[X Servers] Is OS X Server right for us?

[Brent Baisley]

There is a lot you can run without having to buy OS X Server software. 
Towards the end of last year I finally broke down and bought the server 
version of OS X only because I needed to support more users than 
standard file sharing would support. Everything else still runs on OS X 
Client. I use sendmail for the email server, MySQL for my database, 
Apache for my web server and PHP for creating web front ends.

OS X gives you File Serving, Application Server (Tomcat/JBoss), DHCP, 
DNS, Firewall, NAT, VPN FTP, Mail (Postfix), NetBoot, NFS, Open 
Directory, Print Server, Quicktime Streaming, Web (Apache).
All of that except File Serving, NetBoot and Quicktime Streaming can be 
done with either open source or cheaper software. But if you are not 
knowledgeable in what you are implementing, you can run into problems. 
While some open source software does have installers for OS X, some of 
them you may actually have to compile yourself. It's an ease of use and 
integration question.

By no means do you need to buy an XServe. But using a 500Mhz iMac can 
be pretty slow and may not be supported because of the graphics card 
(i.e. can't run Quartz Extreme). But perhaps you could get a low end 
eMac (with extra memory).

You may also look at iTools from Tenon to see if the pieces in that 
meet your needs.

On Mar 29, 2004, at 5:02 PM, Frank Flynn wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I've volunteered to help a local non profit group.  They are a mostly 
> Mac
> (10 older iMacs and 2 PC's).  Currently they run OS 9 and are 
> considering
> upgrading.
>
> My questions are:
>
> -Where can I find out about the particular features of OS X server (as
> opposed to those open source similar tools I can find and load for 
> free) - I
> did look on Apple's web site but the pages there aren't very detailed; 
> it
> says yes we can connect all your users - Mac and PC's and life will be
> beautiful...  But I'd like to have a good understanding before I talk 
> these
> guys into spending a few thousand $$'s.
>
> -The fundamental things I'm looking for are:
>     Universal users accounts (one person, one PW on all machines)
>     User file management (my personal files follow me where I login)
>     Universal backup and recovery
>     Easy administration
> I assume I will fine all of these in the OS X server (no?)
>
> -Are there any thoughts about running OS X on older iMacs (300 to 500 
> Mhz)?
> Obviously I'd like to upgrade this hardware but depending on what I 
> spend
> for the server I just can't afford it.
>
> -If we keep some of the Mac on OS 9 does the X server do anything for 
> them
> besides a appleshare fileserver?
>
> Thanks for your thoughts,
> Frank
>
> -- 
> Frank Flynn
> Poet, Artist & Mystic
>
>
>
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-- 
Brent Baisley
Systems Architect
Landover Associates, Inc.
Search & Advisory Services for Advanced Technology Environments
p: 212.759.6400/800.759.0577