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OS X Server Mavericks

Q

qcmacmini

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2014
299
4
The Netherlands
Is it still possible to put OS X Server on my 2012 i7 Mac mini but keep Mavericks?

Noticed that it's only possible to buy OS X Server Yosemite in the app store.

Thanks in advance.
 

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qcmacmini said:
Just weighing up whether it's worth purchasing as a time machine solution on my Mac mini for the other Macs in the house.
Click to expand...

If this is your motivation, you'd be better off buying a Time Capsule or, better yet, an Airport Extreme.

(The latter is better since you'd be using external USB drives for your backup storage. So if/when the router needs replacement, you won't lose a backup.)

This is a much simpler and cheaper option than dedicating a Mac to Time Machine duty.

If you have other motivations, such as needing a VPN, web host or other server functionality, then Server is a not-bad way to do it all. But you still need to be a "networking geek"... OS X Server works well but nothing about networking is for the faint of heart.
 
sjinsjca said:
If this is your motivation, you'd be better off buying a Time Capsule or, better yet, an Airport Extreme.

(The latter is better since you'd be using external USB drives for your backup storage. So if/when the router needs replacement, you won't lose a backup.)

This is a much simpler and cheaper option than dedicating a Mac to Time Machine duty.

If you have other motivations, such as needing a VPN, web host or other server functionality, then Server is a not-bad way to do it all. But you still need to be a "networking geek"... OS X Server works well but nothing about networking is for the faint of heart.
Click to expand...

That was my thinking, I have done a little networking in the past, and it interests me, but I just don't need the other functionality right now.

Cost wise it's the cheapest solution to go for OS X Server.

Time Capsules are just so expensive, and I am not so keen on the USB 2.0 of the Airport Extreme, they clearly did that to upsell to the TC. Even my router/modem from my ISP has 2 x USB 3.0!
 
qcmacmini said:
Time Capsules are just so expensive, and I am not so keen on the USB 2.0 of the Airport Extreme, they clearly did that to upsell to the TC. Even my router/modem from my ISP has 2 x USB 3.0!
Click to expand...

I believe Time Capsule is also USB 2 to external drives.

Cost-wise, the TC is actually not bad: the cost for an Airport Extreme (or other high-end router) + external drive adds up to about the same.

Keep in mind that you really should have two or more backup disks, and alternate between them, to guard against drive failures. (And drive failure is a "when" question, not an "if" question.) Both Time Capsule and the current Airport Extreme accommodate external drives. But if something goes wrong with the router portion of a Time Capsule, you lose all the backups it contains. That's why I recommend an Airport Extreme with separate drives.

If you have an idle Mac or can get an old beater for cheap, then playing with Server is certainly an inexpensive option. But not if you have to purchase or decommission a Mac just for Time Machine usage.

We have an Airport Extreme with six drives attached to it via a powered USB hub. The drives back up all the Macs in the house, duplicatively as I've described. We don't notice the USB 2-ness of it all. As they say, it "just works." And on the occasion that a restore is needed, you can detach a drive from the Airport Express and attach it directly to the Mac being restored.

It all works quite brilliantly. But it would if it were OS X Server-based, too.

Time Machine is a fantastic technology and works incredibly well.
 
sjinsjca said:
I believe Time Capsule is also USB 2 to external drives.

Cost-wise, the TC is actually not bad: the cost for an Airport Extreme (or other high-end router) + external drive adds up to about the same.

Keep in mind that you really should have two or more backup disks, and alternate between them, to guard against drive failures. (And drive failure is a "when" question, not an "if" question.) Both Time Capsule and the current Airport Extreme accommodate external drives. But if something goes wrong with the router portion of a Time Capsule, you lose all the backups it contains. That's why I recommend an Airport Extreme with separate drives.

If you have an idle Mac or can get an old beater for cheap, then playing with Server is certainly an inexpensive option. But not if you have to purchase or decommission a Mac just for Time Machine usage.

We have an Airport Extreme with six drives attached to it via a powered USB hub. The drives back up all the Macs in the house, duplicatively as I've described. We don't notice the USB 2-ness of it all. As they say, it "just works." And on the occasion that a restore is needed, you can detach a drive from the Airport Express and attach it directly to the Mac being restored.

It all works quite brilliantly. But it would if it were OS X Server-based, too.

Time Machine is a fantastic technology and works incredibly well.
Click to expand...

Wow thanks for your post, lots of info.

I did work that out in my research, that time capsule works out to be about the same price as a DIY external drive with an airport extreme. You're right about the failure thing because drives will fail, it's only a matter of when. The TC looks appealing now as I have Applecare on my Mac mini and it says it covers a TC also.

My assumption was that the internal drive on the TC would be much quicker than USB 2.0, but it's not.

You really are just paying for the simplicity of it all, because time machine works in the background and you hardly notice it. I don't think the speed would be an issue in hindsight.

I was considering a second hand Mac mini as another option, with server. I'm starting to think I should only put OS X server on the Mac that is 'the server' and nothing else if I go for that option.
 
qcmacmini said:
...The TC looks appealing now as I have Applecare on my Mac mini and it says it covers a TC also.

My assumption was that the internal drive on the TC would be much quicker than USB 2.0, but it's not.

You really are just paying for the simplicity of it all, because time machine works in the background and you hardly notice it. I don't think the speed would be an issue in hindsight.

I was considering a second hand Mac mini as another option, with server. I'm starting to think I should only put OS X server on the Mac that is 'the server' and nothing else if I go for that option.
Click to expand...

Yah, simplicity. The TC is a really nice product.

However:

Maybe my usage is more arduous than most, but I've had two TCs fail. As you note, they're covered under my various Macs' AppleCare extended warranties, so there was no problem getting them replaced. The first time it happened, the current-generation TC and Airport Express (with its new Time Machine capability) had been introduced. My failed TC was of the previous version, and because I was losing terabytes of backups I requested that the failed TC be replaced by a new Airport Express. But, that went against policy, so I received a refurb TC identical to my old one.

So, I got it home, and went through the slow process of re-backing up all the machines that had had information on the previous machine's hard disk.

And then it failed AGAIN. (Both failures had to do with routing functionality rather than the internal hard disk.) So, back to the Apple Store, rather annoyed. This time I really protested losing my backups twice in as many months and begged them to replace the TC with the Airport Express. This time they made an exception to policy, and so I went all-external for my backup needs.

Which is why I recommend that approach. It's like any other all-in-one product: every time a formerly modular function gets integrated, the overall chance of a failure of the whole device increases.

Right now, if one of my external backup drives fails, that's as far as it goes. If my router fails, that's as far as it goes. But when a Time Capsule fails, you lose terabytes of backups.

Just be aware of that. Your luck might be better than mine was, and I hasten to admit that nothing truly bad came of my experience. But it could have, especially if I did not have duplicative backups.

(I also use Crashplan for remote backups of my most important machine. I'm a bit of a freak in that way...)
 
OS X Server Mavericks

It sounds like you had a bit of a horror experience there with failures. I'm only considering the TC with the possibility of AppleCare.

I sort of figured from your earlier post you are very careful in terms of backups.

It's interesting the router part died and not the HDD. I am more hesitant to have a sealed unit with a HDD inside, it's a mechanical device so by common reliability theory it's the most likely part to fail.

If I can find an elegant solution for the external drives I'll consider the AirPort Extreme.
 
prisstratton said:
Click the link in the following web page where it says OS X Server 3.0, it will open your app store directly and allow you to purchase Mavericks Server:

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13...erver-for-mavericks-in-bid-to-keep-apps-fresh
Click to expand...

I wished that link would work for me. Every time I find a link that someone posts for Server 3.2.2 it never prompts me for payment. I'd like to find a copy of Mavericks Server as well but to date, have had no success getting it.
 
Butchie-T said:
I wished that link would work for me. Every time I find a link that someone posts for Server 3.2.2 it never prompts me for payment. I'd like to find a copy of Mavericks Server as well but to date, have had no success getting it.
Click to expand...

Try this link.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-server/id714547929?mt=12

I find that just about everything is available from Apple for download, but they must have like some anti-SEO team preventing you from getting it easily.
 
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