“Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Server adds innovative features and a new low price tag, but cuts in services and the elimination of advanced GUI administration tools may force some enterprise departments to think twice about the role of Mac servers on their networks,” John Rizzo reports for Infoworld.
“Some of the new features will please managers in business and education: The Profile Manager, a slick new Web-front-end tool for providing automatic push configuration and group policy management for Mac Lion and iOS clients, is miles ahead of Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server’s old Managed Preferences features,” Rizzo reports. “Then there’s built-in support for Microsoft’s distributed file system (DFS) and Apple’s Xsan file system, the latter for accessing storage-attached networking (SAN) over Fibre Channel.”
“But once the initial excitement subsides and you start looking more deeply inside Lion Server, it’s impossible to avoid the conclusion that Lion Server is not built for those of us in IT,” Rizzo reports. “The $50 price tag — down from $500 — is the first clue that Lion Server trying to be a server for the consumer. Apple’s slogan is “servers made easy.” To that end, a new administration tool, called Server, is more logical and easier to use than the old Server Preferences that it replaced. And Server can do more than Server Preferences could.”
Rizzo reports, “But the ironic part for IT administrators is that Lion Server actually requires a greater degree of technical knowledge than its predecessors. Many routine tasks that were formerly a mouse click away now can be accomplished only via the Unix shell command line. Worse yet, some routine tasks are no long possible at all… When you consider Lion Server’s truncated capabilities along with the discontinuation of the Apple Xserve rack-mount hardware, the signal from Apple seems to be it’s not that interested in keeping businesses on Mac OS X Server.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The profits from the many outweigh the profits from the few. At Apple, unlike many other companies, businesses that are going nowhere fast are ruthlessly refocused. We vastly prefer this approach to stagnation and inevitable decline. As long as the server does its job, who cares what it is and what it’s running? It’s what the end users are using that’s important and they come in far greater numbers, too. Apple makes computers for people, not machines.
Related articles:
Why Apple had to kill Xserve – June 7, 2011
70% of Xserve customers say Apple’s discontinuation will have no impact on decision to buy new Macs – December 07, 2010
Why Steve Jobs pulled the plug on Xserve, and how Apple can reenter the server market – November 09, 2010
Steve Jobs on Xserve cancellation: ‘Hardly anybody was buying them’ – November 08, 2010
Apple offers new $2999 Mac Pro Server to replace Xserve – November 05, 2010
Apple discontinues Xserve as of January 31; will continue to fully support existing units – November 05, 2010
So then who is Lion Server meant for?
Small businesses and home users.
Lion Server is like the Coccyx, a vestigial tail on human beings that has outlived its original purpose and only remains as a bookend to history. My guess is the next iteration of Mac OS X will drop the server OS because it will be deemed a waste of time.
Removal of MySQL is a total bummer as so much software depends on it, and most of the time does not have support for the included PostgreSQL dbms.
Even though you can use the (updated) server admin tool with it, it is lacking and will force you to use the new tool which at times seems convoluted.
If you used MySQL at all you’d know that you need to install newer releases of MySQL under all versions of OS X Server because the version Apple installs by default is typically a year or more out of date. The install was trivial under all the big cat servers as it is under Lion.. You just don’t have the a GUI on/off switch in Server Admin…which, btw, is unnecessary if you configured launchd correctly.
Agreed, but blatantly removing it for PostgreSQL is a bad choice. They should have kept it current.
Shame. We use X Server for our mail, but sadly, support and configuration through the terminal is lacking. Otherwise, it has been a good server.
what is xserver? Do you mean you have an Apple Xserve running Mac OS X Server? If so, you are sadly mistaken. It is the gui tools that have always been lacking (and often break things, like DNS config) the command line tools are excellent AND well documented. Don’t confuse your lack of knowledge with a lack of terminal support. Or perhaps you mean your local support company doesn’t know how to use the CLI, in which case you need new support peeps..
Sigh…I only have the Windows 7 machines authenticating in leopard server by way of pgina, which is a hack-y sort of solution. Seems like Apple doesn’t want to take on the AD group management features for windows clients.
Really bad: apple intentionally kills server market and basically forces people move other operating systems.
It is one thing that a company would not want to invest in developing something further than what it is currently, but it is another thing that company would invest basically in killing fine developed features.
An InfoWorld writer dismissing a OS X server build, one that “may prompt a move to Windows Server”.
Pardon me if I’m not picking my jaw up off my desk.
Servers can be replaced overnight with little impact to the users. One day here gone the next. Such was the fate of Novell.
It’s a quick, neat and painless way of clearing out legacy clutter from the server room.
Legacy windows servers that is.
You can still download admin and workgroup apps from store
Back before Snow Leopard I was hoping that the next version of Mac OS Server would essentially be a “Mobile Me in a box” — sexy web apps and all.
They didn’t go there, and unfortunately it increasingly seems that iCloud is Apple’s only idea for the future of “client-server”. It looks great for 90% of iPad, iPhone & Mac owners, but it won’t be ideal for everyone.
The elimination of some of the web server control panels could be a good thing. Those control panels could not manage all of the Apache settings, and using the control panels could clobber any custom settings made the the Apache configuration files. Still, the control panels were a useful convenience at times, so they will be missed.
I’m wondering how much of what was left out will be put back in via an upcoming update?
Though I disagree with it, Apple keeps sending fairly clear signals that they do not care about the enterprise market. I guess Steve doesn’t think the profit margins there are worth the effort.
Look, if Lion Server isn’t up to the heavy duty tasks that corporations require then it won’t be used. Departments will just stick with using the almighty Microsoft solutions. But at least those that want a light alternative to a server solution will likely be happy with Lion Server. You get what you pay for. Lion Server is cheap and simple. So Apple isn’t good at everything. No company is. Maybe Apple doesn’t have the necessary staff to build a perfect server solution at the present time. Maybe over time it will offer greater strengths. Whatever. Meanwhile, Apple has bigger fish to fry.
Dumb response MDN. Ever heard of cross-subsidisation, where the profitable part of the company funds the another part of the company which serves an important support role nonetheless?
It seems extremely short sighted of Apple to basically abandon the server side of the business, or at least allow it to wither, both hardware and software. Not everyone wants a heterogeneous network setup and I would have thought Apple would get that. Some people do actually want an end-to-end solution from the one provider.
Businesses loose confidence in companies which make such sharp changes in direction, especially when they fail to communicate a recommended, supported alternative. What are companies supposed to use for their backend infrastructure now that the servers are killed off – Windows racks? Unix racks? Who know’s – Apple isn’t saying! And no, Mac Pro’s aren’t proper servers, nor are Mac Minis proper servers.
If Apple doesn’t want to make the hardware itself anymore, then allow someone else to – IBM, Sun, HP, whoever – just allow continuity.
If I was the IT person for a large company dedicated to Mac end-to-end (instead of the small-business IT person that I am), I’d be extremely pissed off that Apple is cutting off its nose to spite its face – and leaving me completely out in the cold.
It’s just so short sighted for a company that, for a while at least, understood the bigger picture.
Agreed.
Agreed times 10.
Once the server goes, the clients follow. Bone headed move Apple… Do I want to go back to Windows? No, but at least I know they will be there to support it in 5 years… Not just yank the rug out, give pros the big F u, with maybe a joke of a migration path, like use a mac mini when x serve died.
Ok, I was looking at the Server add-on.
I have a question.
Lets say i buy it and later decide i don’t need it on my machine. Is there a shut down all the services with server, and revert back to just plain Lion option?
Or would i always be Lion Server, with the server stuff just turned off?
I’m tempted to go buy a new Mini and sell my 2 old Power Mac’s i have, and an older Mini, then upgrade the Mini to Server.. But if i don’t want to keep Server, I wonder if my only option is to restore the Mini to Factory. But without an optical drive i’m wondering if the recovery partition gets updated to Lion Server also.. Which means i’d have to use my DVD/USB install to go back..
Just flirting with the idea, but something i would want to know before i go Lion Server.
Your basic os has the server components, just not the APple made server gui apps. Services are turned on by individual setting and can be turned off just as easily. No fear..
actually i found the answer on macrumors. someone else had the same thought.
once you upgrade to server, you will only be able to go back to Lion by deleting a pref file after everything is turned off. That or use a Lion DVD/USB to wipe the drive and start fresh.
If you are shown as Lion Server, you will not get the Lion only updates. Delete the pref file and update servers see you as plain Lion again.
If any of you had any experience with Lion Server you’d know pretty much the exact same functionality is there, but it’s just easier to use.
Easier. to. use.
“The profits from the many outweigh the profits from the few.”
I wonder how long MDN will continue to spout this rubbish. By this standard McDonald’s is the best restaurant in the world.
They will use it as long as it fits their agenda thats how long, sad isnt it?
Basically twist anything and everything to keep apple on that pedistol MDN. Objectivity? Not in this house! Here’s to the crazy ones may they all lie down and comform.
I’ve already “lie”d down and “comformed”!
On the whole server issue, I’m just wondering if maybe we can’t see the full picture yet.
I know! I know! Apple is usually so open about their game plan. Maybe, just maybe, they’re being secretive and not showing their hand. Crazy idea!
“Basically twist anything and everything to keep apple on that pedistol MDN. Objectivity? Not in this house! ”
Well said.