Subject: Re: netatalk in production environments....(RFC)
From: Marcus Radich (marcus@darena.co.nz)
Date: Wed May 31 2000 - 06:43:51 EDT
One of our premiere products is a WindowsNT to Linux Upgrade which
has gathered a huge amount of 'word of mouth' momentum. Our netatalk
servers pummell NT 4.x servers by 300%, and also outperform
Windows2000 Server by 12-15%.
Before we sell one of these upgrades, we ALWAYS make the client aware
of the following:
- Print Spooling is not an option at this stage. Turn on the spooling
in your Fiery RIP.
- Freehand files saved directly to the server don't keep their links.
Save locally and copy.
- Aliases only work to a volume, not to folders inside a volume.
So, you get to keep your WindowsNT server at 3.0MB/sec, Windows2000
at 7.5MB/sec....or......
if you don't mind the above, get a shiny new speed penguin at a full 9.5MB/sec!
We haven't had one client say no. They accept the limitations and
fall in love with the speed rush.
We now manage over 20 servers in production environments, with 1-2
going in every week.
>it still lacks one MAJOR feature which, in my
>opinion, renders it near unusable in a heavy production environment - alias
support.
>Even under pre-37, alias' for sub-folders will break and not remain attached
>from session to session. Most user's I know heavily rely on alias' to
>utilize server volumes - hence, I do not find it possible to deploy netatalk
>servers in such environments, no matter how much I want to, because the
>server is nearly unusable with alias support.
People have different priorities. To me, a server running under
8MB/sec is nearly unusable. Alias support would be icing on the cake,
but it is not a showstopper not having it.
I remember when Macs didn't have aliases, people still used their macs.
>
>Apple's ASIP (of course) as well as Windows NT have no problems. Novell's
>Netware (which is genuine crap) and netatalk don't handle alias' reliably.
>
>My question, to those of you that DO use netatalk in production environments
>- how do you do it? How do you deal with the alias issue, and what
>work-arounds have you found for your users (no, telling them they can't use
>alias' is NOT an answer....)
>
>I'm really curious, as myself, and several IT friends of mine keep having
>these discussions, and regardless how much we really want to deploy
>netatalk, our hands are tied by the workflow of our users.
I guess it depends how you approach it. "Mr customer, do you want
9MB/sec on your Mac from the server, you can't use aliases, but you
can open a 40MB scan in 5 seconds as opposed to 20 seconds."
>
>I know the problem hs to do with persistent IDs, but why can Win NT handle
>it, and what's the issue with netatalk not being able to?
>
>Harry
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"Always ask the question, never assume the answer."
Marcus Radich 1999
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