jatassoc
Level 1 (9 points)
Servers Enterprise

Q: OS X Server Now (10.11.5) or Later (macOS Sierrra)?

My basic question is, should we go ahead and setup our MacPro (Early2008) with OS X Server (El Capitan) now or wait and add Server after release of macOS Sierra?

We are aware that the MacPro will not be able to run Sierra, so it bods the question as to whether this scheme will run at all?  Our initial idea was to have the MacPro serve as a Time Machine for backups coming from the other two Macs.  This way there would be two backups for the iMac 27" (local & server), and the iMac 20.5" would have one backup to server, and each backup would on a dedicated hard drive in MacPro.  The MacPro would backup to the remaining free internal drive.

 

Our current small office system consists of three Macs on a hardwired Ethernet, as follows, with all running El Capitan !0.11.5--

1) iMac 27" (Early 2012), 2TB HD (2 partitions) and local MyBook (Time Machine) 8TB  (This would become Server Administrator)

2) MacPro 2,1 (Early 2008), Four 2TB HD (This would have OS X Server added)

3) iMac 21.5" ( Early 2009), 500MB HD,  (This had it own Time Machine but it has failed)

 

Any help appreciated.

 

JAT

Posted on Jun 29, 2016 9:01 AM

by John Lockwood,Solvedanswer
John Lockwood John Lockwood
Level 6 (9,165 points)
Servers Enterprise
A:

A Mac Pro 2008 model does not support running macOS Sierra. Apple have officially stated that only Mac Pro 2010 and later will support Sierra. Therefore your question is moot.

 

You can only install up to El Capitan and hence the version of Server.app for El Capitan which is currently 5.1.5.

 

Any version of OS X that supports Time Machine will be able to backup to your Mac Pro 2008 running El Capitan and Server.app. So if/when you upgrade your other computers to Sierra they will still be able to backup to your Mac Pro.

Posted on Jul 1, 2016 2:00 AM

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jatassoc

Q: OS X Server Now (10.11.5) or Later (macOS Sierrra)?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Brian Nesse,Helpful

    Brian Nesse Brian Nesse Jul 1, 2016 5:15 AM in response to jatassoc
    Level 4 (3,007 points)
    Jul 1, 2016 5:15 AM in response to jatassoc

    I can't speak to the specifics of your backup plan as it has been ages since I setup a server to host Time Machine backups.

     

    You are correct that your MacPro won't run macOS Sierra, so setting it up with El Capitan and the current Server now would make sense.

  • by Leopardus,

    Leopardus Leopardus Jul 1, 2016 5:15 AM in response to jatassoc
    Level 4 (1,087 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 1, 2016 5:15 AM in response to jatassoc

    An indicator that Apple are going all out to make El Capitan the new holding point, like Snow Leopard was, is the fact that they are still working very hard on it. With Sierra embarking on some new stuff, but still maintaining the main direction as it came to fruition in El Capitan from Mavericks.

     

    It just makes sense not to wait, but to install the latest version of Server 5 with the latest El Capitan and your MacPro will continue for many years to give you very reliable service.

     

    Snow Leopard was the last iteration that went to a version 6 and continued to a version 8 eventually. I would not be surprised if El Capitan followed suit.

     

    Having that (El Capitan with Server 5), in place will position you for later and further upgrades and updates. I know the same is true for Sierra, but with El Cap we are talking about a mature and working product. I know what I would do.

     

    HTH

     

    Leo

  • by John Lockwood,Solvedanswer

    John Lockwood John Lockwood Jul 1, 2016 2:00 AM in response to jatassoc
    Level 6 (9,165 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 1, 2016 2:00 AM in response to jatassoc

    A Mac Pro 2008 model does not support running macOS Sierra. Apple have officially stated that only Mac Pro 2010 and later will support Sierra. Therefore your question is moot.

     

    You can only install up to El Capitan and hence the version of Server.app for El Capitan which is currently 5.1.5.

     

    Any version of OS X that supports Time Machine will be able to backup to your Mac Pro 2008 running El Capitan and Server.app. So if/when you upgrade your other computers to Sierra they will still be able to backup to your Mac Pro.

  • by jatassoc,

    jatassoc jatassoc Jul 1, 2016 5:23 AM in response to jatassoc
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 1, 2016 5:23 AM in response to jatassoc

    Thanks for the replies from Neese, Leopardus, and Lockwood.  We beleive we have the information necessary to confidently to go ahead and add OS X Server to our MacPro 2008.

  • by kjustice09,

    kjustice09 kjustice09 Sep 6, 2016 5:23 PM in response to jatassoc
    Level 1 (16 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 6, 2016 5:23 PM in response to jatassoc

    I would like to mention that a Mac Pro being used primarily for Time Machine, is going to be very inefficient. The Airport Extreme Time Capsule uses almost no power in comparison to the Mac Pro. Have you considered any third party network attached storage servers? The Buffalo LinkStation LS441de is a diskless enclosure that will allow you to insert four sata hard drives and configure them in a RAID5. The LinkStation also has full Time Machine support, along with an iTunes Server, natively embedded in the firmware.