Chapter 34: Using OS X Server
In This Chapter
Installing OS X Server
Touring the Server application
Creating configuration profiles for Macs and iOS devices
Creating installation images with System Image Utility
The very first version of OS X released to the market was Mac OS X Server way back in January 1999 under the name Mac OS X Server 1.0—the first version for the desktop (Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah) didn't come until March 2001.
So being a server to provision files and more to other computers has been in OS X's DNA from the very beginning. In fact, it's been part of the Mac since the 1984 debut of the original Macintosh: Even that Mac came with a networking technology called AppleTalk that let Macs network with other Macs to share files and printers. That was revolutionary at the time, and it explains why networking and file sharing on other computers such as those running Windows remains an awkward process.
New Feature
OS X Mountain Lion has the same file-sharing capabilities as previous versions of OS X, as Chapter 23 details, with one exception: Gone is the ability to serve a basic website from OS X. To use a Mac as a web server, you need to install the Server application covered in this chapter.
To do more than share resources, as described in Chapter 23, you need the server version of OS X—OS X Server—to do things such as provide shared calendars, e-mail, wikis, files, and more to both Macs and PCs and even in some cases to iOS devices (iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches). ...
