Fileserver recommendation with indexing

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Level 1

14 points

Fileserver recommendation with indexing

Hi,

since Apple "killed" the real OS X Server with the Server App, I am looking for alternatives.

Until now I have managed to move away with all needed Services (OD to AD, DNS, DHCP, Web, Jabber …) to Linux alternatives, but I was not able to find a solid working solution for a fast and solid working fileserver with reliable indexing for our Mac clients.

I know, there are solutions like HELIOS Universal File Server and Acronis Files Connect, but they are offering the Spotlight indexing only through AFP, which Apple is sadly giving up.

I have tried different free Systems like FreeNAS and OpenMediaVault, but none of them has the Spotlight feature of Saba and/or Netatalk implemented.

We have a QNAP NAS and they said, that when using Qsirch on the NAS with up-to-date OS, it should work with Spotlight on Mac clients, connected over SMB.

My tests unfortunately showed, that it is not working stable and reliable.

Furthermore the connections over SMB become extremly slow when copying many small files to the NAS. (I know it's a problem because of Apple cooking an own SMB)

Right now we're using a almost 9 year old Mac Pro with Esxi Virtualization for the Linux und OS X 10.11.6 with Server App. The Storage space is on the QNAP connected by iSCSI to the OS X VM.

I don't know how long the Mac Pro will survive and Apple does not offer any hardware suitable for use as a professional (file)server. So I need to be able to move to some macOS free solution from DELL, Lenovo, HP … and now it's just the file server I have no answer to which and how.

I hope someone here can help me.

Are HELIOS/Acronis the only "good" solutions?

Is there any Samba fileserver solution working flawlessly with Mac clients?

Maybe there is a alternative Finder tool like Alfred, but with a server feature for indexing the files directly on the server like spotlight server and serving them to some App on the clients?

I'm grateful for any hint.

Cheers

Darko

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Nov 7, 2018 5:19 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

John Lockwood

Level 6

13,685 points

Nov 7, 2018 6:39 AM in response to DB_yousign

Yes the Acronis Files Connect package is mainly intended as an AFP server with the significant bonus of also offering Spotlight indexing support.

However the way it works in theory might also support SMB access. As you will I suspect already know the way Acronis Files Connect (formerly known as ExtremeZ-IP) works is by adding AFP (and Spotlight) support to a standard Windows file server. Obviously a standard Windows file server already is able to do SMB file sharing. Since the Spotlight indexes are stored on the server in the folders that are being shared via AFP, they also should be there even if you access the same file share via SMB. Therefore in theory you merely login via SMB instead - to the same share and use them.

However as a different approach more relevant to your specific question it turns out SAMBA - the software used by Linux servers and NAS servers to do SMB sharing can support Spotlight indexing as well. I however strongly suspect the versions of SAMBA installed on nearly all NAS boxes will not be configured to enable this. See this article on how to setup your own Linux server with SAMBA and Spotlight support - https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Spotlight

Whether this SAMBA based approach is reliable is a whole different matter.

In terms of performance the new Mac mini 2018 would be an excellent choice, you can even get a 10Gbps Ethernet option. However it will not be certified for ESXi and I am not sure if the current ESXi version is compatible. You might have to wait for an update. I have run ESXi on older Mac minis.

Finally as a reminder, it is still possible to have a Mac mount an iSCSI or NFS share and to 're-share' it via SMB or AFP and do the Spotlight indexing. Ideally the Mac in question would have two Ethernet ports, one dedicated to access the iSCSI or NFS share, and the other to 're-share' it. This approach will never be as fast as a direct connection but doing it with two dedicated network ports minimises the performance hit.

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Answer 2

DB_yousign Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 7, 2018 7:36 AM in response to John Lockwood

Hi John,

thank you for the fast reply.

John Lockwood wrote:

Obviously a standard Windows file server already is able to do SMB file sharing. Since the Spotlight indexes are stored on the server in the folders that are being shared via AFP, they also should be there even if you access the same file share via SMB. Therefore in theory you merely login via SMB instead - to the same share and use them.

Good point. I'll get into it and ask them directly. Maybe they've already tried this.

John Lockwood wrote:

See this article on how to setup your own Linux server with SAMBA and Spotlight support - https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Spotlight

Whether this SAMBA based approach is reliable is a whole different matter.

I've already seen this and much more. Now I can say, I'm not expert enough to set up a perfect SAMBA server :-(

That's why I'm looking for an already working solution.

Regarding the new Mac Mini, sorry, but maybe it could be worth a closer look, just as a fileserver with 10 GbE and some thunderbolt storage, but right now you must work with Mojave on it and with this OS, Apple has really put the server functionality in the garbage.

Apple said it: If you're an professional, who needs server, thank you for the time and money you've invested for years. Now go somewhere else.

So because there is no more real server software in the Apple world, it doesn't matter which hardware they sell. You can't use it in your 19" rack.

John Lockwood wrote:

Finally as a reminder, it is still possible to have a Mac mount an iSCSI or NFS share and to 're-share' it via SMB or AFP and do the Spotlight indexing

This is what we're using right now. I'm just afraid, that our Mac Pro won't hold much longer after working almost 9 years 24/7. Since we needed to update from 10.6 Server to 10.9 with Server App, the Spotlight indexing is just getting more and more problematic. Now with 10.11 on the server, I must (try to) reindex our shares every one or two months. And even then it's not safe, that everything will be indexed properly.

Few years ago, it was a big pain in the a... for me, when I've realized that I need to learn Linux and give up OS X in server business.

Now I got over it and just need this last solution, then I really don't care any more what Apple is doing, developing and selling, because it's just the client side we will be buying from Apple.

I will give the guys from Acronis and HELIOS a call and ask what you wrote.

Maybe there are some other solutions I did not find yet.

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