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I've been a Mac user for about five years, have a high degree of technology literacy (I'm a Ruby developer by trade), and don't mind digging deeper into the networking aspects (in fact, it's a pleasure to learn).

My employer (not in the technology industry) is in a tech transition (ditching IT vendor, getting rid of existing outdated hardware infrastructure — everything).

I'd like to suggest switching all of our workstations to 11" MacBook Airs (portability is a huge plus, in our field), and running the whole network via a Mac mini with OS X server.

I've never used OS X server, or administered a network beyond my own basic business/personal needs (ISP line in, modem, WiFi router).

Is this something I can reasonably suggest, for our business of 25-ish people spread over two physical office locations? (Assuming I have at least 10 hours per week to devote to network management on a regular basis)

This seems like a slam-dunk decision, but I'm wary.

What potential problems should I be on the lookout for?

  • Backup/restore?
  • Compatibility issues with non-Mac hardware?
  • Remote access from second office location?
  • Networking issues I'm not aware of? (...)
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Hi Jason - I think that your question is overly broad - You are essentially asking if OSX Server can do these things - of course it can, it's a case of exactly what you want to use them for, and how you wish to configure them. I would consider trying to make your question more focused, this is very difficult to answer in it's present form. Drop by in chat if you need assistance. – stuffe Feb 13 at 17:15
Good point. I'm thinking of a "What should I be wary of?" angle. Would that suit? – jasonmklug Feb 13 at 17:23
Jason, even that is too vague. It's like asking "what are all the things I don't know that I should know" -- the unknowable is usually infinite. There's also too many points to touch on this question. It'd be better broken out in to specific questions about the specific technologies you're asking about. – Ian C.♦ Feb 13 at 18:19
As mentioned, this is too broad at the moment. I do think that there's a good question in here that can be reasonably scoped, so please do make an edit to tighten things up and I can reopen. Please take a look at the FAQs for more info. Thanks. – Nathan Greenstein♦ Feb 13 at 18:21

closed as not a real question by Nathan Greenstein♦ Feb 13 at 18:21

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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There are two issues to consider here: being a Ruby developer on Mac OS X "Mountain Lion" systems, and the current state of OS X Server for a small workgroup.

I'm not a dev, just a lowly sysadmin, but I know a lot of devs who use Macs for their primary workstations; about the biggest complaint I hear is over choosing a proper window manager and terminal - I usually suggest Divvy, you might also want to check out iTerm2, textWrangler, etc.

There are a few things to consider about Apple's default tools, namely Xcode, but usually with some effort you can replicate your preferred OSS tools instead of Apple's occasionaly outdated ones (ie gcc). This blog post was the first hit off Google:

It’s been two and a half years since my last laptop. It’s neat to look back and see how much has improved since then for setting up a Ruby development environment.

Of particular note, Homebrew, RVM, and Bundler did not exist back then.

As for OS X Server - it's become quite robust since the 10.7 release and is designed for ease of use. With the current version I think you'd be able to easily do everything necessary for a single location, although I'd likely recommend a second Mac mini server for the second physical location. VPN, file replication, DNS, DHCP, firewalls, Apple software update caching, centralized Time Machine backups - all built in. If you're comfortable running your own personal LAN you'd be fine in OSXS.

I'd still recommend some good offsite backup, such as CrashPlan, and TeamViewer for remote support.

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Will running two Mac mini servers lead to conflicts of some kind, since the two offices are effectively one working group? (document storage versioning, calendars, basically any shared resources) Or is the function of the second server simply to create the second local network and facilitate connection to the first server where that "canonical" data is stored and referenced? – jasonmklug Feb 13 at 18:08
And, not that it makes a big difference, but I'm the only developer in the company, and I run my own development environment on my own machine regardless of what happens in this transition. Everyone else's "computing needs" are limited to word processing, spreadsheets, email, internet access for line-of-business web apps, and the occasional video chat. – jasonmklug Feb 13 at 18:17
Ah - w/r/t two servers, yes, I meant that for better reliability and flexibility, you should have a second physical system at the other location; that would give you the most options in terms of file storage, what going where, etc. If your WAN had trouble you don't want the other side being totally cut off. If you're the only dev, even better. :D – da4 Feb 13 at 19:20

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