Apple Servers versus PC Servers - Who wins?

Question

Hi
I'm starting a new business and have almost decided to use Mac in the office. One question remains though - servers!
To-date I have only used Mac at home on a stand alone basis. I've only ever used PC's in work and although not 100% sure why I've always seemed to suffer with server problems and down time. While I realise the clear advantages of a stand alone Mac over PC, can the same be said for Apple Servers and if so why?
Thanks

Answer 1

Hi Tod
Thanks so much for the response.
The reason for my approach is that we are a repro company, so initially we will have a couple of G5's for the designers, and then either Powerbooks or MiniMacs for the 5-6 other people. There are also going to be at least 2-3 RIPs which take the images from the server and output them to the big printers.
I am planning to use centralised apps, ie Mail and FileMaker Pro Server with the Creative Pro pack as this will give us all the workflow and CRM we need I think. I have also seen that this will link to QuickBooks for accounting, so that should take care of that. There is also a product called MYOB which is accounting for Mac, which also looks good - but I don't think there is any filemaker interaction. All the client files and images will be stored centrally, only other things like Photoshop will be locally installed. I am also hoping to create a desktop image on the server which I can drop on to the MAC for when I need to (re)install it.
The reason for looking at a cluster scenario is that it would be completely scalable, expecially as there will be some big files goind around and a lot of ripping to big colour output machines. Using a centralised storage component would also give us complete scalability.
So, basically rather than having one server for network services/printing/admin, one for mail, one for filemaker etc - I thought that this would be a better way to share processing resources.
I really am trying to avoid having to use windows anywhere!
The LAN infrastructure will hopefully be built on Cisco 3750's which will give 1gb to the desktop and will also provide layer 3 vlaning so we can seperate the "chatter" between the RIP's/admin/dtp desktops.
PHEW! I know this is going to cost a bit, but the plan is to do it right now. We have set an expectation to ourselves that we don't want to have to invest for 3 years (preferably 5) in new hardware except for new hires, but a 2 node cluster will easily give us room for 20 people without even a license upgrade.
The one remaning thought is how we are going to deal with ISDN. Clients may still want to transmit files via this method and I am VERY nevous about putting ISDN directly on the network. I think we may have to buy another maching and create a DMZ on the firewall and have that as a drop box and then viruscheck then connect via RDP to move files manually over to the main server. We could always use this same server as an FTP server and Mail relay too - so it would make best use of having to buy another server.
Anyway - that's us.. your comments always appreciated.
Simon