iPad network

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Level 1

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iPad network

Good day, the current organization I work for has implemented iPads to disseminate information and to update our work books. We currently have 480 iPads that connect to a Mac Mini server to update their information through GoodReader. We have realized that this setup is not powerful enough to handle the traffic of updating the iPads and still being able to use the computer for issuing new ones. We are flirting with the idea of getting a MacPro to help handle the task of both jobs but not sure if that is just overkill. Keep in mind that we are trying to also set ourselves up with a network that can last with minimal upgrades. Any thoughts or ideas??

iOS 8.3, Network setup

Posted on Jun 29, 2015 7:18 AM

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Answer 1

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

Jun 29, 2015 10:47 AM in response to H00SIER89

Have you used Activity Monitor to look into the bottleneck? macintosh hd > applications > utilities > Activity Monitor

This doesn't seem to be a cpu intensive process. Seems to be a bottleneck somewhere. check.

Could be a memory issue. See.

Perhaps you are running into an i/o bottleneck. could try an external hd or ssd.

Get a second and third mini. Could be a hassle could get a second mini then split the work-load. Move the Goodreader stuff to the second mini seems like the easier way without my reading of the goodreader doc. Might be good to have multiple computers in case of failure. Have three minis around so you could go to two if needed.

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Answer 2

H00SIER89 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 15, 2015 6:46 AM in response to rccharles

Thank you for the information. We do not have an activity monitor and that will be the first thing that we look into. We have a second mini on standby right now, incase the primary does go out but nobody interacts with it from their iPad right now.

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Answer 3

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

Jul 15, 2015 6:38 PM in response to H00SIER89

We do not have an activity monitor and that will be the first thing that we look into

Activity monitor comes built into Mac OS X. Great app.

See:

macintosh hd > applications > utilities > Activity Monitor

Some semi-random thoughts on addressing performance problems.

Activity Monitor
Look at what is happening with your Mac when you run Activity Monitor.

Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor

Look at my activity monitor image below.

Make sure you are looking at all processes.

Make sure that you have clicked on the cpu tab. make sure the triangle is down.

You can gain some understanding of Activity Monitor by looking at it every once in a while. Look at the small graph below to see the total cpu time used. See what processes are listed on top.

Here is how I have my cpu display set up:

Console
You can use the console application to examine Mac OS log files. The logs will contain information on various system processes.

Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Console

File > open console log
this will display the startup messages

and
file > open system log
once the system is started, messages will go into the system log

Other folks
bdaqua advises running disk utility from install disk ( or recover partition ) and performing a safe boot:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2256611
Using the Recovery partition

Hold down command+r at boot.
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4718
http://osxdaily.com/2012/02/03/how-to-boot-into-os-x-lions-recovery-hd-partition /

K Shaffer advises checking for available RAM

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