Subject: The State of Mac OS X Server and Netatalk, Revisited
From: Maurice Volaski (mvolaski@aecom.yu.edu)
Date: Fri Aug 04 2000 - 01:29:36 EDT
I recently posted an update describing what has changed with
installing Netatalk on Mac OS X Server.
I related that the original documentation of this topic at
http://irving.ed.uiuc.edu/~rthomas/netatalk-install.html said the
server does not show up in the Chooser. It turns out this is not
correct, at least not any more. Indeed, afpd registers on Appletalk
and is is both viewable and accessible from the list in the Chooser.
The connection established is over TCP.
Someone asked why one would want to run Netatalk on Mac OS X Server
when it already comes with Apple File Services. This was my answer:
Apple File Services under Mac OS X Server supports only HFS+ disks.
NFS currently requires UFS so I can't share the same disk from the
both of them at the same time.
In addition,
1) Netatalk significantly outperforms Apple File Services.
2) Apple File Services is obscurely launched out of an Apache cgi
rather than from the command line. At one point, it simply refused to
launch and I couldn't get to the bottom of it; I had to re-install
the whole OS. With Netatalk, if something goes wrong, I might be in a
better position to investigate problems.
3) Apple File Services is summarily broadcast over the whole Internet
unless I block it with a firewall. With Netatalk, at least I have
some control using tcpwrappers.
-- -- Maurice Volaski, mvolaski@aecom.yu.edu Computing Support, Rose F. Kennedy Center Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Wed Jan 17 2001 - 14:31:50 EST