ExtremeZ-IP “uniquely allows” users of Apple’s new Mac OS X to continue to use Windows NT and 2000 file servers easily, company spokesperson Dale Gardner told MacCentral.
Mac users are accustomed to using the Chooser to locate servers quickly and simply via the AppleTalk network protocol, but in OS X the Chooser is history — it’s been replaced by the Connect to Servers function.
“Changes in how Mac OS interacts with Windows’ file and print servers have caused problems — blind spots, if you will — for users in Windows networks,” Gardner said. “Group Logic’s ExtremeZ-IP eliminates those problems, preventing untold numbers of support calls.”
ExtremeZ-IP, Group Logic’s file server product for mixed Mac and Windows networks, restores the network connections — and users’ productivity, he added. A demo is available at the Group Logic Web site.
“When connecting to Windows servers not running ExtremeZ-IP, the OS X Connect to Server function fails to deliver the convenience and ease of use that the Chooser has provided for so many years,” T. Reid Lewis, president of Group Logic, said in a statement.
He explained that with Windows NT, Mac OS X users encounter the aforementioned “blind spots” on their networks, because the system can no longer “see” their file servers. With Windows 2000, connecting to the server requires OS X users to discover and enter the device’s multi-part numerical network address (e.g., 209.183.196.2).
“This is the antithesis of ease of use,” Lewis said. “ExtremeZ-IP solves the OS X connectivity problems of both Windows NT and 2000. For the typical employee trying to use the network, tracking down and correctly entering an IP address is an unreasonable expectation — even more technically adept staff will find it to be time-consuming and error prone. This will be a significant support issue for organizations as they deploy OS X.”
ExtremeZ-IP uses the TCP/IP protocol to increase throughput as much as fivefold between Mac clients and Microsoft Windows servers, he added. ExtremeZ-IP enhances native support for Mac communications on Windows NT Server and Workstation, as well as Windows 2000 Server and Professional, Lewis said.