(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Apple’s Nader Nafissi presented “Using Mac OS X Server for hosted services,” where he outlined Apple’s server solutions to a somewhat skeptical croud.
“Apple is known for simplicity, ease of use… from a small business perspective, that’s something they want as well,” Nafissi said. Mac OS X Server is based on a powerful 64-bit Unix foundation, letting it interoperate with a lot of technologies and devices. It supports open standards, so it will work with Mac computers, iPhones, and even PCs.
At Parallels Summit 2010, domain name and web hosting provider Go Daddy has officially introduced a new virtual dedicated server that uses Parallels technology to run Mac OS X servers.
Nafissi said Mac OS X is one of the easiest operating systems to setup and manage, and it is all inclusive, with features such as file sharing, calendaring, mail serving, and more built into the OS.
Also, along the lines of its other products, there’s only one version (compared to some of the competitors that have five different versions) so there’s no de-featuring.
Mac OS will work on any Mac from a Mac Mini or Laptop to the 1U Xserve server with quad-core Intel Xeon processing.
The $499 licencing price cover an unlimited number of clients, so if a business grows from five employees to 20, the cost remains the same. “You’re not punished for growing,” Nafissi said. Several of the attendants noted, however, that while they would like to offer Apple hosting, this price is far too high.
Go Daddy’s Joe Miller said, however, this is something that meets customer needs. “We ask ourselves two questions: Who are our customers, and what do they need?” What they need, he said, is email, colaboration, calendaring, as well as public web hosting, which Go Daddy has offered for ages. They want enterprise-grade solutions, which Apple’s server provides, and Parallels helps Go Daddy deliver them in a scalable way.
Miller also addressed the fact that Apple hosting may be more popular to… a certain croud. “This is a niche market… maybe it’s small today, but maybe it won’t be later.”
