Welcome to WebSTAR Server Suite, the ultimate Mac OS Internet server package! And welcome to a vibrant community of Mac OS server administrators and developers.
First released in early 1995, the WebSTAR Web server became an instant success. The simplicity of WebSTAR makes it easy for any Mac user to create and serve a Web site. The many Plug-ins, CGIs and Java Servlets that run with WebSTAR offer a wealth of tools for serving dynamic content. WebSTAR FTP server provides fast industry-standard uploading and downloading. The WebSTAR Proxy server optimizes web access for local browsers. The WebSTAR Mail server is a full-featured email server, providing POP, IMAP, and Web-mail access.
With a Macintosh and an Internet connection, WebSTAR will serve HTML documents, graphics, even QuickTime movies from your computer to web browsers all over the Internet. WebSTAR does much more than this as well, but you'll read about that later.
WebSTAR lets your single Mac serve several web sites using different IP addresses and/or host names. You can also have different hosts based on the browser's Language setting, providing websites in the native language of your visitors.
For information, see Virtual Hosts: Hosting Multiple Web Sites .
WebSTAR allows you to extend the server using everything from simple CGIs written in AppleScript to Plug-In modules in C, C++ or Java. Many of WebSTAR's own features are implemented in the powerful Plug-In environment.
A large community of third-party developers provides a wide selection of turnkey solutions for everything from online stores and real-time conferencing through WebCams and streaming video.
The WebSTAR Mail server supports Internet standards such as SMTP for mail transfer, POP and IMAP for email clients, and LDAP for directory services. Web mail access allows users to read and send mail from any computer with a browser and Internet access. WebSTAR Mail and the WebSTAR Admin provide a complete suite of mail server functions, including account management, multiple email hosts and domains, DNS caching, routing control, spam prevention, and reporting.
The WebSTAR FTP server provides Internet-standard file uploading and downloading. You can arrange accounts with password access to certain folders, as well as anonymous downloading for public files.
The WebSTAR Proxy server allows many browser clients to share a cache on the server, improving speed and efficiency of Internet access. Each browser designates the WebSTAR Proxy server to store the web page data as it is received. If another browser accesses the same page, the Proxy server sends it from the cache, instead of requesting it from the original server.
In addition, the Proxy server allows schools and other sensitive institutions to limit access to specified IP addresses and host names.
The WebSTAR Admin application can control the server from any Mac OS computer connected to the Internet. It communicates via an encrypted data stream, providing extraordinary security for your server. The intutitive but powerful interface makes it easy to control your server from any location, without having to remember cryptic codes or flags.