cpreasbeck

Q: What is the recommended number of clients per Mac server? Also what are some recommended specs when purchasing an Apple machine that will have Mac OS X server installed?

What is the recommended number of clients per Mac server? Also what are some recommended specs when purchasing an Apple machine that will have Mac OS X server installed? We have around 300 clients that need to be enroled on the Mac server. I want to know what is the recommended amount of clients a Mac server should contain. Also what are some recommended specs to make sure the server will flawlessly?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)

Posted on Aug 5, 2014 1:11 PM

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  • by jeffd55,

    jeffd55 jeffd55 Aug 7, 2014 7:46 AM in response to cpreasbeck
    Community Specialists
    Aug 7, 2014 7:46 AM in response to cpreasbeck

    Hello cpreasbeck,

     

    Thank you for contacting Apple Support Communities.

     

    I was able to find the following transition guide for Xserve that provides some workload guidance to determine performance when planning a server deployment.

     

    Transition Guide Xserve

    http://images.apple.com/xserve/pdf/L422277A_Xserve_Guide.pdf

     

    On page 9, Performance there is a chart that provides maximum numbers of connected users for various activities such as file sharing, mail, web, calendar, directory services and Time Machine and the CPU used as a server (Xserve, Mac Pro, Mac Mini). This information is a bit dated as the referenced software is Snow Leopard Server (OS X 10.6), and the hardware is older also, but it should give you a general idea of what you might need to look for.

     

    Regards,

    Jeff D.

  • by MrHoffman,

    MrHoffman MrHoffman Aug 7, 2014 10:51 AM in response to cpreasbeck
    Level 6 (15,627 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 7, 2014 10:51 AM in response to cpreasbeck

    If you're referring to iOS and Mac OS X clients and particularly to the use of Profile Manager 2 (and not to file share services and such, as referenced in the information linked by jeffd55), then 300 clients is quite manageable with OS X Server on a Mac Mini Server, assuming you have a decent network connection.   Here is the Apple note on this topic:  Profile Manager 2: Scalability