OSX Server vs Client differences?

gsxrboygsxrboy
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I have been curious on this for a while, how different are the two builds, is it just the admin tools that makes them different or is there xtra core system stuff that gets thrown into the server builds? I would imagine 98.x% would be exactly the same, so what does the client miss out on?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Robust mail server; Apache that's been tuned for caching, multiple virtual sites, etc, instead of easy one-click-and-it's-on; loads of network admin widgets; kernel-level tuning to handle larger memory load processes a little better, etc etc etc



    Basically, it's the same beast, but comes with way more goodies.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    gsxrboygsxrboy Posts: 565member
    Fanks, mostly the same but just dif enuf for intended market...



    So apart from the mail server, what stops peeps using the admin tools on a client and making it easy to do server stuff with it?
  • Reply 3 of 6
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,438member
    Quote:

    So apart from the mail server, what stops peeps using the admin tools on a client and making it easy to do server stuff with it?



    The same thing that prevents you from installing iLife on OSX Server.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    dstranathandstranathan Posts: 1,717member
    Server allows unlimited AFP connections. OS X Client is limited to 10 or less I think.



    Server also has "Watch dog" daemons monitoring critical services so that they can be restarted in the even they die.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    cannonfoddercannonfodder Posts: 7member
    While, yes, the 2 have major similarities in functionality, the Server software (not just the admin tools) contains the GUI interfaces for all of the services. FTP, Apache, QTSS, Postfix, Firewall, etc.



    It's also more tuned to be running in a server based environment.



    You can actually use the OS X client as the base install, and turn it into the server version (provided you've purchased the Server software) using the 2nd Server Install disk.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    If you are creating a real workgroup server (file sharing, email, authentication, and possibly net-boot or mac manager) then MacOS X Server will save you so much time in admining those features that it is well worth the money. Could you put together each of those services (except net-boot and mac manager) from OSS tools on MacOS X (client) yourself? Yes. But then you would have to do all of the work of syncing their user/password systems yourself.
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