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Mac OS X Server... what is it exactly?

P

p0intblank

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 20, 2005
2,548
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New Jersey
I've read a little about it on Apple's site and Wikipedia, but I am not really understanding what it is exactly. It looks like OS X from the screenshots I have seen, but there is obviously more to it. I guess my main question would be: could I actually install this software on a spare Mac and use it as a server? I would be extremely interested in doing this, but is much hosting knowledge required? I would rather go with this solution than pay a monthly fee for hosting.

It's probably much more complicated than I think it is, but at least I asked. :eek:

Thanks a lot!
 
OS X Server is just a version of OS X that includes some additional server software and management tools. There are lots of examples of what it can do, in terms of serving, including streaming of Quicktime content and so on, on the Apple site and probably at Wikipedia. In terms of management, it can do things such as remote admin Macs, for instance netbooting them and doing remote installs of disk images and so on.

But it's important to note that there are many kind sof server activities that don't even need OS X Server or any other server OS. For instance, you can serve web pages from OS X (Apache is integrated), or serve files on a LAN.
 
OS X Server is OS X with a lot of default server applications and administration tools. For instance, you might use it to easily set up: user login names/passwords for an array of computers, an email server for your domain name, a DNS that doles out subdomains for your given domain name, web server in order to serve websites.

For normies, it's a waste of money. A 10-client license (the cheapest there is) is $500 w/o education discount.

If you simply want to host a website, I'd recommend Ubuntu. It's much less expensive (free) and comes with a lot less extra stuff that you'll never use.
 
OS X Server is OS X plus several additional software packages and management tools to make it run as a "server".

Overall, it is a very easy to use and easy to manage web server, mail server, DNS Server, Chat Server, FTP Server, Application Server, Router (Think Linux Router Project + IPTables/IPChains + Virus Scanning of raw data), Proxy Server, etc.

OS X Server is without a doubt the single easiest to maintain server tools avaliable. Far easier than Windows Server, all the power of a Linux Server without needing to work with 5000+ line configuration files.
 
Thanks for all the quick and helpful replies! So this Ubuntu you speak of... will this allow me to dedicate a spare Mac of mine to act as a server? Say I bought a used Power Mac G4 on eBay and wanted to use it as a Web host. Would this is a workable solution or is there more to it than that? Obviously I know I would have to purchase a domain name. I'll check out Ubuntu's Web site, so thanks for the suggestion. :)

Edit: Hmm, I didn't realize you needed Linux to use Ubuntu. :(
 
Well, Ubuntu is Linux.

I think you can do what you want to do with the same Mac OS X you already own. If you have a static IP, you're already as good as a "server," and it would take just as much knowledge to install and use something like MySQL on the Mac as it would on any other platform. If you navigate to your home folder and then to "Sites," you'll see that you already have a little webpage. If you have a dynamic IP or are behind a router, it may just be easier to pay the piecemeal monthly fee for some web space.
 
p0intblank said:
Thanks for all the quick and helpful replies! So this Ubuntu you speak of... will this allow me to dedicate a spare Mac of mine to act as a server? Say I bought a used Power Mac G4 on eBay and wanted to use it as a Web host. Would this is a workable solution or is there more to it than that? Obviously I know I would have to purchase a domain name. I'll check out Ubuntu's Web site, so thanks for the suggestion. :)

Edit: Hmm, I didn't realize you needed Linux to use Ubuntu. :(
Click to expand...


Ubuntu is a "flavor" of linux. All you gotta do is download it, burn the image onto a cd, put the cd in your mac, restart, hold "c" while booting up and you'll be set.
 
Blackheart said:
For normies, it's a waste of money. A 10-client license (the cheapest there is) is $500 w/o education discount.
Click to expand...

what does a "10-client license" mean? does that mean that if i run an httpd server that only 10 people can access it at the same time? or this something else entirely?
 
No, 10-client means you can (legally, according to the EULA) install the software on up to 10 computers. Most software, such as a retail copy of Mac OS X (not Server), can only be installed on one computer (not that everyone follows that rule, of course).
 
Nonono, it's one server, ten clients. I'm not sure how "client" is defined though. It's possibly the maximum number of computers in the workgroup.
 
The 10 clients is only when dealing with AFP only 10 AFP clients may connect to the server at the same time... AFP = Apple File Protocol or file sharing... 10 client works for most users you would really only need the unlimited edition if your deploying in a office where there are 30 or more employees and 10 of whom may need to access the server at the same time...
 
Hope you dont mind slightly hijacking this conversation but its close to a query I have.

I would like a way of placing the iLife suite content libraries (iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, etc.) on a server and have client computers accessing them on the network. By this I mean I want to be able to fire up my powerbook, open iPhoto linked to a library on the server, be able to manipulate/edit photos and order photo books etc. PLUS drag photos to my own local instance of the app. Another example would be I want to fire up iTunes pointing to a iTunes folder on the network, buy new songs from the store etc. and have them populate the network folder rather than my local folder, PLUS drag songs across to my local instance.

Actually this setup will become more pertinent when iTV is live...if you're watching a photo slideshow on your TV streamed from an iMac somewhere in the house and spot an error etc. you want to be able to crack open your macbook and sort it out rather than having to go over to the host iMac...

So far all I've been able to understand is the process of 'sharing' libraries, which is okay but doesnt allow you to manipulate on the host - only view. Do I need OSX server for what I want?

cheers
Vanilla
 
Vanilla, OS X Server won't help with any of that because there aren't any servers in it for those things, as far as I know. There are threads here for which you can search that discuss using symbolic links ("alias" directories) to let you run a copy of an iTunes or iPhoto library from outside of your computer. But neither iTunes nor iPhoto is designed for managing multiple library instances simultaneously from one application instance, so you won't find any turnkey solution for that, as far as I know.
 
mkrishnan said:
Vanilla, OS X Server won't help with any of that because there aren't any servers in it for those things, as far as I know. There are threads here for which you can search that discuss using symbolic links ("alias" directories) to let you run a copy of an iTunes or iPhoto library from outside of your computer. But neither iTunes nor iPhoto is designed for managing multiple library instances simultaneously from one application instance, so you won't find any turnkey solution for that, as far as I know.
Click to expand...

oh b*gger...ahh well, thanks for the answer anyway. It is a real gap though in terms of ease of use that I do hope they solve sometime soon.

Vanilla
 
Originally Posted by projectle:
OS X Server is OS X plus several additional software packages and management tools to make it run as a "server".

Overall, it is a very easy to use and easy to manage web server, mail server, DNS Server, Chat Server, FTP Server, Application Server, Router (Think Linux Router Project + IPTables/IPChains + Virus Scanning of raw data), Proxy Server, etc.​
I don't know anything about Application Server. What does it let you do? Are the applications unaware that they are being served or does this only work with server-aware applications?

I'm asking because we netboot at school off of Mac OS X Server and have the applications installed in the netboot image, but we would consider going back to local booting if we could install our applications once on the server and use them from individual stations.

We have all the necessary licenses for Mac OS X Server (unlimited clients) and each application (site licenses), by the way.
 
On Windows, an "Application Server" is for Web apps. It wouldn't surprise me if the OS X Application Server is WebObjects.
 
Application Server refers to running any of the following, JBoss, TomCat or WebObjects on a OS X Server...
 
Okay, so Linux is pretty much out of the question. I would prefer to work with OS X and only that. So all this would be possible, right? I just don't know where to start. Are there any good (free) online resources I can read up on? I would really like to get this project going, so any information is good. Thanks again!
 
Apple2Mac said:
Application Server refers to running any of the following, JBoss, TomCat or WebObjects on a OS X Server...
Click to expand...
In that case, my ears can unperk. I thought it might be something new to host our existing applications for access by client Macs. It's not.
 
OP, I think you should think twice about hosting a server at home. Not only is it a potential security risk and would suck your bandwidth, but the cost of paying a host is going to be far cheaper than the cost of the electricity alone to run the server 24x7. I have seen deals on hosting plans that are $12 for a year and these aren't dinky plans.
 
brbubba said:
OP, I think you should think twice about hosting a server at home. Not only is it a potential security risk and would suck your bandwidth, but the cost of paying a host is going to be far cheaper than the cost of the electricity alone to run the server 24x7. I have seen deals on hosting plans that are $12 for a year and these aren't dinky plans.
Click to expand...

Not to mention, that if someone is worried about the low cost of hosting packages, maybe a $500 server OS isn't a good fit.
 
By the way, Mac OS X client (retail version) also supports up to 10 workgroup connections via AFP (apple file protocol).
 
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