EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Apple's Tom Goguen on Mac Enterprise Computing

According to Apple, its developer community has played a critical role in advancing the OS so quickly. Moreover, the company's addition of an Enterprise IT track has helped further Mac server technologies as a viable alternative to Windows, Linux and other Unix offerings.

Tom Goguen, director of server and storage software at Apple, spoke with MacNewsWorld about the WWDC, the total cost-of-ownership advantages of implementing Mac OS X Server software and hardware in the enterprise space, and the value of going the open-source route.

MacNewsWorld: In an interview earlier this year, Ron Okamoto discussed that this year's WWDC will have a dedicated Enterprise IT track for developers. When did Apple first add this track?

Tom Goguen: At WWDC 2003 we added the Enterprise IT track to the conference for the first time, which was a terrific success. This year we've specifically designed the track to help enterprise developers, system administrators and IT managers understand the core technologies that will be delivered in Tiger and fully leverage them in their environments. It's one of close to 200 sessions [Apple is offering] this year.

MNW: What sorts of topics do you expect to see addressed at this year's dedicated Enterprise IT track at the WWDC?

Goguen: Apple's products have captured the attention of IT organizations wanting to develop and deploy open-source and standards-based solutions in their heterogeneous environments. Aimed at in-house developers, system administrators, IT managers and commercial application developers targeting the enterprise, sessions in this track will provide in-depth information and expert guidance on developing, deploying, and managing enterprise applications and solutions. Mac OS X Server, Xsan and storage networking, Directory Services and many other topics will be the focus of this track this year.

MNW: When you and I spoke about the introduction of Panther Server last October, you stressed the concept of "Open source made easy." Has this proven to be a selling point, both with your core target audience and with those looking at Apple as a viable server alternative?

Goguen: With Mac OS X Server, you don't need a black belt in Unix to deploy cost-effective, open-source server solutions. Panther Server combines the most popular solutions from the open source world with breakthrough management tools to create the most powerful and easy-to-use server for Mac, Windows and Unix users. For example, with a couple of mouse clicks, customers can deploy OpenLDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) and Kerberos for directory and authentication, Samba for Windows support, Postfix for e-mail and Apache for hosting Web sites.

MNW: The use of open standards in Panther Server gives it a sort of solidarity with Linux. Do you view Linux in a collaborative sense or a competitive one?

Goguen: Use of open standards and open-source software such as SAMBA and Apache ensures interoperability with other operating systems, including Linux. This allows customers to choose the implementation of those standards -- to mix and match solutions from vendors that best meet their needs. We obviously compete with Linux vendors and provide a comparatively low-priced, easy-to-manage server solution.

MNW: With all the talk of security flaws in Windows, have organizations that previously were not interested in the Mac shown an interest in Panther Server and the Xserve?

Goguen: Yes. Certainly we are proponents of "bio-diversity" in computing. The evidence of the past couple of years confirms that single platform monocultures expose organizations to significant risk from a security standpoint. Additionally, the use of mature open-source software has mitigated some of the security risks normally associated with some proprietary server operating systems.

MNW: Please describe some of the ways Xserve and its related hardware and software has been implemented in the workplace. How have creative, scientific, and educational organizations taken advantage of these offerings?

Goguen: Xserve and Mac OS X server have been deployed in a wide range of server duties. The most common deployments are File and Print, Web services, e-mail services, QuickTime streaming, and Directory services. These services are common across creative, scientific, and education markets. Creative users also deploy specialized applications such as raster image processor (RIP) and open prepress interface (OPI) for printing. Education customers also use student information system (SIS) software and other education related Server applications. In the computational-cluster space, most of the software deployed is in-house developed applications, and standard open source scientific applications.

MNW: I still have heard the refrain among many analysts that Apple's server offerings are not competitive from a total-cost-of-ownership standpoint. What are you doing to combat this perception?

Goguen: In addition to having ongoing discussions with industry analysts, we are continuing to drive value into our solutions. The recently-announced Xsan broke the price barrier for an enterprise class storage-area network (SAN) file system. The combination of Mac OS X Server, Xserve G5, Xserve RAID and Xsan is on an order-of-magnitude less expensive than comparable solutions from traditional enterprise vendors.

MNW: Your 1U servers, as you told me earlier this year, are true 1Us (in other words, they can be stacked together without any space needed between them). However, there has been a lot of buzz recently about inexpensive blade servers that take up even less space. Does Apple have any plans for a blade-server offering?

Goguen: We don't comment on our product plans. However, it is worth noting that the vast majority of dense server sales are 1U and 2U systems. Last year only a tiny percentage of these sales were blade systems. Certainly one of the challenges in this space is the lack of standards.

MNW: How important is it for Apple to provide a complete hardware and software solution when most vendors provide only pieces of the server puzzle? In what ways does this offering provide value that other solutions do not?

Goguen: It is very important for us to provide a great platform on which partners can build powerful solutions for our customers. I think it is less important to customers that we provide it all, and much more important that we work with partners to put "best of breed" solutions on Mac OS X Server.