Mac servers

[Jim Hart]

kjustie at nslsilus.org wrote:

> those of you using Mac web servers is: what model is your Mac server, what
> level of usage (hits) does it support, and what kind of response times do
> you get from it?  As a small-to-medium sized public library, we won't be
> getting an enormous number of hits, perhaps a few hundred a day, but do
> intened to make extensive use of index searching and cgi links to in-house
> Hypercard databases 

I administer 3 PowerMac servers, a 6100 (my personal machine), a 7100,
and an Apple Internet Server 8???.  All of them have low hit rates.  I
don't think hit rates will be your problem, given what you project for
loads.  Response time may be more of a concern.  The Apple Internet
Server has been a testbed for accessing FileMaker Pro databases from the
Web, which may be most similar to what you are planning to do.  Based on
the slowness of response I've seen, I would suggest that you get the
biggest machine you can afford with as much memory as possible.
Performance will be especially important if the Hypercard stacks and
cgis aren't running constantly.  Program load times could be a killer.

BTW, have you heard of MacHTPL?  I just started looking at it.  It could
eliminate the need for a lot of individual cgis, and improve
performance, as a result.  The Mac doesn't offer a way to "nail" a
program in memory, unless it is running all the time, which probably
isn't the case for most cgis.  But, with a good sized disk cache, and
not too many programs being loaded, the load times might be minimized.

-- 
"Working together, we _can_ make a difference."