Can I use Mac Mini and OS X as a network server?

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wazowski

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I am so impressed with Mac OS X that I want to use it as our LAN server. We had been thinking of ditching our Win2003 server for a very long time now. We were considering installing FreeBSD or RH as our server but now I want to consider Mac too. However, as a small company we cannot afford both the server hardware and server software. However, our requirements are also not really huge some I am just thinking if some open source add-ons can help us make a OS X run like a server.

Our current setup: 1 Dell server running win2k3. 5 XP desktops. 1 12" PB. 1 12" iBook.

Here are the things that a new server should let us do:

1. Act as a Network and File Sharing Server.
2. Something similar to active directories for windows users login. I just found http://www.openldap.org/ for this.
3. Act as a proxy server for internet
4. After getting a fixed IP from our ISP use it for hosting Mantis Issue Tracker and similar software for our employees. Won't need 100% uptime of the server.

What do you guys think? I am planning to get a Mac Mini and use it as a server. I know I am trying to use a desktop software as server but considering the very limited things that we need out of it.

Please advice. I am keeping my fingers crossed! I love mac!

cheers!
 
For such a small workload a Mac mini may well be up to the task, although you will want to keep in mind what you want to have as your backup plan. Regardless of what type or brand of computer you get, there is a 25-30% chance of the hard drive failing in the first two years; a 15% chance of motherboard or memory failure; and similar odds for power-supply or other critical part. These are not Apple figures: they are industry wide.

Now, if you don't mind being without the computer for however long it may take to fix it, then this is no big deal. You may consider having a second computer as a mirror of the first, and this is fair enough for a lot of users.

The next thing you need to worry about is backup. The mini's internal CD/DVD writer is a laptop model, and has a limited lifespan and performance that - while pretty good - doesn't compare to the drives on desktop machines. I found the typical laptop CD writer lasts half as long as an equivalent desktop writer. If you were to get a PowerMac (and even a used G4 powermac would be a better idea than a new Mini) then you could install two DVD writers or DAT drives. This will make backing up much easier.

The next question is hard-drive capacity. I think the current top config for the mini is 80gb, compared to well over 500gb for a PowerMac. With the PowerMac, you will be able to impement RAID across multiple drives, which makes it a (more or less) failsafe system, so no data will be lost if any one drive fails. Even with just one drive, the transfers will be faster on a PowerMac as the Mac mini's EIDE hard drive interface is not exactly fast.

My recommendation is to look into getting a PowerMac, even if it is secondhand.

As a final note to think about, if you are planning on using this as a file server and are planning on allowing the users to save files onto that server, then you will either have to set account quotas (using OSX server for instance) or be prepared to see the hard drive fill up faster than you can empty it.
 
I didn't think that much about the hardware as yet. If all the 4 points i mentioned will do then I think it's worth pondering the best hardware for our needs. Thank you so much for your answer, quota is not a problem and 80GB is enough for us as we generally have c++ code or php scripts to be backed up.
 
I suggest picking up a used single or better still dual G4 1ghz, 1 gig ram, OS X 10 user server, pop in a low priced LG dvd-rw in the second opening on the front (take off the drawer plate on the drive - $50.00 CDN) add two firewire 250 gig drives, (pick up the drive cases for $45 ea, and the 250 gig drives for $106 Western Digital). Spend a weekend teaching yourself the OS, set up the mail server... there is so much in "Server" It blows me away... There you go fo about $1200-1500 total, oh yah, drop in a 5 port gigabit ethernet switch for another (used $30-45) for the newer Macs you have, and it's a sweat setup... and oh yah - iBackup from Apple will backup on a schedule, to dvd, cd, external... (If you have the budget - get a good UPS too...if you don't have the budget, get a good UPS too...)

I like the Mac Mini - but not in a workflow like you're talking about.

_________________
20" G5 iMac 2 ghz - Dual - 2ghz G5 - Dual 1ghz G4 - G4 566ghz - 2x PB-G4 667 - 2x(good ole') Blue & White's - Dell 2.8ghz W-XP-P - / Dell 1.2ghz NT 2003 server - 1.5 TB HDD
 
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