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macdadduh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
1
0
Boston, USA
Recent "new"s for me: wife, baby, DSLR, MRForum membership. Not-so-new: the used Mac Pro 5,1 Quad Core 3.2 (Server 2012) just purchased on CL.

Good news - the MP fired up, and I found the admin password on an old sticker on the back. Today's realization: I'm in over my head in mapping a plan to create a central repository for the family's documents (off-load from wife's 2012 and my 2009 MBP), backup, photos, video, and music with this MP, with an eye toward non-professional, pro-sumer photo & video editing.

My working checklist:
1. determine soundness/integrity of the system - is the boat seaworthy?
2. create a bootable clone backup - Carbon Copy Cloner optimal?
3. make sensible HW changes/upgrades now before any migration
4. stay with current ML 10.8.5, move to Mav 10.9.4, or wait for Yosemite?
5. change the Server OS to the standard individual configuration matching my minimal needs.

Machine specs I'm working with:
3.2 GHz Quad Core 45-nm Xeon W3565 (Nehalem)
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
6 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory
two 1 TB (7200 RPM, 32 MB cache) 3Gb/s Serial ATA hard drives

In advance, sincere thanks for any advice & direction as to how to proceed, especially along the lines of "If I were you, here's what I'd do…" commentary.
 
I´ve nearly same machine as you.
1. Yes.
2. I use TimeMachine with my 2TB Time Capsule, along with the others Mac´s at my home. CCC will also suit you well.
3. Depends on your needs. SSD is highly recommended.
4. Mine came with SL, and I upgraded to Mavericks immediately - as in "I want the newest OS".
5. I´ve never tried the server OS X, so I´ve no clue.

My future upgrades include more memory, 6-core Xeon W3690 - and maybe a newer graphic card.
 
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