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The Apple Network Server (ANS) was a line of
PowerPC PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple– IBM ...
-based server computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1996 to April 1997. 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 A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
in November 1996. The machines were not a part of the
Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software ...
line of computers; they were designed to run IBM's
AIX operating system AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive, pronounced , "ay-eye-ex") is a series of proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms. Background Originally released for the IBM RT PC RISC works ...
and their
ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...
specifically prevented booting the
classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. Th ...
. This makes them the last non-Macintosh desktop computers made by Apple to date. The 500/132, 700/150, and 97 sold in the U.S. market for $11,000, $15,000 and $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 A/UX is Apple Computer's Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by ...
—was also capable of running Mac OS. Apple did not have comparable server hardware in their product lineup again until the introduction of the
Xserve Xserve is a line of rack unit computers designed by Apple Inc. for use as servers. Introduced in 2002, it was Apple's first designated server hardware design since the Apple Network Server in 1996. In the meantime, ordinary Power Macintosh G ...
in 2002. The product's short lifespan is attributed to significant financial troubles at Apple in early 1997. CEO
Gil Amelio Gilbert Frank Amelio (born March 1, 1943) is an American technology executive. Amelio worked at Bell Labs, Fairchild Semiconductor, and the semiconductor division of Rockwell International, and was also the CEO of National Semiconductor and A ...
cancelled both Network Server and OpenDoc in the same meeting as it was determined that they were low priorities.


Hardware

The Apple Network Server's hardware was supposed to be based on a new logic board design specific to the product. During the development of the hardware, Apple abandoned the original mainboard 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 NetWare is a discontinued computer network operating system developed by Novell, Inc. It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, using the IPX network protocol. The original NetWare product i ...
on PowerPC development (codename: Wormhole) at this time. The general logic board layout seems to suggest a close relationship with PowerPC-based
RS/6000 The RISC System/6000 (RS/6000) is a family of RISC-based Unix servers, workstations and supercomputers made by IBM in the 1990s. The RS/6000 family replaced the IBM RT PC computer platform in February 1990 and was the first computer line to s ...
systems by IBM, which also were designed to run AIX. On the other hand, many logic board components, especially the
Open Firmware Open Firmware is a standard defining the interfaces of a computer firmware system, formerly endorsed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It originated at Sun Microsystems, where it was known as OpenBoot, and has bee ...
boot ROM, are similar to the "Tsunami" board used in the Power Macintosh 9500 and some Macintosh clones. While the circuit board layout of the Apple Network Server (ANS) may resemble RS/6000 systems, logically and physically it is almost identical to a Power Macintosh 9500 (PM9500), although running quite different firmware, and which is specific to its unique mission function. Starting at the top level bus and working downward in the bus hierarchy, at the top level is the CPU bus with a Hammerhead controller (Apple Part # 343S1190) which is also found on the PM9500. The CPU, as mentioned, is a PowerPC 604 or 604e. The CPU bus-to-PCI bus bridges are Bandit controllers (343S0020). Both the ANS and the PM9500 have two Bandit controllers and two separate PCI busses. All devices at the CPU bus level are identical between the ANS and PM9500. On both systems the CPU Bus Clock is supplied by the removable CPU card. However, on the ANS the clock buffer which splits the System Clock for all the CPU Bus Devices is on the logic board, whereas on the PowerMac 9500 the clock buffer is on the CPU card. The memory data lane controllers are different on the ANS from the ones on the PM9500, presumably because of added support for parity memory. The ANS memory data lane controllers are 343S1161 instead of 343S1141 as on the PM9500. However, the memory structure is the same with two banks of DIMM slots and support for memory interleaving when corresponding slots in different banks contain identical memory DIMMs. The ANS does have eight memory DIMM slots instead of the PM9500's twelve, but other Hammerhead-based machines such as the PM8500 also carry only eight memory DIMM slots. On the PCI bus, as mentioned above, the ANS uses the Bandit PCI bridge, just as the PM9500 does. The PCI bus arbiters are also identical (343S0182). The bus arbiters receive the PCI Bus Request signals and issue the Bus Grant Signals to the PCI slots and to the PCI bridge chips (Bandit). The interrupt manager and logic board IO controller is also the same. Both use Grand Central (343S1125). Grand Central is a device on the PCI bus. At the PCI bus, ANS parts ways with the PM9500 in a few ways. The ANS has two 53C825A SCSI chips with support for Fast & Wide SCSI operations, which are not present in the PM9500. These each appear as a separate PCI device on the PCI bus. The ANS also adds a Cirrus Logic 54M30 video controller as an additional PCI device. In all the ANS has three PCI devices which the PM9500 lacks. The ANS's PCI slots are also organized differently. On the PM9500, Grand Central and the first three PCI slots are supported by Bandit 1. The remaining three PCI slots are supported by Bandit 2. On the ANS, Grand Central, the two 53C825A SCSI chips, the 54M30 video controller and the upper two PCI slots are supported by Bandit 1. The remaining four PCI slots are supported by Bandit 2. Some may find it interesting that this (six devices supported by Bandit 1) confirms that the Bandit PCI Bridge and associated arbiter chip can directly (no PCI-PCI bridge required) support at least six PCI devices given proper firmware support. Going down further in the hierarchy, the Grand Central chip is a sort of I/O bus for miscellaneous logic board devices. Both the ANS and the PM9500 use the CURIO chip (AM79C950, custom part from AMD) to support serial ports, a slow (5 Mbit/s, 53C94/96 based) SCSI bus and 10Mbit/s ethernet. The SWIM floppy controller is also common to both machines and connected through the Grand Central chip. The ANS lacks the MESH SCSI chip (53CF94/6 derived Apple SCSI chip) which is present on the PM9600 and supports the internal Fast SCSI bus. Grand Central provides support for eleven system interrupts. On both the Macintosh and the ANS, each PCI slot contains only one interrupt line (up to four supported in PCI spec.) and each interrupt line is used by only one device. The interrupt map is different in the two machines, and this represents the most likely reason why inserting a PM9500 or PM9600 ROM in an ANS will not allow the machine to boot. The firmware expects certain interrupts to correspond to certain events, but the interrupt signal is physically connected to a different device than the firmware expects. The ANS 500/132 uses a PowerPC 604 CPU clocked at 132 MHz, and the ANS 700/150 has the same family CPU but clocked at 150 MHz. Both have a
L1 cache A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, whic ...
of 32 kB. The ANS 700/200 features the more advanced PowerPC 604e clocked at 200 MHz, with an L1 cache of 64 kB. The
L2 cache A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, whic ...
of the ANS is mounted on a
SIMM A SIMM (single in-line memory module) is a type of memory module containing random-access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), the most predominant form of memo ...
, with a standard size of 512 kB for the 500 and 1 MB for the 700s. Any ANS may have the 1 MB cache card fitted. The system bus speed is 44 MHz for the 500, and 50 MHz for the 700s or ''any'' ANS to which the 200 MHz processor card had been fitted. The ANS logic board has eight 168-pin
DIMM A DIMM () (Dual In-line Memory Module), commonly called a RAM stick, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These memory modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal compute ...
parity RAM slots with four of them free (with a maximum amount of 512 MB of RAM specified). 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 Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, electrical, optical and logical interface ...
-2 controller (narrow, to the CD-ROM drive, and to any hard drives which have been installed with the Apple accessory Narrow SCSI-2 installation kit), an external 25-pin SCSI-1 connector and a standard 1.44 MB " SuperDrive" floppy. Six free
PCI PCI may refer to: Business and economics * Payment card industry, businesses associated with debit, credit, and other payment cards ** Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a set of security requirements for credit card processors * Prov ...
slots are available for expansion—parts supported under AIX include two
Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in ...
cards and a SCSI
RAID Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male colleg ...
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 The Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector is a standard connector used for computer video output. Originating with the 1987 IBM PS/2 and its VGA graphics system, the 15-pin connector went on to become ubiquitous on PCs, as well as many monitor ...
for the on-board video; an adapter for Apple displays was included. A unique aspect of the Apple Network Servers is their case: It is fully lockable and extremely accessible, it features a small
LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but i ...
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 , a width of , a depth of and a weight of over , with exact weight depending on hardware configuration. That means that while it is about the right width for a 19-inch rack, it requires at least 14 rack units in height. A third model in a smaller
rack-mount A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...
case without the large disk array, the Network Server 300 (code named "Deep Dish", as in a deep dish pizza), never got past the prototype stage. 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. An ANS 500/132 may be upgraded to an ANS 500/200 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 back panel and PSU(s), but it is necessary to completely disassemble the base of the ANS in order to accomplish such an upgrade or downgrade. 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 An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power syste ...
) by 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 AIX, 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 Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
variant
A/UX A/UX is Apple Computer's Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by ...
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 Binary-code compatibility (binary compatible or object-code-compatible) is a property of a computer system, meaning that it can run the same executable code, typically machine code for a general-purpose computer CPU, that another computer syste ...
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. During the development of the product, Apple tested alpha versions of
Novell Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi- platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the l ...
NetWare NetWare is a discontinued computer network operating system developed by Novell, Inc. It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, using the IPX network protocol. The original NetWare product i ...
for
PowerPC PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple– IBM ...
. 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, to install PowerPC
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
or
NetBSD NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was forked. It continues to be actively developed and is a ...
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. Not only is the Ethernet different, but the display interface is as well. Using an Apple-branded, but DEC "Tulip" Ethernet card discusses using this card
from a mailing list archive and a display card from a 9500 goes a long way towards achieving Mac OS 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

, 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 minimum bid on eBay. Shipping of an ANS is expensive, about from a U.S.-to-U.S. location, if sent via bulk shipping. Few, if any, replacement parts are available, particularly not the mechanical components. , Apple Network Servers are sometimes seen and sold for over on eBay.


See also

* PowerOpen Environment


References


External links

*
''Shiner.info'', an unofficial ANS resource site (Web Archive copy)

Erik's Apple Network Server Page

Network Server entry on ''EveryMac.com''

ANS 500/700 Manual
{{Apple hardware Apple servers Computer-related introductions in 1996