Some of you may have noticed the new button which appears when you click on AppleShare in the OS 8 Chooser:
As you can see, you can now have access to servers through an IP address. This opens up worlds of possibilities. Unfortunately, the ability to connect to such a server normally requires that the server be running Apple's professional AppleShare IP 5.0 software, which currently costs about $750 for a 5-client license and $1850 for an unlimited number of clients (although it admittedly adds many more features which make it possible to manage a large network of Macintosh users). However, a small company called OpenDoor Networks has created a series of products under the name of ShareWay IP Gateway. These different versions of the same program are known under the names of "personal edition," "standard edition," and "professional"), give you access to a server via tcp/ip "regardless of whether you're running personal file sharing, an older version of AppleShare, or a third-party AFP server on a non-Macintosh OS."
What does this mean, in practical terms? You can run a web site on a Macintosh in your office, compose web pages in your favorite HTML editor (here it is Claris Home Page), and save those files directly to the server. In this snapshot, "Banana" is a partition of my office Mac's hard disk:
The possibilities are limitless: backup, software updates, etc. (beware though that transfer rates are rather slow over modem connections). This is a boon for anyone who needs direct access to hard disk of a remote Mac which isn't easily to reach. This is what "Get info" on my mounted server volume looks like this.
If you install the AFP Engage! URL Processor (a small program) and configure your browser to use it, you can access your server volumes by typing a URL in your web browser instead of going to the chooser (note the URL for "Muse" in the "Gateway Status" window above.
What are the differences between ShareWay IP personal and standard edition? The standard edition requires 1.2 megs of RAM and allows up to 20 simultaneous connections, whereas the personal edition, using 300K of RAM allows up to 10 simultaneous connections. The major difference between the two, though, is that the standard edition can give you access to another machine on the same network as the gateway machine (i.e. the machine on which the ShareWay IP program runs). For example, I could have ShareWay IP running on my office Mac, but access the files residing on another Mac on the same departmental network as my office Mac (for example, Macs in a language lab):
ShareWay IP Professional goes beyond this by including high-end management features and by allowing you to run multiple servers from the same Macintosh. It would probably be overkill for most of us.
The educational prices are as follows: personal edition $69, standard $179, and professional $379. You order these products directly from OpenDoor from their secure page. Most importantly, you may download an evaluation version before you buy.
Installation
This is a snap. With ShareWay IP Personal edition, once you have downloaded the software, you merely need to decompress it on the remote Mac, turn on FileSharing, establish permissions for different users, put an alias to it in your system folder's "Startup Items folder" if so desired, and launch it.
Advantages
ShareWay IP seamlessly allows you to connect to remote "volumes" (i.e. hard disk, CDs) and use them as if they were connected to your local Mac by a cable. It can give you access to files on Macs when these are not accessible by physical means and over great distances. This works so well that it should be included as a feature of the MacOS.
Disadvantages
ShareWay IP requires a permanent internet connection (that's what the "IP" stands for) to the remote Mac, and is thus really only useful for controlling remote Macs which are connected to an ethernet LAN. I realize that this may be a significant disadvantage for many of you, but it probably is not in university office and laboratory environments, where Macs are commonly on ethernet LANs.
© 1998 Marc Bizer