This Web site, home to The Cross-Platform Mac Handbook, the Mac OS X Web Server Handbook, and the Mac OS 8 Web Server Cookbook, was served up on my office Mac from 1998 until February 2002. It is now hosted at its new domain, MacBooks.net at the WeHostMacs.com hosting service.

I had to switch to a hosting service because after six years of working on a desk-bound Mac, I have upgraded to a Titanium PowerBook G4. The TiBook is certainly capable of handling the server load, but with as a mobile system, I can no longer provide around-the-clock availability. By moving to a new domain and using a hosting service, the sites should all be available much more reliably and continuously.

For the record, I've left this page and updated it with the info on my last desktop Web server environment.

Web Server Statistics

I used Summary.Net to keep running tabs on my site logs.

Hardware

The site served from a 400-MHz PowerMac G4 tower. It has a 6-GB drive and 256 MB of RAM. It is connected to SDSC's local-area Ethernet, which is connected to the Internet through SDSC's partial T3 connection.

Mac OS 9.2.1: My Mac is now running Mac OS 9.2.1. Keep in mind that this was never a dedicated Web server. In addition to the applications below, I also performed my day-to-day work on this Mac. Most days, I kept between 12 and 14 applications open, including Netscape Communicator, Microsoft Word 98, Adobe GoLive, Eudora Pro, F-Secure SSH, and less often Quark XPress 4.0 (with the Beyond Press XTension), and a graphics editing program such as PhotoShop or Macromedia Fireworks.

Server Software

Web and Database Server -- WebServer 4D. I ran WebServer 4D thanks to the fine folks at MDG Computer Services. On the plus side, it's an all-in-one Web server, search engine, and database server. On the downside, it's a little complicated and takes some effort to get it up and running with all the admittedly useful bells and whistles. The server's name was http://hart-mac.sdsc.edu/ (R.I.P.).

FTP Server -- NetPresenz 4.1. This was a shareware application from Stairways Software that evolved from a $10 option to a pricey $70 option. I used pretty much the default settings for anonymous ftp and for authenticated file transfer.

Scripting Languages -- MacPerl 5.0. I use WebServer 4D built-in functions where possible, but when I must roll my own scripts, I've used MacPerl.

Development Software

Site Management/Page Creation -- Adobe GoLive 5.0. I highly recommend this program, which I've been using since it was GoLive CyberStudio 2.0. In addition to being the best page design tool I've found, GoLive supports Dynamic HTML actions (making image rollovers a breeze) and Cascading Style Sheets (although the CSS editor is not as intuitive to use.) Beyond that the Site Management tools are excellent, with the ftp integration much improved.

Image Creation/Editing -- Macromedia Fireworks 1.0. Iuse Macromedia Fireworks for creating Web images for this site and others.