Who's Using OS X Server

normnorm
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Enlighten me if your using OS X server and what your using it for. I ask for the following reason. I will be required very shortly to set up a small office network consisting of a half dozen computers, a mix of XP professional and OS X and several different brands of printers, including a large format plotter. The server will be used mainly for file serving, but many do some print serving as well. I am looking for an easy to use robust server that I don't have to mess with once a week to keep it running. My current employer uses three seperate boxes, a Novell box for file sharing, a Windows box for email, and another damn box for job security for the IT guys. I am trying like Hell to avoid this if I can, any inpout from those familiar with, or those running server would be appreciated. Also let me know what your running it on. I have a dual 450 G4 that I will probably use as a server box starting out. Thanks in advance for any info.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    king chung huangking chung huang Posts: 343member
    At the Learning Commons, University of Calgary, we have a Power Mac G4/1000 DP with Mac OS X Server 10.1.5 that does everything but coffee. It's running web, afp, ftp, smb, mail, QuickTime streaming, and WebObjects servers. Before the G4, we had everything running on a beige Power Mac G3/333 with Mac OS X 1.2v3. Unless you have some heavy traffic or want redundancy, a single box works very well.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    dstranathandstranathan Posts: 1,717member
    We have 2 OS X File Servers.



    We also use one for an Intranet site with Apache.



    We use Samba as well for PC access.



    I also have a OS X FTP server on the Internet.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    We have six Xserves and two Power Macs running Mac OS X Server.



    They run Apache, Tomcat, JBoss and are also used as file servers, DNS, mail server (CommuniGate Pro), homedir servers.



    I don't have any experience with SMB since we don't have any client PCs
  • Reply 4 of 15
    pepsipepsi Posts: 55member
    we run 2 servers. One xserve with 10.2.1 and one g4 server with 10.1.4



    both are used for apple filesharing, windows file sharing, and ftp.



    They work really well and don't require hardly any attention.





    Permissions issues raise their ugly heads every once in a while but not very often. I'm told an upgrade to 10.2.6 will fix those...Just haven't had time to download the upgrade and reboot the server.



    -b
  • Reply 5 of 15
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    I work for a motion picture studio and we have an Xserve/Xraid combo to deliver audio elements from the Sound Department to the DVD Department for encoding.



    The Vault guys are much happier now that they don't have to lug tons of tapes across the lot and file based encoding is much easier for me too - all Pro Tools, all digital.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    A single B/W 350MHz G3 running the home domain. Web, mail (IMAP/POP/SMTP/ASIA), WebDAV, file server, print server, centralized backups, firewall, routing, yadda yadda yadda. One stop shopping.



    Yeah, go ahead and laugh at the B/W G3...
  • Reply 7 of 15
    naplesxnaplesx Posts: 3,743member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    A single B/W 350MHz G3 running the home domain. Web, mail (IMAP/POP/SMTP/ASIA), WebDAV, file server, print server, centralized backups, firewall, routing, yadda yadda yadda. One stop shopping.



    Yeah, go ahead and laugh at the B/W G3...



    I am also really curious to find info on setting up a machine running OS X Server or an xserve with other platforms on the network. What I am looking for is:



    1. The implementation of the server on the network. (not installing the OS)

    2. Ease of sharing resources. (printers, network storage.

    3. Running, say a windows/dos application stored on the osx server.

    4. Does Netboot now work across a subnet?



    I have been serching on the web to get some answers and not found much.



    Any help would be appreciated.



    Thanks
  • Reply 8 of 15
    naplesxnaplesx Posts: 3,743member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    A single B/W 350MHz G3 running the home domain. Web, mail (IMAP/POP/SMTP/ASIA), WebDAV, file server, print server, centralized backups, firewall, routing, yadda yadda yadda. One stop shopping.



    Yeah, go ahead and laugh at the B/W G3...



    I am also really curious to find info on setting up a machine running OS X Server or an xserve with other platforms on the network. What I am looking for is:



    1. The implementation of the server on the network. (not installing the OS)

    2. Ease of sharing resources. (printers, network storage.

    3. Running, say a windows/dos application stored on the osx server.

    4. Does Netboot now work across a subnet?



    I have been serching on the web to get some answers and not found much.



    Any help would be appreciated.



    Thanks
  • Reply 9 of 15
    macusersmacusers Posts: 840member
    I use Mac OS X Server for my website www.macusersonline.com



    it runs on an Xserve
  • Reply 10 of 15
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    we work with Satellites and broadcasting and therefore, streaming. They got a Mac G4 Server 733MHz a couple years ago to test out QTSS and the MPEG4 capabilities. 10.2.6



    Unfortunately they have resorted to Windows Media 7 encoders... we'd like to move to ISO MPEG4 encoding, but for the time being, that aint happening now.



    I've inherited it since they aint using it anymore.
  • Reply 11 of 15
    madmax559madmax559 Posts: 596member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by King Chung Huang

    At the Learning Commons, University of Calgary, we have a Power Mac G4/1000 DP with Mac OS X Server 10.1.5 that does everything but coffee.



    This is amusing considering that the univ of calgary

    is the home of OpenBSD
  • Reply 12 of 15
    stalkerdeapplenutstalkerdeapplenut Posts: 39member
    We have a Dual 500/G4 that runs as a File Server/Mail Server/FTP



    we have 4 Macintosh stations and about 10-12 Windows PCs



    I set it up myself (Mac OS X Server 10.2) and I have never done anything like that before.



    The documentation is top notch and I had it all up and running 2 weeks before the Windows NT Server (for backing up the PCs) was up.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    drcreationsdrcreations Posts: 104member
    Was using OS X server, am still using OS X server, but will switch due to the smtp agent. I cant seem to get it to work with PHP. I have not been able to identify the php.ini correctly. I cannot change the smtp agent to reflect anything but "localhost". But I have been able to find it via OS X on a development box. If anyone has any insight into this I would greatly appreciate it.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DrCreations

    Was using OS X server, am still using OS X server, but will switch due to the smtp agent. I cant seem to get it to work with PHP. I have not been able to identify the php.ini correctly. I cannot change the smtp agent to reflect anything but "localhost". But I have been able to find it via OS X on a development box. If anyone has any insight into this I would greatly appreciate it.



    Server Settings app -> Internet tab -> Mail -> Configure Mail Settings -> Advanced (er, third tab - this is from memory) -> SMTP Options button -> edit fields.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    drcreationsdrcreations Posts: 104member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    Server Settings app -> Internet tab -> Mail -> Configure Mail Settings -> Advanced (er, third tab - this is from memory) -> SMTP Options button -> edit fields.



    This is the reason this board ROCKS! Something as simple as this and I overlooked it. Thanks Kickaha! Sticking with OS X Server. It works!
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