How we tested Mac OS/X Panther 10.3.
We installed Panther on two Xserve platforms that use G4 processors. All installations took place over updated and working OS/X 10.2.6 Jaguar installs. We tested the NetBoot and Network Install applications on the Xserve servers, and tested the disk imaging on PowerBook Titanium G4 notebooks.
The network infrastructure consisted of a Gigabit Ethernet network (D-Link Systems and HP Gigabit Ethernet switches), Mac clients (Mac G4, three Powerbook Titanium notebooks), several PCs (various HP/Compaq, Sony and Toshiba notebooks; various desktop Windows XP-based PCs), two Linux devices (Compaq DL360 G3 servers) and a FreeBSD server (whitebox P4).
We tested Panther using Lightweight Directory Access Protocol database consisting of 500 user profiles within a default LDAP schema. We deployed Xserve and Panther on an Active Directory-based network (Microsoft 2003 Enterprise Server running on a 4-CPU Compaq DL-580 network). We linked Panther/Xserve to the Active Directory.
We also subjected the Panther/Xserve combination to the same performance regimen used when we tested the Jaguar/Xserve combination with Spirent’s WebAvalanche application (see here for more). We saw very little change between the two versions in terms of the three tests that we performed.
We also tested Panther with Apple’s Xserve RAID subsystem and found no appreciable performance changes in terms of boot time, volume mounts or copies using BSD copy commands or Mac-specific copy commands.
Back to review: Mac OS/X Panther 10.3
