Difference between Server and Client

[Analog Kid]

Hey--

Trying to decide if it's time to spring for Server, but the cost is prohibitive. Basically I've got a small network of family Macs at home: Desktop PowerMac, Mac Mini, 12" Powerbook for my fiance, and 15" Powerbook that I bring home from work.

The PowerMac is the workhorse right now, but the plan is to put the Mini on the network as the webserver (I've got about 3 very-low-traffic sites hosted) and use it as the wireless basestation for everyone else.

Mostly I'm just setting up a hobbyists server-- web, mail, maybe some other services. The weblogging support in server looks interesting, as well as the iChat server. Mailing lists, etc, etc.

But I also know that I can pretty much install all of those from source. It's just a pain and takes endless tweaking.

What get's me is that I don't really need a 10 client license (which I think refers to file shares on the server). I really just need the Internet based services-- am I wrong?

So here's my questions for anyone who knows:
--Is there anything that the Client has that Server does not? (any features, programs, etc that I'd be missing out on).

--How much of a help are the administration tools in Server vs. doing it the Unix way?

--Is there any educational discount on Server? (Fiance's a student-- adult student...)

--Is there anything else about Server that I'm missing but would help justify the price?

Thanks!

 

[csubear]

There are two things that server makes really easy.

1 Mail, I have always had a hard time setting up a mail server. I always screw it up.

2 LDAP, For network directory services, like having the same account on all your machine and have a central home directory, server makes it very easy. Well sort of, just make sure you know how to get DNS working or you'll never get Kerobose working and then directory services will be all weird.

Anything else you may want to do is not that hard to do with opensource tools. Infact if you want to save a couple of bucks just take some time and learn how to set things up the unix way. Its a great experience.

 

[Analog Kid]

There are two things that server makes really easy.

1 Mail, I have always had a hard time setting up a mail server. I always screw it up.

2 LDAP, For network directory services, like having the same account on all your machine and have a central home directory, server makes it very easy. Well sort of, just make sure you know how to get DNS working or you'll never get Kerobose working and then directory services will be all weird.

Anything else you may want to do is not that hard to do with opensource tools. Infact if you want to save a couple of bucks just take some time and learn how to set things up the unix way. Its a great experience.

Been there, done that. Twice. The web stuff was really easy, the mail stuff was a breeze in Jaguar and a pain in Panther. There were a bunch of changes to the underlying system. Squirrelmail was tough because of the IMAP difficulties and I'm still not happy with my BIND solution...

It was good to go through it-- I feel I really know what's happening under the hood now, but I don't know if I want to struggle through it again.

On the other hand, I did enjoy telling friends that all of that was running on the standard home-edition OS X.

Any other thoughts out there? What about the "portable home directories"? Does that make sense for home laptops?