Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server Preview Available

Apple has posted a preview of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server, using as highlights iCal Server 2, Podcast Producer 2, Mail Server, Address Book Server Grand Central and OpenCL, the power of multicore computing and more.

As readers should know by now, Apple has just introduced new Xserve models equipped with Intel's latest Xeon “Nehalem” processors for up to 2.93 GHz of processing power, spanning 4 or 8 cores and a next generation system architecture. The company claims that its fresh servers offer twice the performance for an even lower power consumption. The system starts at $2,999  and includes an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 – Leopard.

However, Apple has prepared an OS so optimized for the new Xserve that will have users waiting breathlessly for it to be released this year. That OS is none other than Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard Server.

On its web site, Apple begins detailing the benefits of Snow Leopard Server by outlining that it is currently the world’s easiest-to-use server operating system, combining an intuitive interface with a rock-solid UNIX foundation leading to an overall better and easier management of the server in question. As Apple puts it, “even nontechnical individuals [can] set up and manage a server,” thanks to Snow Leopard Server.

“Since it was first released, Mac OS X Server has delivered hundreds of new features and innovations, including Open Directory, iCal Server, Podcast Producer, Wiki Server, NetBoot, NetInstall, and Xgrid,” Apple points out. “Snow Leopard Server, the next generation of Mac OS X Server, delivers new core software technologies and services designed to better connect your business, unleash the power of modern hardware, and lay the foundation for a new wave of innovations,” the company explains.

Apple highlights key Snow Leopard Server features like iCal Server, Mail Server, multicore, 64-bit and OpenCL. Speaking of multicore in particular (something the Xserve is now most familiar to), Apple explains that more cores, not faster clock speeds, drive performance increases in what we can achieve today as far as processors go. To leverage multicore hardware, Apple is introducing Grand Central into Snow Leopard Server. Grand Central “makes all of Mac OS X Server multicore aware and optimizes it for allocating tasks across multiple cores and processors,” as Apple puts it.

Apple's full Snow Leopard Server preview can be found here.