Xserve or Mac as server

Hi,
I currently run a Windows 2000 server as a domain controller and another as a file/mail server. Also on the LAN:
-18 client PCs running XP pro
-5 printers
-1 plot server and plotter running XP pro
-1 firewall/router pc running XP pro connected to cable modem
I'm considering migrating to a Mac OS based server next year, but I'm curious if someone could tell me if/why I should invest in a Mac tower or xserve.
Also, if I plan on introducing Mac clients into the mix next year would you recommend that I start by replacing the DC prior to getting the clients?
Thanks,
Eric

Ok, some key points to consider then:
Yes, the hardware is very good. Still, I highly suggest you purchase the extended hardware warranty.
Please keep in mind that the Apple Drive modules for OS X Servers and XRaids are stress-tested by Apple and the price reflects this. Failures can and do hapen, but for my part of the slightly more than 100 of these at various clients, I've seen only 2 fail in the last 3, maybe even 4 years now. Standard desktop drives simply do not compare, despite what anyone tells you.
As for setting up your server. One key point that many miss and I'll stress it for you here:
You must, must, must, have working DNS for your OS X Server. Doesn't have to be running ON the server itself but needs to be there. Do not collect rent, do not pass "Go" , until you have working DNS with verified forward and reverse lookup for the Fully Qualified Domain Name of your OS X Server.
Setup your basic server settings as "Standalone," do NOT configure mail or file services. Verify working DNS.
Then, promote your server to Open Directory Master.
Create your users as Open Directory user accounts (makes sure in Workgroup Manager that you're authenticated to: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1
From that point, you can setup your server as a PDC.
Of course, read Apple's documentation,
http://www.apple.com/server/documentation/
But, I'd suggest in the strongest yet most friendly terms, that you pick up Michael Bartosh's "Essential Mac OS X Panther Server Administration", pay no mind that it's the "10.3" version, it is still invaluable.
For a mere pittance, you can purchase what is available of the 10.4 version released posthumously (thank you Josh Wisenbaker & Joel Rennich of afp548.com, and Schoun Regan !)
Schoun Regan's Peachpit books on OS X Server are also excellent, add those to your list.
For a good "how to" for getting started, be sure to read the following:
http://homepage.mac.com/johnd/.cv/johnd/Sites/.Public/Latest_Tips/Tiger-tips/tan dtv12.1b-tiger.pdf-zip.zip

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Hi,
I have Xserve Late 2009. It has hardware issues
I want to switch on Mac mini with OS X server.
I have 50 users working on Xserve.
The following service are in use in Xserve.
1. File Sharing (AFP, SMB)
2. Open Directory Master
3. Network user login ( users profile (home folder) located on Xserve)
4. SVN
5. Web services
6. Calendaring
7. DHCP
8. DNS
is the mac mini with OS X server will support for 50 users using above services. I also want to add NAS to expand the storage for users home folders.
Now, the mac min server also discontinued, Can I use the mac mini desktop and installed OS X server separately and will support all 50 users.
Client workstation use photoshop and web designs.
Please recommend the solution for above services.
Thanks,
Prem

I agree with Antonio. There shouldn't be any significant performance drop with that many uses. I'm running about 25 users in a shop on a new Mac Mini Server with a Promise Pegasus 2 R6 for storage, and for a server, it's very peppy. I'm only using the internal drives for the server OS and mirroring them as a form of backup for that. I'm backing up the Pegasus2 back to the old server which has a Promise VTrack E-class 12TB array attached to it. (Which is also serving up some image files and running a Data Asset Management application.)

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I have a graphic design studio (design for print and web sites) that requires a new server.
Currently around 6-8 users working on files (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator etc) directly from the server.
The server is configured with RAID1 and has aggregated ethernet.
I am looking to replace our 2007 xserve 2.66Ghz Xeon with a 2012 Mac Mini Server.
I expect there will be a drop in performance in terms of the speed with which files can be copied and opened over the network.
My main points of concern are: the speed of the internal HDs, and lack of ethernet aggregation.
Are there any ways of limiting this drop in performance, ie use an external thunderbolt RAID (I am thinking of the LaCie 2big Thunderbolt™ 2 6TB http://store.apple.com/uk/product/HFYG2ZM/A/lacie-2big-thunderbolt-2-series-raid -hard-drive?fnode=cb26126edba6d5cf1f20a1188ab2f9a15577d8779cb89532f051d642f0462 5 9ef9b142bff2e3ddede4276fdae4b4074b80ffc3c6968f0fa0f13643559d04820cd08bdea7601a2 5 1154a61b6497c20fc6ec726f25583cf16d5946c93865ea04dbfaea9c26291ec67aef08afd262a35 c 7c)
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Thanks for the concise reply John.
I think the Lacie drive I am considering is RAID hardware, would you be able to check the link and confirm for me?
Any ideas if this will be as adequate as the Promise Pegasus R4 Thunderbolt RAID for serving up image and InDesign files of about average size of 40MB to 6-8 users?
As we are coming from an xserve we have taken for granted the speed at which it can handle the demands we put on it without breaking into a sweat.
I am just worried I will get this new system and be disappointed in a big drop in file access speeds.
Thanks again for your time and appreciate it is hard to be definitive in the answer as there are numerous factors involved that can effect the end result.
All the best,
Richard

Xserve G4 - Mac OS 10.3.9 Server - Possible APC Smart-UPS 1500 Problem

Hi
I have been receiving email "A problem has been detected on this server" from a clients Xserve G4 via the Server Monitor application. On logging on remotely there are no issues displayed under the Server Monitor or its log. On checking the Console Logs and more specifically the "hwmond.log" I see the following...
Wed Jan 23 12:18:23 GMT 2008 - We are now running on battery power.
Wed Jan 23 12:18:25 GMT 2008 - email has been sent
Wed Jan 23 12:18:28 GMT 2008 - We are now running on AC power.
Wed Jan 23 12:18:31 GMT 2008 - email has been sent
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The bizarre thing is that if I check back through the previous archived "hwmond.log" logs, the logs rotate once a week, I see the same AC power/battery powers instance every 2 weeks at exactly the same day and time. An example of this is as follow...
Wed Jan 23 12:18:23 GMT 2008 - We are now running on battery power.
Wed Jan 23 12:18:25 GMT 2008 - email has been sent
Wed Jan 23 12:18:28 GMT 2008 - We are now running on AC power.
Wed Jan 23 12:18:31 GMT 2008 - email has been sent
Wed Jan 9 12:18:33 GMT 2008 - We are now running on battery power.
Wed Jan 9 12:18:35 GMT 2008 - email has been sent
Wed Jan 9 12:18:43 GMT 2008 - We are now running on AC power.
Wed Jan 9 12:18:46 GMT 2008 - email has been sent
Wed Dec 26 12:18:53 GMT 2007 - We are now running on battery power.
Wed Dec 26 12:18:55 GMT 2007 - email has been sent
Wed Dec 26 12:18:58 GMT 2007 - We are now running on AC power.
Wed Dec 26 12:19:02 GMT 2007 - email has been sent
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Does anybody know what may be causing this bizarre pattern of events. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Okay found the answer in the pdf manual for the APC unit. Quote from the user manual...
Factory Default - Automatic Self-Test Every 14 days (336 hours)
User Selectable Choices - Every 7 days (168 hours), On Startup Only, No Self-Test
This function sets the inter-val at which the UPS will execute a self-test. Refer to your software manual for details.
The clients Xserve does not have APC's Powerchute software installed so I guess the Xserve/Mac OS Server's Server Monitor see's the automated test as something to report on and send out an email with no actual description of an error. Not sure what would happen if Powerchute was installed but at least I know what is going on now.

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cd /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources
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David.Austin.Allen wrote:
You get a very normal Mac Mini.
It is not a normal Mac mini. Instead of a Super drive it has two 500 GB HDDs. If you need a Superdrive then you spend another US$99 to get the ext USB Superdrive for the MacBook Air or whatever 3rd party drive you prefer.
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Since Server is the OS for this Mac, are you sure that it is a regular install disk for Server or is it a Restore DVD, which are Mac specific and would probably not be usable in a Mac Pro?
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Has anyone experience Mac Pro Server RAID card failure?

RAID card of our company's Mac Pro server broke twice in less than 12 months, resulting in our server being out of office for more than 11 weeks for repair. I really would like to know if we are just unlucky or if this kind of hardware failure happened also to other people?
Thanks for your help.

Hi
I know it's no consolation to you but judging from my experience I think you've been unlucky.
I've installed Apple RAID Cards in numerous XServes and MacPros at many sites and apart from the rare battery failure they've all gone OK and are still working as intended AFAIK.
HTH?
Tony

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Hi,
I have recently been tasked to set up a G5 xserve server with 15 nodes.
The nodes are connected through a voltaire infiniband ISR-9024 switch. Naturally I have no documentation for any of them of them . I have been able to connect to the switch but that only sees the one node. After I turn the nodes on, they stay up for about an hour then they seem to either shutdown or go to sleep i cant tell, I have no video cards on the nodes either.
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thanks
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Hi Peter
I don't know about the others but all I've used from the G5 onwards is the range of cards supplied by ATTO. It seems clear from the symptoms you describe that it just does not work and may cause a major problem to your XServe if you persist in trying to use it.
You may as well take it out and get yourself a relevant ATTO card and never mind too much about what gsx says, it has been 'wrong' before in the past.
Tony

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No.

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Thanks

Have you actually asked Apple what to do about it, rather than just complaining about what you don't know is a problem?
Since every system comes with up-and-running support I would think your first course of action would be to contact their support department for advice. I'll take a guess that they'll mail out the latest version for a nominal shipping charge.

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My configuration:
- Master Directory:
Hardware Configuration:
Model: Xserve
Processor: 2x2,8 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 8 Gb
Disk: 70,04 Tb
Software:
Kernel Version: 9.6.0
System Version: Mac OS X Server 10.5.6
Xsan 2.1.1
Services: AFP, DNS, Open Directory RADIUS
Status: connected Users: 37
This server is the open directory Master and metadata controller of xsan2, but we have another server that is open directory replica and metadata controller of xsan2. The fisrt server have too many errors with afp, the service stop and the server is dead, and you must restart via terminal with the command sudo reboot. I dont know what happen, do you help me please?

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The G5 server does not serve mail, print, or any other services other than the user accounts (home directories) for the users.
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John

If you don't mind clearing ser passwords, then I would export users from 10.4 and import into 10.8
There are some issues with service ACLs in doing this, but its still the fastest process.
If users are allowed to set their own PW, the you give provide preset pw's (either unique or common) and a URL to allow users to reset their PW.
If you need to retain passwords, what I would do is clone the 10.4 server, then upgrade it all the way to 10.8 then archive OD from that and import into a clean-install of 10.8 server.
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The offline 10.4 -> 10.8 would allow you to retain PWs, but it creates alot of extra work for you.

Mac OS Server 10.6.4 getting hanged

Hi,
Recently i'm facing the Xserve hanging issue. It hangs and I'm unable to use any of my server services. Then i have manually turn off the Xserve and start.
Even keyboard and mouse will not work. Please suggest me what will be the issue.
I'm using Mac OS Server 10.6.4
Server model = Xserve
Processor = 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory = 2gb
Storage = 2tb
Looking forward to support.
Thanks,
Gulab Pasha

Boot the distribution DVD, invoke Disk Utility from the Utilities menu (second page of the installation sequence with Snow Leopard Server, right after the language selection), select and erase the target system disk, return to the utilities menu, and install.
The usual sequence for avoiding these cases without a full reinstallation is to boot the distro DVD and to make a full disk backup via Disk Utility (create a disk image on an external disk, etc) before rooting around with the environment. That way, you have a snapshot backup to fall back to if a mistake or an error arises.

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All clients get their IP configuration using DHCP from the router. You can't use the DHCP service of the server, as you can't disable DHCP on the router (in NAT mode).
All clients get the router's IP as the dns server.
HOWEVER:
The Airport Extreme can't connect to the internal DNS server! *It doesn't seem to be able to route dns requests to the internal network* (verified using nslookup). Any dns queries sent to the router will time out.
Come on, Airport Extreme team.. you can't claim the Airport Extreme to be the ideal router in combination with an OSX server, if this simple and very common setup is not supported! How hard can it be to either:
...*Allow us to disable DHCP on the router* (even when in NAT mode), so we can use the OSX server for this (which will dispatch the correct DNS settings)
...*Allow the router to route DNS queries to the local DNS* (OSX) server (which should be working anyway)
Message was edited by: blackbit

blackbit, Welcome to the discussion area!
It doesn't seem to be able to route dns requests to the internal network (verified using nslookup).
That is true.
This is a user to user discussion area so Apple will not see your suggestions here. Instead go to www.apple.com/feedback/airportextreme.html and send them to Apple.

Xserve or Mac as server

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