All Apple computers sold today include one or more FireWire ports. Mac OS X versions 10.3 and later support the Internet Protocol (IP) on FireWire. Operating at up to 400 or 800 megabits per second, IP over FireWire provides many useful capabilities for developers and customers.

Customers can immediately enable IP over FireWire and then connect two or more Macintosh systems by FireWire for file sharing, Internet sharing, or the use of any other IP-based service. IPv6 and zero-configuration networking are also supported. Many Macintosh products have 10/100 Ethernet and FireWire 400, making FireWire the fastest option for local area IP. For help activating IP over FireWire, open Mac Help and enter "IP over FireWire".

Developers can use IP over FireWire in many additional ways. IP services are already found in a broad variety of devices, such as access points, printers, scanners, and storage solutions. If these products are moved to FireWire, existing IP services such as web-based configuration or IP-based data transfer can be preserved while gaining the high speed, power, and real-time capabilities of FireWire. IP over FireWire can also be used as the starting point for new development, such as for cluster computing applications. Established IP services such as AFP, HTTP, FTP, SSH and TCP/IP can all be used on FireWire to support new development.

Updated: 2005-01-10