Subject: The State of Mac OS X Server and Netatalk, Revisited

From: Maurice Volaski <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 01:29:36 -0400

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, [email-masked]
Computing Support, Rose F. Kennedy Center
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University