Recommendations for setting up an Xserve for my office?

wks-

Ready to take the plunge, are we? If you have been into Macs since the dawn of time then I think you can handle this. Knowledge of networking would be extremely useful.

Apple does sponsor classes of varying lengths to customer's of all levels. This link has more information about training options.

As for your specific reasons and my thoughts:

1. File sharing can do. The size of your files and the speed in which you need to shove the data around on the disks will determine what you need for storage options as in XRaid with Fiber card in addition to current and projected short-term needs.

2. I am very against doing it this way, although you could. I always suggest a separate box or device to run the firewall, but at the fastest speed possible. Some old G4's do the trick, as would a FireWall appliance with at minimum gig-Ethernet speed.

3. Can do.

4. Now we are getting the hang of it.

As for your questions:

1. Yes you need a server. Based on your needs, a Mac Pro could even do the trick. You do lose the option of redundant power supplies should you go this route.

2. Yes a server neophyte can do it. Depending on what you plan to administer it shouldn't take very much time per week at all to maintain a well functioning server. You just have it email you when something is up, or take a peek via Server Admin whenever you get curious. Initial setup will take WAY longer than you think, so I would say plan on two full weeks to get things going and hope for better.

3. Redundant everything is always a good idea. The option of redundant power supplies on a server is a good one to take advantage of. Buy at least one extra drive module and run your boot/applications drive mirrored-again the redundancy thing. You can get by on 2GB, but for shoving around files and managing everything else you want to do 4GB would be better.

Hope this helps.

Luck-

-DaddyPaycheck

Everything DPC says is good advice.

I'm worried about the weeks of setup time required, however. What if I just initially use Xserve for network file sharing?

Weeks is an over statement. An Xserve will arrive with the latest system on it ready to run out of the box. When you boot it will be in "configure me" mode which is easiest to do from a remote computer. (Although the new Intel's do have video built-in.) If you have your ducks in a row - a permanent IP address for the server ready and knowledge about your local DNS system etc - you can get it set up quickly. For file serving you would then have to add client accounts, groups, create shares and add data to them. Five minutes is a bit optimistic but a couple hours with certainly reasonable. If you aren't used to the server environment tools I would add at least a couple hours for screwing around and documentation searching but if you read the Apple set-up guide before hand you should be in pretty good shape.

The server does come with a firewall - a pretty good one too. But there are a couple things to think about in terms of security that lead one to thinking a separate appliance is a good idea. When your firewall is run by your server on your server box then a security hole in the OS itself or a vulnerable service may allow someone to get at your box in a way that essentially circumvents the firewall. If you run a firewall that runs on a different system - BSD on an old PC or even a commercial firewall box - then someone would need to defeat the firewall device and then your actual server box. This raises the bar significantly and would probably preclude script kiddies and their ilk.

Another thing I would suggest is running the website on a sacrificial LAN on the other side of the firewall disconnected from your local network. Since webservers are a huge vulnerability in the network sense not running in on box that also houses your essential business data is just a good idea. I know that multiple servers - or server OSes - isn't practical for many people but it is still a good idea.

The bottom line is that an Xserve could/would do all these things for you. Don't forget UPS, rack mounting, cooling and data back-up as you plan your system. Also know that the Xserve is much louder than your average computer and you should plan for that as well.

Hope this helps,

=Tod

Tod and wks-

Two weeks might be pessimistic but it is not an overstatement-if one does not have their ducks in a row. It doesn't sound like this is just a server install but rather a system-wide installation.

I think we can agree that it will most likely take more than a few hours but far less than 2 weeks. But I have dealt with some serious debacles in my life, and I always plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Ditto the firewall comments. Just do your research before implementing any final solution.

A separate web-serving box will be ideal in terms of security and taking the load off of the box that is shoving files around.

Good bottom line points and suggestions.

Luck-

-DaddyPaycheck

wks,

A couple places to turn in addition to here.

There are (now) several OS X Server books but there weren't back in the day. Maybe other people can offer opinions on the Quickstart Guide or Little Black Book Series.

I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Training-Mac-Server-Essentials/dp/0321357582/

It is the course book for Apple's training class and covers several important things well and some others not at all. There is now a volume 2 that I have not personally used.

The best 10.3 Server administration IMHO book was the O'Reilly one by Michael Bartosh and is still worth having despite some of the 10.3->10.4 differences. But unfortunately they never released the 10.4 version in book form. It is now, however, available as a pdf from: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macosxtigersa/

http://www.afp548.com is a great resource with how-to articles and "Ask afp" forum boards. I have found several elusive answers here.

Depending on your Unix background you might (or might not) find the bible of Unix system administration handy. I like it because it compares and contrasts Unix versions and has in depth sections about the protocols not just "how" but "why". It is usually called the 'the purple book': http://www.amazon.com/UNIX-System-Administration-Handbook-3rd/dp/0130206016/

Good luck,

=Tod