Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard Server Review

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(More customer reviews)When Leopard Server was first released, it certainly had some bugs. But any IT person worth their pay knows that you never install the first version of an Server OS after release.
Now that we are up to version 10.5.2, I feel like it's ready to shine.
The new Basic Install is great for those who are not really the IT person, but was put in charge of managing the server. The "On/Off" switches really make it easy to get services up and running.
My favorite thing about Advanced is the ability to see so many stats on how the server is doing under heavy loads.
And of course the best thing about a Mac OS X Server is the licensing. When compared to the costs of Windows server software, it's no comparison.

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Mac OSX Server v. 10.5 Leopard is the newest release of Apple's award-winning UNIX server operating system that runs on Mac systems and Xserve. With its new simplified setup, even someone without an IT background can easily get started using the new Server Assistant application and Server Preferences settings. Mac OSX 10.5 ensures server stability, flexibility and lower cost of ownership with over 250 new features that are accessible to IT professionals as well as nontechnical workgroups and schools alike. Finally, Mac OSX 10.5 Leopard still offers the excellent compatibility, solid reliability and easy-to-use management tools which have made the OSX server line such an overwhelming success. This edition extends license to 10 different clients on the same server network. Spotlight Server - Search for any content stored on mounted network volumes simply by using Spotlight on any cliented Mac! Enjoy updated performance, user access, network reliability and compatibility in such areas as directory, mail and file services.

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Microsoft Windows Server Enterprise 2008 25 Client Review

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(More customer reviews)IMPORTANT! Windows Server 2008 can be purchased in many different forms. Picking the correct kind of license for your needs is not easy--even Microsoft says so on their site. BEFORE you buy, stop by the Microsoft "How to Buy" site. Since I can't put links in Amazon reviews, here's how you find it:
Go to Microsoft's web site, from the Windows menu choose Windows Server. Next look in the bottom right corner for How to Buy & Deploy" and click on that.
I've worked with Server 2008 almost daily for a year and a half now, and even now that I've gotten to know it pretty well, I still find it to be a mixed bag. Microsoft deserves praise for their hard work at improving Security, but the core of their solution (User Account Control) evokes a chorus of boos from the Administrator, who now has to use three or more clicks for almost every action they take.
Then there's also the matter of IIS: Server 2008 is the first operating system to implement IIS 7.0, and this version is substantially different from the IIS 6.0 found in Server 2003. Gone is the metabase, gone is the interface, all to be replaced by an entirely new way of handling everything, top to bottom. It was nice of Microsoft to still leave an IIS 6.0 mode for backwards compatibility, but really if you're going to the lengths of moving up to 2008, sticking with IIS 6.0 for web application deployment is ignoring much of the point of upgrading a web application tier in the first place. Just as with the Security layer, the goal of the IIS redo is noble: make applications easier to manage and more portable than ever. The downside is the learning curve--you really need to toss out much of what you know and patiently spend some time digging around in the interface (and reading--I recommend the Server 2008 Administrator's Pocket Consultant) to get the hang of it. You'll also need to educate your developers a bit if you want to take true advantage of its portability: for example, new sections in the web.config are created to handle the new features in IIS. Much of what was in the Metabase is now integrated into the web.config to make it easier to move an application from one machine to another and not have to manually reconfigure everything.
There are other fringe benefits that don't always seem apparent. For example, while I still feel that file copies and disk performance are bafflingly slow (Server 2008 and Vista like to think about copying, tell you how long they think the copy will take, and then continually update that estimate as they perform the copy, in my opinion wasting a lot of time to do so), we have also seen massive improvements in larger operations: backing up and restoring the system is exponentially faster for a Server 2008 box than it is Server 2003. Reboots seem to be quicker. Applications have more than one choice for memory management: Integrated mode threads resources noticeably better for our web applications than the "Classic" Mode that is more backwards compatible. Support for virtualization in both Hyper-V and VMWare has for us been (mostly) hassle-free. With both Vista and Server 2008 comes a Power Shell (command-line interface) that is amazingly strong: you can seemingly do almost anything at all using only a command line, if that sort of thing floats your boat.
The only remaining thing keeping Server 2008 from receiving much acclaim ties back into the security tedium I mentioned earlier. Reading the Event Viewer now involves an ugly, boxy interface that doesn't easily lend itself to resizing windows or boxes. Modifying a config file isn't as easy as right-clicking the file and opening in Notepad: you have to manually run Notepad as Administrator, respond to the UAC prompts, then choose File-->Open and manually browse to the file. The same is true for Command Prompts: if you don't run them as Administrator, there's seriously very little that you can accomplish. You can't copy from another machine directly into the web root: you will need to place your files in another folder on Windows Server 2008 and then locally copy them forward. And for security reasons, you cannot easily register an Assembly on the box: where Server 2003 would let you copy/paste or drag/drop, now you have to place the assembly in another folder and use the command line to manually register/unregister the assembly. IIS doesn't always pick up handler mappings: sometimes what I see in my developer's web.config I have to then manually re-add in the IIS interface.
If you're thinking of upgrading your Server 2000 or Server 2003 to 2008, you will find youself with what is ultimately safer, more powerful...and more frustrating. At the time I am writing this (Feb. 2010), I'd suggest that Server 2008 is, like Vista, not as polished and user friendly as its newer cousins Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. Server 2008 inserts a learning curve into its use and a lot of gateways that slow down simple tasks. One can see where Microsoft was going with the new model: it just doesn't make the transition very gracefully.

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Microsoft Windows Home Server System Builder with URP1 Review

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(More customer reviews)At the time I'm writing this, Amazon has two versions of WHS listed: this one with a plain white graphic, and another more expensive one with a blue graphic. THIS is the more recent version, despite its lower price.
Microsoft hit a home run with Windows Home Server (WHS). It is one of the first times I've seen a sophisticated software product that is perfect for regular non-techie consumers. It is easy to use, but does not assume the user is a moron. It does this by placing just the right warnings at the right times. Obviously, it's been user-tested a LOT.
Under the covers is is built on Windows Server 2003 SP2. That is an excellent choice, because it is a very mature operating system, and is in use in millions of computer servers around the world. In fact, one of the things I was surprised about when first booting up the software is that you really do have access to the regular Windows desktop, including Start menu and many of the normal programs and features you would expect to see.
So for me, as someone who is very comfortable working with servers, I was very happy to see that although the product does not NEED any kind of tweaking, I had full access to be able to make subtle adjustments that I wanted. For example, I was able to adjust the encryption level on remote desktop sessions to "High" (from the default Normal) in the Administrative Tools > Terminal Services Configuration application. What a great thing that Microsoft did not "dumb down" the product and restrict access for those who know what they're doing.
One of the first things you should do with any new OS install is to run Windows Update, so that it gets patched with all the latest updates from Microsoft. This install is no different, and there were in fact many updates to install (53 or 54 in total). So before playing with your new server, first run Windows Update from the Start > All Programs menu, select the "Custom" option, and check all the boxes to install everything.
Then, after you install the updates (which includes the upgrade from IE6 to IE7) and the computer reboots, run Windows Update again. Typically, in an update that large there are updates that don't install because of some dependencies, and there will be additional updates to the updates you just installed. This is common. Every time Windows Update finishes, immediately run it again -- until you see "0" (zero) next to every category on the left. Also, don't use "Express", keep using "Custom" (contrary to the "recommended" tag next to Express).
Another thing you may want to do is get rid of the Logon Warning that appears every time you log in to the server's desktop (either remotely or on the computer itself). You can do that simply by deleting "Logon Warning" from the All Programs > Startup folder in the Start menu. It is a simple HTML file, so deleting it does not do any harm.
I am really happy with this home server product from Microsoft, and I highly recommend it for any household that has more than one computer.

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For years, you've used servers in the office. It's time to start using one at home. With Windows Home Server, you can easily back up, access, share, and store all your family's digital media. With Power Pack 1 your Windows Home Server experience just got easier, faster, and more reliable. Power Pack 1 is a complete set of enhancements for your Windows Home Server. It combines all previous updates, fixes known issues, and adds new features to improve how you protect, connect and share your files and digital content.

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