do I need os x server?

[.mark.]

I am going to get a mac mini and use it as a home server. It will be used for

1. Time Machine server
2. File sharing
3. iTunes server

is there any benefit to me in getting os x server? from what I've read standard os x can do all these things OK - am I right? Would I see any benefits using os x server?

 

[iowamensan]

No benefits whatsoever. You can do all of those things with plain OS X. (I haven't actually done the Time Machine server, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work)

 

[Cromulent]

You would have far more benefits if you used FreeBSD if you ask me.

 

[.mark.]

You would have far more benefits if you used FreeBSD if you ask me.

could you expand on that please? I've no linux experience. can I run iTunes on FreeBSD? I can't see the TM would work?

I'm all for advice on different methods but you're gona have to explain more to me - please excuse my ignorance!

 

[Cromulent]

could you expand on that please? I've no linux experience. can I run iTunes on FreeBSD? I can't see the TM would work?

I'm all for advice on different methods but you're gona have to explain more to me - please excuse my ignorance!

FreeBSD is Unix not Linux.

Basically you won't be able to run iTunes or Time Machine but because they are basically just pretty interfaces built on top of existing open source software you can do all of that for free with FreeBSD.

All you would need is to setup an NFS server on the FreeBSD box, put all your music on it and then point iTunes to that directory once it is mounted on your Mac and away you go.

The Time Machine alternative is a little more tricky but still doable, you just need to use rsync to copy across files from your Macs to another NFS share on your FreeBSD box and it will keep things automatically backed up for you.

 

[.mark.]

FreeBSD is Unix not Linux.

Basically you won't be able to run iTunes or Time Machine but because they are basically just pretty interfaces built on top of existing open source software you can do all of that for free with FreeBSD.

All you would need is to setup an NFS server on the FreeBSD box, put all your music on it and then point iTunes to that directory once it is mounted on your Mac and away you go.

The Time Machine alternative is a little more tricky but still doable, you just need to use rsync to copy across files from your Macs to another NFS share on your FreeBSD box and it will keep things automatically backed up for you.

cheers for getting back to me. I plan on streaming my iTunes library to aTVs with the server so would this still work with FreeBSD?

 

[Cromulent]

cheers for getting back to me. I plan on streaming my iTunes library to aTVs with the server so would this still work with FreeBSD?

That I'm not sure about. I'll try and find out tomorrow when it is not 1am .

 

[foidulus]

Just get an airport extreme

and attach a few drives to it(I imagine you would have to attach a couple of drives to the mini anyway). You can use it to do time machine and store files. Best of all, you don't have to spring $500 on a server AND deal with all the crap that comes with it.

 

[ChrisA]

I am going to get a mac mini and use it as a home server. It will be used for

1. Time Machine server
2. File sharing
3. iTunes server

What is the difference between the above three items? Aren't they all just file sharing? Mac OS X itself is over kill for this. Why not buy a NAS device or run BSD?

 

[iGrant]

I am going to get a mac mini and use it as a home server. It will be used for

1. Time Machine server
2. File sharing
3. iTunes server

is there any benefit to me in getting os x server? from what I've read standard os x can do all these things OK - am I right? Would I see any benefits using os x server?

I do all of that now . . . well minus Time Machine Sever, with the Sharing Pane in the System Preferences and enabling sharing in iTunes. It works really well and nice and completely built into the OS.

So no you do not need OS X Server to do that, neither do you need FreeBSD Unix, or and variant of Linux.

If you need further help on setting it up, shoot my a private message and I can make a tutorial on how to setup at least the iTunes server and file server really easily.

-iGrant

 

[.mark.]

and attach a few drives to it(I imagine you would have to attach a couple of drives to the mini anyway). You can use it to do time machine and store files. Best of all, you don't have to spring $500 on a server AND deal with all the crap that comes with it.

how is this going to work? airport extreme does not have an iTunes server so it would mean leaving one of the existing macs on all the time which is why I want a dedicated server!

ChrisA, I don't see how a none apple OS/product could easily act as a central TM repository? Also, how can I stream my iTunes libraries to aTVs with the solutions you mentioned?

iGrant - thank you for you comment. are you running this through a mini? Thank you for the offer of advice but I think I'll be able to set it up OK - At the moment I've got my macbook pro set up to do this but as it's not a static machine that's on and in the same place 24/7 it's only a temporary solution. When (if!) the new mini's come out I'll pick on up.

 

[iGrant]

how is this going to work? airport extreme does not have an iTunes server so it would mean leaving one of the existing macs on all the time which is why I want a dedicated server!

ChrisA, I don't see how a none apple OS/product could easily act as a central TM repository? Also, how can I stream my iTunes libraries to aTVs with the solutions you mentioned?

iGrant - thank you for you comment. are you running this through a mini? Thank you for the offer of advice but I think I'll be able to set it up OK - At the moment I've got my macbook pro set up to do this but as it's not a static machine that's on and in the same place 24/7 it's only a temporary solution. When (if!) the new mini's come out I'll pick on up.

Honestly, my file/music server is an old G4 Cube with a 450Mhz CPU, 640Mb Ram, and a 120Gb hard drive. I leave it on all the time so I can listen to my music collection from any of my other Macs in my apartment.

You do not need a brand new Mac Mini to be a file/music server!!! I would by a Mac Mini Core Duo honestly, not a Core 2 Duo, and HELL a Core Solo would be the perfect machine. I would get that, and then get an external Firewire hard drive and run. Its really easy to setup and its not all that expensive.

NOW if you are not worried about running the lastest Macintosh OS on you File/Music server I would highly recommend a G4 Mac Mini, they are dirt cheap and work wonderfully for what you do. Again get an external hard drive and BANG you have a really good, small, power efficent file/music server that you can leave on all the time.

Hey you can even go into Energy Setting in System Preferences and put the computer to sleep from like 1am ~ 7am because you will probabely not be using it!!!

-iGrant