Will OS X Server work for me?

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Level 1

18 points

Will OS X Server work for me?

Hello,

I am looking for some input on using OS X Server for our church's new building project. Currently we are in a medium sized church with about 35 employees and 50 or so computers. Half of those are Windows and half are Mac (slowly moving to more Mac's). We also use currently use a linux based file server. Our system has been a band aid case for many years now and as we transition to our new campus I would like to find the best solution for our needs and simplify our systems. So essentially, I have a blank canvas to work with and would love some input.

Initially the project will start as a community center and have:

6-10 iMac's, 2-3 POS systems,

Two scoreboards that are controlled over the network,

2 wireless roaming networks (1 for production staff to control AVL equipment and 1 for guests),

Potential Building controls (security, access control, HVAC, ect.)

Some kind of building PA for announcements and music.

1-2 printers and printservers,

Roughly 20 TB of NAS storage (or other recommended method).

About 6 Apple TV's for media and digital signage.

Eventually we will be expanding the building with 40-50 classrooms/multipurpose rooms and an additional 40-50 offices, all with various network needs as well. Will OS X Server handle this level of network? Also, other than switches, will Airport extreme's/express's work for the router and wifi access points? Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), 3.5 GHz 6-Core; 16 GB Ram; Dual D500

Posted on Feb 11, 2016 4:07 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 11, 2016 4:16 PM in response to JasonA.

It should work just fine. As you already have MACs in your environment you can select one of them to set up as a server and test with it. Get a new Maci Mini is you want a dedicated low cost new machine as your server.

I would add it to your current environment and transition services to it in phases,

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Answer 2

Leopardus

Level 4

1,303 points

Feb 11, 2016 9:03 PM in response to JasonA.

To elicit a proper answer, more information is required. A simple answer in terms of numbers for a file server, is yes. You could look at this solution to provide redundancy at the same time.

Leo

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Answer 3

Feb 12, 2016 4:45 AM in response to JasonA.

You shouldn't have much problem. It will allow you to do lots of things such as storing the updates on the server and the clients get the updates from the server so they are not all downloading off the internet.

If you really want to run the HVAC system off the server, you will have to check to see if the software is available for it. I think I would have a dedicated to machine for that, or run it in a virtual machine.

You can get really nice large storage systems from OWC that mirror and can act as a Time Machine host, running through your thunderbolt port.

I'm not sure about the PA system and what that would require. File serving (SMB and AFP), updates, backup, FTP and much more can easily be handled by the server software.

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