Building A Lan For Mac Computers??

[AFMRPCUSER]

GREETINGS:

I have been pondering building a LAN for a Computer System that is used for Photography Editing/Printing and Videography this will be for multiple MAC computers which will share a mass storage drive and accommodate a print server capable of addressing 6 Epson Stylus Pro printers with print expansion to 10 printers. The beginning network will consist of 2 iMACs, 3 MAC Pro's and 1 MAC Book. The Network server needs to be at least 2 TB with expansion capabilities. In addition, the Server must be able to address up to 8 MAC computers. I have been searching the WWW as well as various manufactures for information but after hours of searching and reading they all claim to be capable of doing what I desire. I am interested in feedback from MAC users who have experience in this area and have positive results. If you have built a similar system and can recommend the Hardware/Software that has functioned with your MAC equipment I would be interested in your results and recommendations. Finances are not an issue so going cheap is not my intent, speed, reliability and expandability are key factors. TNX for your responses 😎

 

[gatepc]

If I was setting this system up I would buy the following

Switch : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817111031

For printers : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833139009

For the storage I recommend getting a Drobo Pro which is expandable up to 16tb's it also features duel disk redundancy. if you buy the drobo share you can link up the drobo directly into the network

and of course a bunch of ethernet cables lol
I wouldn't buy a server for something like this just the listed.
let me know how that idea sounds too you

 

[oculus42]

AirPort Base Station, Switch, DroboPro

The Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station offers the ability to share multiple printers and multiple hard drives through its USB port, but connecting a hub. If all your printers will be in a centralized location, this should be fine for printing and should be easier to set up than multiple USB print servers.

I would follow gatepc's advice and get the gigabit switch, and DroboPro. I would personally build my own file server (and have) but I know people who depend on Drobos for their data.

As always, some off-site (or online) file storage is recommended. My own file server backs itself up onto Mozy.