I have an 8600/300 (604ev) with fast SCSI card and ethernet upgrades, together with a 500GB ATA-133 drive running off of a PCI card. It runs as an ASIP Server. I have used it now for years.

Before the 8600, I used a 200MHz 604e 9500 as the server, which was a good deal slower as a filesharing machine, but that was without the upgraded SCSI card/drives. I also tried ASIP 6.2 before moving to a (legal) ASIP 6.3 installation.

I can say the following:

- ASIP version 6.3 is far more robust than 6.2, works seamlessly, and has never given me any trouble whatsoever — which I regret cannot be said of ASIP version 6.2, which would crash if I did not restart daily;

- Given that it runs on an 8600, I have the option (via an AppleTalk Internet Router box soon to be put on a PowerBook 540c that I can wake up as necessary) of connecting from localtalk-only machines;

- On the 300MHz 604ev, which has plenty of RAM and those other (these days) modest upgrades, it is actually noticeably faster for pure filesharing purposes and for my needs than a dual 500MHz G4, on which, for separate reasons, I currently run Panther Server (yes, if I were running 50 simultaneous connections it might well be slower, but I am not);

- This last point re. speed is true both for AppleTalk connections on the LAN and for remote connections via IP;

- I even have the option of using the machine for dial-in access using Remote Access, just for fun;

- It is much, much, much, much easier to configure for almost any filesharing purpose. UNIX was, is, and always will be a PITA by comparison with the simple elegance of the old MacOS;

- Quite frankly, X.3 Server does not work so well as ASIP 6.3.

- Oh, and did I say it was easier to configure? 'Cos it is.

What it won't do is run something like a WordPress installation. But for filesharing, it simply can't be beat for my purposes.