servernewbie
Registered
Hello Gods of Serving. 
Ok that was stupid. Im looking for advice and guidance. As of right now we have NO server. We have a windows desktop that is holding all of our files though. We have decided to purchase a server though as things will be changing. Being the IT guy here at this small office i am tasked to try and figure out what we need and the best way to do it. I am a Mac fan. At home I have 2 machines and much prefer using them over windoz. But Here at work it is a PC world. It cant change and wont change. So I need to figure out what I need in a server and which OS is the best for my situation. I have never set up a Mac server so it would be totaly new, but I feel it would be more stable then windows therefor I can figure out how to set it up with your help.
My first question... How many services can 1 server handle?
We need a VPN server as we are going to have remote users soon and want to continue to keep all documents here at the office.
We also need a file server.
These are the 2 most important. But know a little about servers in general, do we need an active directory, DNS and maybe an email server. Right now email is handled by your ISP comcast. It is by far the best solution though.
I would like to impliment active directory and DNS to control what people can do on their computers. Right now they are free to do whatever they want and its becoming a problem.
Can 1 xserve handel what I need to do. I really need to keep the price around 5 grand. We need a lot of storage as we have tons of photos that are kept for each project. I feel a Raid configuration would be good as well for some sort of backup. I also plan on using an external HD as a backup solution right now as well. May a Mac Pro would be a better solution. I have no idea.
From my little knowledge on widows server 1 machine can not handel everything I want to do which is a big turn off. VPN and File server is the most important and 1 widnows box could handle that but I really think active directory is important as well.
What are your thoughts on this. What should I look into, what kind of info am I missing on making an educated decision? Am I crazy. Its hard for me to know what to do when I havent had to do this in my lifetime.
Thanks for all the help in advance.
Dusty
Ok that was stupid. Im looking for advice and guidance. As of right now we have NO server. We have a windows desktop that is holding all of our files though. We have decided to purchase a server though as things will be changing. Being the IT guy here at this small office i am tasked to try and figure out what we need and the best way to do it. I am a Mac fan. At home I have 2 machines and much prefer using them over windoz. But Here at work it is a PC world. It cant change and wont change. So I need to figure out what I need in a server and which OS is the best for my situation. I have never set up a Mac server so it would be totaly new, but I feel it would be more stable then windows therefor I can figure out how to set it up with your help. My first question... How many services can 1 server handle?
We need a VPN server as we are going to have remote users soon and want to continue to keep all documents here at the office.
We also need a file server.
These are the 2 most important. But know a little about servers in general, do we need an active directory, DNS and maybe an email server. Right now email is handled by your ISP comcast. It is by far the best solution though.
I would like to impliment active directory and DNS to control what people can do on their computers. Right now they are free to do whatever they want and its becoming a problem.
Can 1 xserve handel what I need to do. I really need to keep the price around 5 grand. We need a lot of storage as we have tons of photos that are kept for each project. I feel a Raid configuration would be good as well for some sort of backup. I also plan on using an external HD as a backup solution right now as well. May a Mac Pro would be a better solution. I have no idea.
From my little knowledge on widows server 1 machine can not handel everything I want to do which is a big turn off. VPN and File server is the most important and 1 widnows box could handle that but I really think active directory is important as well.
What are your thoughts on this. What should I look into, what kind of info am I missing on making an educated decision? Am I crazy. Its hard for me to know what to do when I havent had to do this in my lifetime.
Thanks for all the help in advance.
Dusty
