Apple Network Server

The Apple Network Server (ANS) was a short-lived line of PowerPC-based server computers manufactured by Apple Computer from February 1996 to April 1997, when it was discontinued due to very poor sales. It was codenamed "Shiner" and originally consisted of two models, the Network Server 500/132 ("Shiner LE", i.e., "low-end") and the Network Server 700/150 ("Shiner HE", i.e. "high-end"), which got a companion model, the Network Server 700/200 (also "Shiner HE") with a faster CPU in September 1996. They are not a part of the Apple Macintosh line of computers; they were designed to run IBM's AIX operating system and their ROM specifically prevented booting Mac OS. This makes them the last non-Macintosh desktop computers made by Apple to date. The 500/132, 700/150, and 700/200 sold for US$11,000, US$15,000 and US$19,000, respectively.

Apple Network Servers are not to be confused with the Apple Workgroup Servers and the Macintosh Servers, which were Macintosh workstations that shipped with server software and used Mac OS; the sole exception, the Workgroup Server 95—a Quadra 950 with an added SCSI controller that shipped with A/UX—was still able to run Mac OS. Apple did not have comparable server hardware in their product lineup again until the introduction of the Xserve in 2002.

Hardware

The Apple Network Server's hardware was supposed to be based on a new motherboard design specific to the product. During the development of the hardware, Apple abandoned the original motherboard design for unconfirmed reasons. In order to move forward and ship the product, Apple made modifications to the Power Macintosh 9500 logic board and ROM (locking out all Mac OS calls) and ported AIX to the new hardware. Whether related to the hardware change or by coincidence, Apple also abandoned its NetWare on PowerPC development (codename: Wormhole) at this time. The general motherboard layout seems to suggest a close relationship with PowerPC-based RS/6000 systems by IBM, which also were designed to run AIX. On the other hand, many motherboard components, especially the Open Firmware boot ROM, are similar to the "Tsunami" board used in the Power Macintosh 9500 and some Macintosh clones.

The ANS 500/132 uses a PowerPC 604 CPU clocked at 132 MHz, and the ANS 700/150 has the same CPU at 150 MHz. Both had a L1 cache of 32 kB. The ANS 700/200 features the more advanced PowerPC 604e at 200 MHz, with an L1 cache of 64 kB. The L2 cache of the ANS is mounted on a SIMM, with a standard size of 512 kB for the 500 and 1 MB for the 700s. The system bus speed is 44 MHz for the 500, and 50 MHz for the 700s. The ANS motherboard has eight 168-pin DIMM parity RAM slots with six of them free (with a maximum amount of 512 MB of RAM specified, even though up to 1 GB is reported to work ^[1]). The ANS 500/132 shipped with 32 MB of RAM installed (4 × 8 MB 60 ns parity DIMMs manufactured by IBM) and the ANS 700/150 and the ANS 700/200 shipped with 48 MB (2 × 16 MB 60 ns + 2 × 8 MB parity DIMMs also manufactured by IBM). For all practical purposes, the maximum RAM configuration is 4 × 128 MB parity DIMMs (512 MB, total) or 8 × 64 MB parity DIMMs (also 512 MB total). The machine will not POST (i.e. will not pass the Power-On System Test) if more than 512 MB is installed. This is an absolute restriction built into the machine's ROM-DIMM. If even one RAM DIMM is non-parity, then parity checking is turned-off for all RAM, in which case 70 ns RAM DIMMs are acceptable. FPM or EDO RAM DIMMs are acceptable, in any order, as the machine treats EDO RAM DIMMs as FPM RAM DIMMs.

All Network Servers feature an internal two-channel Wide SCSI-2 controller, an external 25-pin SCSI-1 connector and a standard 1.44 MB "SuperDrive" floppy. Six free PCI slots are available for expansion - parts supported under AIX include two Ethernet cards and a SCSI RAID card. Other ports include one ADB port, two serial ports and one AAUI port. Unlike all other Apple computers of the era, the ANS uses a VGA connector for the onboard video; an adapter for Apple displays was included.^[2]

A unique aspect of the Apple Network Servers is their case: It is fully lockable, extremely accessible, features a small LCD for diagnostics, and its front has seven device slots, with a CD-ROM and one hard drive mounted in them in the standard configuration. Additional hot-swappable SCSI hard drive modules or a DAT tape streamer can be added to the free slots. Optionally, the ANS 700 also supports redundant and hot-swappable power supply units and an internal drive rack for two further fixed hard drives. The case is large and heavy, at a height of 61.5 cm, a width of 41.5 cm, a depth of 45 cm and a weight of more than 40 kg. That means it is about the right width for a 19" rack, but needs at least 14 rack units in height. A third model in a smaller rackmount case without the large disk array, the Network Server 300 (codenamed "Deep Dish", as in a deep dish pizza), never got past the prototype stage.^[3] Also in development but never released were CPU cards featuring two CPUs. Power Macintosh 9500 CPU cards, which were available with dual processors, were not compatible with the ANS. A reason for this is Power Macintosh processors are Apple Mac-format processors (7000, 8000 and 9000 series format), whereas ANS processors are IBM-format processors (RS/6000 format).

An ANS 500/132 may be upgraded to an ANS 500/200 simply by installing the 200 MHz processor accessory card. It is possible to upgrade an ANS 500 to an ANS 700 or to downgrade an ANS 700 to an ANS 500 simply by exchanging the power backpanel and PSU(s), but it is necessary to completely disassemble the base of the ANS in order to accomplish such an upgrade/downgrade. Alas, an ANS 700 has but one input power connection, even though it has dual, independent PSUs. However, an ANS 700 may be easily converted into a dual primary power configuration (independent primary power, possibly, and desirably, from different power panels, one possibly backed-up by an Uninterruptible Power Supply) by the simple expedient of removing the IEC input power connector and physically and electrically connecting two input power cordsets, one to each of the redundant PSUs. However, this modification probably invalidates the machine's UL Listing. Nevertheless, such a modification would implement a true N+1 redundancy configuration.

Software

The Network Servers were sold exclusively with the AIX operating system, in a version called "AIX for Apple Network Servers" with some Apple-specific features, like AppleShare services, added; two revisions, 4.1.4 and 4.1.5, exist. Apple's own Unix variant A/UX had already been discontinued and does not support the PowerPC. Due to their AIX OS and hardware similarities, the Network Servers are mostly binary compatible with the RS/6000 series. However, applications which rely on early RS/6000's POWER2 processor and Micro Channel bus are incompatible with the ANS's PowerPC CPU and PCI bus.^[4]

During the development of the product, Apple tested alpha versions of Novell NetWare for PowerPC. Around the same time the hardware changed, the NetWare project ceased to be updated and later was abandoned. Apple also tested and produced limited numbers of ROM SIMMs which supported Windows NT for PowerPC on the Network Server 500 and 700.

As an alternative to AIX it is possible, though complicated,^[5] to install PowerPC Linux or NetBSD on the ANS. It is possible, with prototype Macintosh ROMs, to boot an Apple Network Server 500 or 700 into Mac OS 7.5 or later, however Ethernet support was not complete. No reliable sources for the procedure or requirements exist.^[6] Not only is the Ethernet different, but the display interface is as well. Using an Apple-branded, but DEC "Tulip" Ethernet card ^[7] and a display card from a 9500 goes a long way towards achieving MacOS capability but even this is not assured. Yellowdog Linux 2.x or 3.x is more assured, and NetBSD 1.5.x might be even better. Major issues remain, such as the dual "Bandit" bus controllers, the proprietary floppy format, and possibly the CD-ROM. UW-SCSI hard disks are seldom an issue and Apple even released an U-SCSI (but narrow) hard disk installation kit for the ANS even though an ANS is normally only equipped with UW-SCSI disks.

Status

As of 2005, most Apple Network Servers had been removed from service and most had been returned to Apple or sold on the secondary market, either factory remanufactured or as-is, or sent to a recycler and crushed. It was once not uncommon for a well-featured ANS to barely recover the US$0.99 minimum bid on eBay. Shipping of an ANS is expensive, about US$100 from a US-to-US location, if "Gaylorded". Few, if any, replacement parts are available, particularly not the mechanical components. If and when available, these components sometimes appear at Silicon Valley electronics swap meets, perhaps most notably at the De Anza College electronics and ham radio swap meets (held on the second Saturday of every month, March through October, with a few exceptions)^[8].

Timeline of Macintosh servers

References

1. ^ "Maximum RAM: 1.0 GB (Actual) 512 MB (Apple)", ANS entries on Mactracker
2. ^ Apple technical specifications for the ANS 500/132, ANS 700/150 and ANS 700/200
3. ^ Applefritter, on the ANS 300
4. ^ Apple's AIX binary compatibility guide, mirrored on erik.co.uk
5. ^ shiner.info: Guide to installing Yellowdog Linux 2.x on the ANS
6. ^ Discussion of the possibility of an ANS booting Mac OS from a mailing list archive
7. ^ discusses using this card from a mailing list archive
8. ^ Flea Market @ De Anza College

External links

• "About Apple Network Servers". Archived from the original on 1997-04-12. http://web.archive.org/web/19970412100105/servers.apple.com/prodinfo/NetServer/. 
• Apple's ANS datasheet (PDF format)
• shiner.info, an unofficial ANS resource site
• Erik's Apple Network Server Page
• everymac.com's Network Server page