Graphic arts businesses looking for a replacement for Apple's discontinued XServe Mac server have been offered an alternative in the form of the server software suite UB2. UB2, which is developed by the German firm Helios and distributed in the UK by Surbiton-based JPY, is a cross-platform virtual server that runs on Windows or UNIX hardware and allows Apple, PC and Linux users to share content.
 
The software was originally developed to emulate a Mac server prior to Apple's launch of the XServe, to allow Mac users to share files over a network rather than solely through p2p networking, although it was later expanded to allow users on different hardware platforms to share files with one another.

Brian Catt, business development manager at JPY, said: "It's important [to print] because in the graphic arts industry we tend to operate in a hybrid environment and you need the functionality to be able to search for and share files across different platforms.

"It's especially important when you have large files that you need to share across the whole enterprise. It was originally used by pre-press companies doing magazine and newspaper repro but now it's used across the whole creative industry for print, video and audio by prepress, publishing, design and creative businesses."

UB2 suppports VMware environments and allows users to share files via a LAN or over the web. Its indexing and search functionality supports Spotlight and Explorer searches, including meta data as well as text, object and PDF content.

Enhancements include TCP support for print jobs using Bonjour technology with automatic PPD installation, and support for Time Machine backups, extended attributes, and Mac Finder comments, which are also made available to Windows and web users.

UB2 supports Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion and no longer requires AppleTalk. The software is fully TCP/IP based and compatible with existing Mac OS versions.

"Helios fills the gap left by Apple's XServe with powerful, proven technology, with seamless cross-platform serving from device-based and VMware servers," added JPY chief executive Dr John Yardley.