Mac OS X Server - What’s New in Snow Leopard Server

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OpenCL

OpenCL (Open Computing Language), allows developers to efficiently tap the vast
gigaflops of computing power in the graphics processing unit (GPU). With GPUs
approaching processing speeds of a trillion operations a second, they’re capable of
considerably more than just drawing pictures. Unlike other server operating systems,
Mac OS X Server is specifically designed to use the GPU for graphics rendering, podcast
effects and transitions, and drawing the user interface for Mac OS X Server itself.
OpenCL lets developers apply GPU power in high-performance computing applications
like genomics, video encoding, signal processing, and simulations of physical and
financial models.

Podcast Producer 2

Podcast Producer 2 simplifies the process of recording content, encoding, and
publishing high-quality podcasts for playback in iTunes and on iPod, iPhone, and
Apple TV. Users control recording of lectures, training, presentations, or any other
audio and video projects. Podcast Producer then automatically encodes and publishes
the recording based on your workflow. With Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard
Server, Podcast Producer 2 gains an easy-to-use graphical workflow editor, dual video
recording, Podcast Library, a web-based application to control recording, and optional
failover configuration for high availability.

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The graphical workflow editor, Podcast Composer, leads you through the steps of
defining video-based Podcast Producer workflows. You graphically choose the intro,
title, and exit videos; specify different transitions and effects between videos; and
view real-time titles and effects. You can add watermarks and overlays to your Podcast
content. Your workflow also specifies encoding formats and targets distribution via
wiki, iTunes U, or Podcast Library for your finished podcast.

Podcast Producer 2 lets users record dual video sources using the Podcast Capture
application on a Mac or the new Podcast Capture web application on a Mac, iPhone,
or Windows computer. Apple provides several picture-in-picture templates, or you can
create your own.

Podcast Library lets your server store podcasts and deliver them to viewers through
RSS and Atom feeds. For example, your podcasts can feed directly from your server
through iTunes U. Atom feeds simplify distributing multiple podcast versions, such as
iPod, Apple TV, and audio only, because each Atom feed can contain multiple versions
and the viewer’s playback device automatically picks the best version.

Podcast Producer 2 and the services it relies on, including Xgrid, can be configured for
high availability by setting up failover servers and using an Xsan file system.

Wiki Server 2

Mac OS X Server includes web services that make it easy for users to create and
distribute information through shared wiki websites. Users can easily view, search,
and edit wiki content in their web browsers. They can add, delete, edit, and format wiki
content naturally—without knowing markup codes or special syntax. With a few clicks,
they can attach files and images, publish to podcasts, assign keywords, and link to
other wiki pages or other websites.

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Snow Leopard Server provides each wiki user with a convenient wiki portal, called
My Page, for viewing and creating wikis and blogs, using web calendars, tracking wiki
updates, and accessing webmail.

Mac OS X Server’s single sign-on authentication means a user only needs to enter a
name and password once to access all private wikis. Users don’t need administrator
passwords to create public and private wikis, and the creator of a private wiki controls
access to it.

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Users can search across multiple wikis. They can also see Quick Look previews of wiki
attachments in the browser window, even if they don’t have applications that open the
attachments.

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Snow Leopard Server also has new wiki and blog templates optimized for iPhone.
Besides being better able to view wiki and blog pages, iPhone users can now track wiki
page changes and add comments and tags.

When users create events in personal and group web calendars, Snow Leopard Server
lets them invite other users and assists by looking up invitees and showing their
availability. Snow Leopard Server also allows multiple calendars per user and per group.

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iCal Server 2

iCal Server makes it easy to share calendars, schedule meetings, and coordinate events
within a workgroup, a small business, or a large organization. Colleagues can check
each other’s availability, propose and accept meetings, book conference rooms, reserve
projectors, and more. iCal Server sends meeting invitations with agendas or to-do lists,
and tabulates replies.

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Snow Leopard Server adds push notifications, the ability to email event invitations
to non–iCal Server users, integration with Calendar on iPhone, and a web application
that lets users access their calendars from any computer with a web browser. iCal
Server also integrates with the iCal application in Mac OS X and third-party calendar
applications that support the standard CalDAV protocol.

Address Book Server

Snow Leopard Server introduces Address Book Server, which allows users to find
contact information in an address book across multiple computers without the schema
limitations and security issues associated with LDAP.

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Users can view and add contact information in a server-based address book by using
the Address Book application on any Mac with Snow Leopard. Address Book Server can
also allow Snow Leopard users to find public contact information in directory servers
that your server is connected to. Users of other computers can access address books on
your server using third-party applications that are compatible with the CardDAV open
standard.

Mail Server

Snow Leopard Server boosts its Mail Server performance, reliability, and scalability with
a new, open standards–based engine designed to handle thousands of simultaneous
connections. In addition, Mail Server is enhanced to include push email, server-side
email rules, and vacation messages.

Mobile Access Server

Snow Leopard Server has a Mobile Access Server that can give mobile users secure
access to your private services without inconvenient VPN connections. You specify
whether users can access private mail, web, iCal, and address book services. Users
connect to the reverse proxy Mobile Access Server on the Internet, and it makes secure
connections on their behalf to services that Mac OS X Server provides on your private
network.