Chapter 1

Lion Server: An Overview

In This Chapter

  • Answering the burning question: Why do I need a server?
  • Exploring the services and tools in Lion Server
  • Discovering what's new in Lion Server
  • Using the Server application and Server Admin with Lion Server
  • Checking out Lion Server's other administration tools

It comes with a wide array of user services: file sharing, calendaring, contact management, web, e-mail, instant messaging, media streaming, and more. It's versatile enough to support Macs and PCs running Windows, Unix, and Linux. It even supports iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches.

It's reliable, built on the solid foundation of Unix. At the same time, it has the ease of use of a Macintosh. Anyone can set it up, get it running, and manage it. Seriously technical professionals will find tools for the kind of configuration customization that they're accustomed to.

It is Mac OS X Server.

Lion Server (also known as Mac OS X Server 10.7) is the eighth major version from Apple. Unlike Microsoft, which releases the Windows user version before the server version, Apple develops user and server versions at the same time. Lion Server looks like the copy of Lion running on users' Macs. And Mac OS X Server runs on Macs, of course — any model that Apple makes today, as well as some older models. You can use Lion Server at home, in a small business, or in a department in a large organization.

In this chapter, I describe what you can do with Lion Server, providing an overview of all the ...

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