Mac OS 10.6 Server
Tuesday, 09 February 2010
Not that long ago, you’d by an Xserve rack-mounted Apple hardware for this or maybe just put Server on a spare (albeit well appointed) Mac, to hum away and go about its business. Dedicated Apple servers start at $5299 for a Quad-Core and $6379 for an 8-Core.
That’s why Apple recently put out the gem of a package comprising the latest Mac mini complete with 1TB storage and OS 10.6 Server preinstalled. This costs $1749 in New Zealand and you get a cute little white box you can pretty much hide anywhere (dust-free is good, with some airflow around it, so not in the back of your sock drawer, even though it would fit easily). Then ka-pow, you’re off.
Note that OS X Server by itself is $979 (that’s complete with an unlimited client licence) while the cheapest (2.26HGz) mini is $1049 (2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive). This comes to $2028. For your $1749 you get a faster (2.53GHz) mini with 4GB RAM with, of course, 1TB storage and OS X Server included. It’s not a super powerful setup but boy, is this thing an ideal cost saver for a small business or institution or what! Which is exactly Apple’s cunning plan.
Installing Server
I didn’t have this new mini configuration, though, so I nuked an 8-core Mac Pro and put OS X Snow Leopard Server on that. Hope Apple didn’t mind too much, as the lovely and glamourous tower of power was there’s, not mine. All in a good cause ... I'm sure the loaner will be fine.
OS X Server requires uses Open Directory to unify and manage accounts across systems. This lets Apple’s Address Book and other applications use the LDAP-based directory system.
From 10.5 server, there as been a new control panel interface covering the basics. Server Preferences lets you move to Server Admin if you need more power (or your use becomes more informed and sophisticated). But Server Preferences remains handy should you ever need to change the password and reset authentication systemwide.
When first setting up OS X Server 10.6, you can match identical account names that you add on the server to those of clients on your network. With the server active, any Mac OS X 10.6 client on startup or login with the same name as any server account is prompted to accept an invitation.
If the client accepts, 10.6 Server configures itself with information from the server for all local services (Address Book, iChat, iCal, Mail etc). This can also be done manually by sending an invitation to a user from the Users pane in Server Preferences. Older Macs and Windows systems will need to enter values manually in many cases, but Apple's Mail software configured itself.
Setup steps include setting up Manual DHCP while running through Setup Assistant and a couple of other things that are crucial, so please do as advised.
Auto-configuring fails if you haven’t supplied a real domain name. It has to resolve via DNS from your local DNS or global DNS servers to your Mac when you first set it up. Either set up a real name and enter it while configuring the Mac mini, or use the OS X Server as the DNS server for client computers to avoid this problem.
OS 10.6 Server appears to analyse your system on first boot, then configures and writes a file called “Mac OS X Server Next Steps.pdf” to your desktop. I know because I installed the software on two different hard drives at different times and the PDFs that resulted were different. Clever. This demands a read straight away, as it’s full of advice to get your server system humming.
How does it work?
All this would be fantastic for anyone already au fait with server technology and protocols, but the whole point of the Mac min/Server configuration is to enable small business owners and others to set up and use a sophisticated server.
However, while Apple has provided full fledged server power with an affordable hardware counterpart, as a completely new user, I found the whole thing a little bewildering.
There is a knowledge gap that the excellent (and free) podcasts available in iTunes help with, but don't fully resolve. What’s really needed is a Beginners’ Guide that I wish somebody like the wonderful Take Control people would offer, taking you step by step through the process and explaining what it all means as you go. Take Control has many tomes available (they’re usually US$10 each) that mention OS X sharing, but nothing covering OS X Server specifically.
Apple strongly recommends you make use of your 90 days free call tech support as soon as you get your server, by the way. That’s because there are some basic steps you should take at setup, and if you do, your Serving life will be much more useful to you and work in a much more care free and happy way. I did find this extremely useful.
Also, I was using this Mac Pro as my main Mac, to write on, administer my mac-nz.com site, to Photoshop files for the site and for my magazine, and to work in other Adobe apps like InDesign, plus Apple’s Logic and Final Cut.
“This is possible”, said the Apple support guy from the Central USA, “and some people choose to do this” but it did seem to make him feel uncomfortable. I had no problems doing so, but just keep in mind it’s not considered optimum practice to use your server as your general Mac.
Apart from the usual Apple applications (but not iLife – iTunes was there, though) and utilities, you get some Server-specific apps.
A folder in Applications called Server contains iCal Server Utility, Podcast Composer, RAID Admin, Server Admin, Server Monitor, Server Preferences, System Image Utility, Workgroup Manager and Xgrid admin (for controlling shared processing).Podcast Composer simplifies and streamlines the creation and posting (and hosting) of podcasts.
In the Applications folder, you’ll find QuickTime Player but also QuickTime Broadcaster, which enables you to instantly stream video from a plugged-in camera. This works across your internal network, I guess, as another aid to collaboration.
Internal website
A lot of the new features of OS 10.6. Server revolve around you ‘serving’ an internal web site (you don’t turn servers off, they run 24-7) which has various useful capabilities including blogs, a Wiki and a calendar, which people on your network can log into and which servers as a central collaboration and scheduling point. You can then invite people (it’s easiest to make a group in your Address Book) in by telling them what the web address is.
It’s administered from inside the Safari page generated; there are themes and many services attached, to make it both easy and attractive to use.
You can set up to administer this remotely.
As far as email goes, your Server could (and should be) your secure email portal for every machine on your network. To this end, Apple has packaged together ClamAV for anti-virus, Spamassassin for spam filtering, Spamhaus for real-time blacklisting, Postfix (the mail delivery agent), Dovecot for IMAP and POP3, and Squirrelmail for Webmail.
But once again, I did not find the setup as straightforward for a novice as I would have liked, although true server people should find it handy and easy to deploy.
Among the other services handled by Mac OS 10.6 Server are file sharing for Mac and Windows systems (very easy to use), shared contacts and calendars, VPN for remote secure access, networked backup (using the familiar Time Machine), WPA/WPA2 Enterprise for secure office Wi-Fi access, DNS to provide internal hostname resolution, DHCP + NAT for private network addressing and as a network border firewall between broadband and office.
Conclusion: A very cheap system, bought in conjunction with a Mac mini anyway, that brings a new level of utility to the small workplace and better, easier ways to manage networks. But I think Apple should have supplied 'absolute beginners' information along with the mini configuration, at least.
What's Great: wide support for several network protocols including Windows,
What's Not: Since the mini is aimed at new-to-Server users, the documentation and resources should be, too.
Needs: A workplace stepping up into network control and services but not yet ready for the full server treatment, with someone ready to put a few days in if they don't have server knowledge.
Mac OS 10.6 Server with Mac mini 2.53GHz, Dual 500GB HDs, 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, GB memory, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics NZ$ 1749 (Pic: Apple Inc)
Mac OS 10.6 Server (software only) with unlimited client license NZ$979
Mac OS 10.6 Server with Xserve starts at NZ$5299
