Definition of AppleShare in Network Encyclopedia.
What is AppleShare?
AppleShare was the file-sharing protocol for AppleTalk networks. Its main purpose was to act as a file server, using the AFP protocol. Other network services implemented in later versions of AppleShare included a print server using the Printer Access Protocol (PAP), web server, electronic mail server, and SMB / CIFS server to support file sharing to Microsoft Windows clients.
AppleShare provided these functions:
- Enabling the sharing of volumes, folders, and printers
- Providing auditing information on which resources have been accessed
- Supported password-based control of access to shared resources
By installing Services for Macintosh on a Microsoft Windows NT Server, the Windows NT server can emulate an AppleShare server so that Macintosh clients can access shared resources on the Windows NT server.
Apple Share Protocol suite allows compatibility with windows server and macintosh.
AppleShare Support
All versions of Mac OS were capable of acting as a client to an AppleShare server (via AFP and later SMB) over AppleTalk and TCP/IP protocols, although more recent versions of macOS have gradually removed support for AppleTalk in favor of the standard TCP/IP.
Third-party vendors created client software such as PC MACLAN (discontinued) and DAVE to implement client functionality on Windows systems. Other developers offered server software that provided similar functionality on Windows Servers such as GroupLogicExtremeZ-IP and Cyan Software MacServerIP and NetATalk on Linux.
Later versions of AppleShare also implemented the SMB and CIFS protocols which are the native file sharing protocols on Windows machines.
AppleShare IP
AppleShare IP is an Apple networking technology that supports native TCP/IP on the Apple Macintosh platform and provides Web, file, print, and e-mail services for departmental and workgroup-level environments.
The latest version, AppleShare IP v6.1, features a single integrated administration console for local server management, remote administration using a standard Web browser, IP address filtering, Sherlock searching support, multihosting, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and point of presence (POP) protocol support, shared Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) folders, Domain Name System (DNS) services, and full compatibility with MacOS 8.5.
AppleShare IP client software must be installed on Macintosh client machines to enable them to access AppleShare IP services on a server over the network. AppleShare IP supports both Server Message Block (SMB) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) protocols in addition to AppleShare file sharing, and is compatible with both Macintosh and Microsoft Windows clients.
