS X Server allows you to host multiple websites on a single server. You can configure each website on your server to have a different domain name (using virtual domains) and even a different IP address. In addition, each website can be configured with unique security options and separate log files for tracking and reporting.

Java Server Performance* Updated

Snow Leopard Server

1.3x

Leopard Server

SPECjbb2005 results

View all performance charts

Secure web services.

Mac OS X Server integrates OpenSSL with the Apache web server, providing support for strong 128-bit encryption and public key infrastructure (PKI) authentication using X.509 digital certificates. This high-grade security architecture protects credit card information and other confidential personal and business data transmitted during web transactions.

Video streaming with
Mac OS X Server. New

QuickTime X, included with Snow Leopard Server, takes Internet video streaming to new levels with support for HTTP live streaming. Unlike other streaming technologies, HTTP live streaming uses the HTTP protocol — the same network technology that powers the web. That means QuickTime X streams audio and video using your web server instead of a special streaming server, and it works reliably with common firewall and wireless router settings. HTTP live streaming is designed for mobility and can dynamically adjust movie playback quality to match the available speed of wired or wireless networks.

Collaborative web
publishing using WebDAV.

Mac OS X Server includes support for Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, or WebDAV. This enhancement to the HTTP protocol turns a website into a document database that enables collaborative creation, editing, and searching from remote locations — particularly useful for updating content on a website. WebDAV works with popular web publishing applications, allowing web content creators on any Internet-connected computer to open files, make changes or additions, and save those revisions to the web server, even while it’s still running.

*Testing conducted by Apple in May 2009. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve and Mac OS X Server. View more detailed information.