Upgrading from Tiger Server (10.4) to Lion?

Question

I have an Apple Xserve (Dual 2.66 GHz Xeon proccessors, currently running Tiger Server, 10.4) I'm hoping to upgrade to Lion. The server is used at a non-profit community center so we've had to pass on the last few upgrades (Leopard, Snow Leopard) given the price tags (~$500), but since Lion server was announced at only $50, I've been thinking about trying to upgrade it. From what I've read, this $50 copy is good for a full, clean install, and not just an upgrade-only version. Is that true?
So here's the real question; Can I upgrade straight from server 10.4 to server 10.7?
According to the Step 1 here (http://www.apple.com/macosx/server/how-to-buy/), I first need to upgrade to the latest version of Snow Leopard, but no way will I pay $500 for it. What are my options?
What happens if I install a standard (non-server) version of Snow Leopard on the server, then try to upgrade from there? Will I lose all server functionality? My assumption would be that this would result in upgrading most of my non-server applications, while leaving me with the 10.4 versions of all the server/administrator applications. Is this at all correct? Or do I lose all server functionality by using a standard user disc?
Any responses would be greatly appreciated. We're looking at spending several thousand dollars on an entirely new server, but if we can salvage this one for $50, it would be a no-brainer. Thanks!

Answer 1

Hello, bambe009, and welcome to the forums,
Because it hasn't actually shipped yet any answers here are speculation and nothing is actually known for certain.
That being said it does appear that the only means of distribution will be via the App Store (with some 'sort of' exemptions for large institutional and educational buyers) so some form of Leopard appears it will be necessary.
It may be possible that your client Leopard to Lion Server may very well work (there's nothing to stop you from installing client Leopard on the Xserve) but the obvious downside of this is that you will need to recreate all your services and accounts etc from scratch in Lion. There is a upgrade/migration path for going from 10.4 to either 10.5 or 10.6 that updates your old services and accounts from one server set-up to the new one. I speculate that Lion will have a similar system to move from Snow Leopard Server to Lion Server and assuming it does you would lose this moving from the client version to server.
In addition it seems that the Lion Server "add-on" is essentially $50 upgrade to the product itself making the total cost more like $80 total, but still distinctly less than before.
Again - this is several layers of speculation about a product that does not exist yet so several large grains of salt should be taken with this.
My $.02,
=Tod