So. Server. On a Mac. I am sad to say, your days are numbered. There really is no "server" any more. To see the evolution (or devolution) take a look here. Understand that the current version is 5.12, released alongside Monterey:
Changes introduced in macOS Server 5.7.1 and later - Apple Support
As you can see, it has been a constant process of removing services for the past few years.
Apple continues to remove features from Server.app. From your list of needed services, it is likely not worth the $20 as Server.app only has two services: Open Directory and Profile Manager. Other services have moved to the Sharing preference panel and can be configured without Server.app. For example, File Sharing and Caching are both available on all Macs from the Sharing preference panel. And, of the remaining services, Profile Manager is a reference implementation at best. Do not use it in production. If you need an MDM and don't want a third party, wait for Apple Business Essentials to come out of beta.
That being said, please be aware that Big Sur and above does not support AFP shared folders. SMB is the only protocol available. (Technically, NFS can be configured but that requires command line). Oh, and Apple still has not fixed permissions inheritance so you will need to use Terminal to set the parent ACE as it is missing directory_inherit and file_inherit.
As for FTP, this is not available in macOS any longer. If you need a full featured product, look at Rumpus. If you need a simple (and I mean really simple) FTP server, there is one in the AppStore called FTP-Server (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ftp-server/id987045856?mt=12) that I have used for a few deployments when the printers are so old our only scan to solution is scan to FTP.
Hosting mail is not worth the pain and suffering on macOS. Use a hosted service. Consider Microsoft O365 as you get a ton of services for the price. Google is another option but if you need the Office Suite, then you are just paying two companies for overlapping services. If you use anyone else, you are going to only get IMAP services and you will likely need to pay for a 3rd party filtering service. Plus, you will need to handle contacts and calendars independently. If you really, really want to host your own mail server, look at Kerio Connect. However, I will caution, I am not sure how much longer they will support macOS.
And, as mentioned, Caching server is built into all Macs. Simply take a look in System Preferences > Sharing.
As an aside, if your data set is not too large, you may want to consider using cloud storage. In the case of O365, you get 1 TB of Personal OneDrive storage and, depending on license level, at least 1 TB of collaborative storage in Sharepoint (can be integrated into OneDrive). These are included in your license and the storage will be available to all of your devices, including mobile. This bypasses the need for VPN as your data is no longer locked inside your LAN. Use MFA. Other cloud providers exist also so a proper choice can only be made once an understanding of capacity is had.
I would love to say that macOS Server was alive and well. But it is not. I am systematically moving all customers to the cloud and shutting down all servers. Hope this is helpful.
Reid
