snow leopard server posts

Filed under: Enterprise, Mac mini, Mac OS X Server, Snow Leopard

Working with the new Apple Mac mini Server and Snow Leopard Server

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Nov 19th, 2009

It's always nice when, as a Mac consultant, I can play with the latest hardware and software and get paid to do it. Last week was no exception, and when I received a call from a new client who wanted assistance with a Mac mini Server, I jumped at the chance. Since the introduction of the Mac mini in early 2005, I've been using "regular" Mac minis as servers, and they've worked flawlessly. I had two servers of my own at Macminicolo.net for quite some time, and Brian Stucki, the owner of that Mac mini colocation firm, noted in a discussion a few years ago that the failure rate on the mini hardware is phenomenally low. I've set up Mac minis with Mac OS X Server for architectural firms, PR companies, design firms, non-profits, and a number of other companies that needed centralized control of digital assets, but didn't want to spend a lot of money to do so. Usually after setting up these servers, I rarely, if ever, need to go back and fix anything.

Unboxing the server (sorry, no unboxing movies this time...) unveiled a plastic-wrapped mini Server and the traditional power brick, along with a small box containing Mac OS X 10.6 Server and assorted manuals. While I didn't check for the usual Apple stickers, I did find the server software serial number cards that are essential during the setup process.

There was a bit of a holdup when I discovered that the server came with a mini-DVI to DVI adapter, while I had brought my old VGA display with me. Fortunately, one of the employees on-site had a monitor that was quickly pressed into service, and after plugging in the keyboard, mouse and power, the server quickly booted up.

Apple is marketing the Mac mini Server as "Easy to set up. Easy to run," and they're right on -- to a point.

Continue reading “Working with the new Apple Mac mini Server and Snow Leopard Server”

Tags: mac mini server, mac os x server, MacMiniServer, MacOsXServer, server, snow leopard server, SnowLeopardServer

Filed under: Video, Software Update, Xserve, Mac mini, Mac OS X Server

Apple posts two new updates

by Joachim Bean (RSS feed) on Oct 23rd, 2009

Just days after all the hardware updates on Tuesday, Apple has posted two new support downloads.

The first, Pro Applications Update 2009-01, contains several updates for applications in Final Cut Studio. This update includes Final Cut Pro 7.0.1, Motion 4.0.1, Soundtrack Pro 3.0.1, Color 1.5.1, and Compressor 3.5.1.

This update addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

You can download this update through Software Update, or on the Apple Support Downloads page.

Also, Apple released Apple Server Diagnostics 3X106, which replaces Apple Server Diagnostics 3X104 to provide support for Snow Leopard Server. This is compatiable with the Xserve (Early 2008 or Early 2009) or the Mac mini server config (Early 2009).

This download is also available on the Apple Support Downloads page.

Tags: Color, Compresser, diagnostics, Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Studio, FinalCutPro, FinalCutStudio, Mac mini, MacMini, Motion, server, Snow Leopard Server, SnowLeopardServer, Soundtrack Pro, SoundtrackPro, update, Xserve

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mac mini, Mac OS X Server

Why an Apple-blessed Mac mini server has big possibilities

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Oct 20th, 2009

A few minutes after we heard about all of the new product announcements this morning, this email came in from TUAW reader Daniel:

Can you god blessed brains explain in some easy-to-understand way what are the possibilities for a Mac mini server for us non-tech brained mortals?

Why, of course we can, Daniel! That's why we're here.

I have personally used Mac minis as servers since shortly after the first G4 models came out on the market. In fact, at one point I personally had two of them at Macminicolo.net, a wonderful little company that was founded on the belief that Mac minis were great servers. I've installed at least a dozen for clients, and they are excellent for small businesses for the following reasons:

They're inexpensive. When you start looking at an Xserve, you want to start looking at mass storage and tape libraries as well. Pretty soon, the cost of a fully-loaded Xserve starts looking astronomical to a small business. That's not to say that Xserves don't have their place -- in fact, I have had two of my clients start with Mac minis and then move to Xserves when they found that they were outgrowing the mini servers. With the new $999 price point for a mini with an unlimited Mac OS X Server 10.6 license, two built-in 500 GB drives, and 4 GB of RAM, almost anybody can afford to own a server that provides email, instant messaging, calendaring, a wiki, podcast production, and more to a small workgroup.

They make it simple. The advantage of Mac OS X Server's software suite is power with a pretty face; it exposes the UNIX power of Mac OS X (including the industry-standard Apache, PHP, Samba and Jabber/XMPP stacks) with the relative ease of the Mac. While you can certainly roll your own server setup using conventional Mac OS X (either using Apple's shipped versions of Apache & PHP, or bumping them up), having the server administration tools makes everything a lot nicer. What's more, the standalone unlimited-license version of Server is a full $499, making this a straightforward bargain.

Continue reading “Why an Apple-blessed Mac mini server has big possibilities”

Tags: mac mini, mac mini server, MacMini, MacMiniServer, snow leopard server, SnowLeopardServer

Filed under: Enterprise, OS, Education, Other Events, Apple Professional, Podcasting, Xserve

Apple presents the Snow Leopard Server Tour 2009

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Oct 19th, 2009

OK, so it's really just the Snow Leopard Server Multi-City Seminar and not a huge rock band on a world tour, but if you're more interested in servers than following your favorite group, this announcement should get you excited.

Apple's setting up a series of 7 seminars across the country (blissfully ignoring most of the center of the USA except for Chicago) designed to sell IT managers, administrators, server architects, technology coordinators, and anyone else who will listen on the advantages of Snow Leopard Server. The agenda for each seminar includes a hardware and software overview, a discussion of setup, administration, and integration, and information about collaboration and communication with Snow Leopard Server.

For those in the content production world, there will be info about Podcast Producer 2. System Administrators will learn about how scripting can be used to ease their workload, and detailed information about integrating iPhones into the workplace will be presented.

The scheduled stops are:

Boston, MA / October 27
New York, NY / October 29
Seattle, WA / November 17
Chicago, IL / December 1
Washington, DC / December 3
Cupertino, CA / December 8
Los Angeles, CA / December 10

To reserve a seat for one of the seminar sessions, visit this page on the Apple website.

Tags: seminar, server, snow leopard server, SnowLeopardServer

Tip of the Day

Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.

Learn More

TUAW flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

Featured Galleries

TUAW bloggers (30 days)

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Steven Sande	45	3
2	Dave Caolo	35	4
3	Mel Martin	31	0
4	Mike Schramm	30	0
5	Michael Rose	19	23
6	Josh Carr	18	24
7	Victor Agreda, Jr.	15	6
8	TJ Luoma	14	25
9	Erica Sadun	12	1
10	Ken Ray	11	2
11	David Winograd	10	5
12	Joachim Bean	10	3
13	Aron Trimble	10	3
14	Sang Tang	9	0
15	Chris Rawson	9	0
16	Brett Terpstra	7	5
17	Megan Lavey	6	9
18	John Burke	6	3
19	Lauren Hirsch	4	0
20	Brett Kelly	3	4

More Apple Analysis

AAPL on BloggingStocks The Apple category feed from BloggingStocks.com
AAPL Quote, News & Summary The AAPL financials page from AOL Money and Finance
iPhone analysis from BloggingStocks iPhone tag feed from BloggingStocks
Macintosh news and reviews on Download Squad The Macintosh category feed from Download Squad

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)