PC VS MAC

[ArtproPro]

We are getting a new server for two of our three Nexus boxes. Currently we run windows 2000. I was wondering if anyone can give me a pros and cons of using an intel mac instead of a PC as a server. It seems that running an intel mac would be less expensive when it comes to hardware. Although, i'm not sure how stable it is as a server. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

[fuzorsilverbolt]

If you asked me my opinion on which to get in 2000 I would've said a pc without hesitation. Mac OS X has been making leaps and bounds on both the workstation and server edition of their operating system. Since I've always been a *nix fanboy I'd say go for the Mac server.... As far as it being cheaper I don't know where you're buying your pc server from because anytime I priced a pc vs. mac the pc was always cheaper by at least $500 AND was configured with faster hardware. Don't get me wrong here, if you're looking at pcs with windows server 2003 you can't go wrong either.

So just my opinion, buy the mac if it's truly cheaper and will do what you need it to do. Buy the pc if you need the windows features such as the active directory.

[macdevin]

Hardware wise, You might save a few bucks, But software there is now way windows is cheaper.

If you went windows then you would need to buy other software just to allow your macs to talk correctly to the PC. Since the OS X server has everything built in and has the speed to match go with an xserve with at least 4gigs.
I would even make it 8 if you were gigbit with more then 10-12 users.

Add the Xraid and you got your self a server that can't be touched.

[ArtproPro]

So how is the stability of the Mac OS X server? And how is the Stability of Nexus 8.5 with all the PDF tools?

[detric_1]

I run 4 xserve's here, and I couldn't possibly be more happy with my decision. They are in my opinion, the best server out there for small to medium sized installations. They just work. (I bought one of the originals back when they were first introduced).

We've just purchased the new Intel box, but have not put it into full production yet. I've got 1 G4, 2 G5's, 2 Xraids at 2.8tb each. I have 14 workstations, 7 nexus boxes, 1 odystar box and a brisque for legacy stuff. We run all Gigabit.

I agree totally with the 4 gigs of ram. That's necessary. But it's like money...you never have enough.

The ONLY thing that is a pain in the butt Nexus thing is that if you copy your .tct/.tlw files back to your server (everything here goes back to the server in the job folder) It looses it's resource and just shows up as a document. So you can't double-click on a page and open it in Insite. You have to go into the application and Open, "All Documents".

Uh..so, I say buy the xserve.


Dave

[macdevin]

I have an apple script that you can drag and drop all files/folders on that will give the resource back.

I can't wait to dump our Nexus PC's and run them on the xserve.

I've got 1 dual g4 -1 dual g5 xserve and 1 quad intel.

The G5 is the files server with 7tb xraid, it's on 6-gigbit link, our intel box is for running ALWAN and other automated crap and it on 4-gigbit link.

The G4 was at one time a file server but now it runs email,web,ftp and filemaker server.

The only time I need to restart them is for upgrades. They Rock.

Devin

[detric_1]

Thanks...I've got the script too. I'm just trying to figure out how to automate it so that it will do it automatically when the files copy back. Right now we have to manually drag the files onto the script to get them right. But for 99% of the stuff we do, we barely touch it. It's not a big enough deal for me to waste too much brain power on.

So you use Alwan.....whatcha think? Maybe we should start another thread.

Dave

[fredieZ]

Dudes

My server farm may not be as advanced as some of my cohorts. We have 4 servers in our organization. We are all gigabit, PC running 2000(office), PC running 2003(mail, VPN), PC (rip box) running 2000 and our Mac G5 running Server 10.4x(prepress) (we are budgeted this summer for an Xserve upgrade) They all have special purposes, Macs do some things better, PC have their place too. As far as stability goes, the mac gets the largest work out here. My through put from prepress exceeds 25 gigs a month. We keep track of when we reboot, the last time I restarted the Mac was more than 6 months ago for a software upgrade. (I'm a little behind in my updates) Our PC servers hick-up/lock-up, and sometimes do memory dumps and restart themselves every couple months. I don't know if this is a true gauge of stability, but the mac is rock solid. It's like that little pink bunny, just keeps goin'.

David

[Joe]

We have two core dual PC's running Windows 2003 server and if given the chance today I'd dump them both for the Mac servers. Don't get me wrong, they're pretty fast but with Windows Server you are limited to the 4 GB ram limit unless you move up to the 64 bit Windows and I'm not sure Nexus can run on it. Also the Nexus installer is very buggy on the dual core processor systems. Everytime you upgrade you have to start Nexus, watch all the icons load, watch all the icons shut down, take a screen grab of the modules that don't shut down properly, manually shut them down, quit Nexus, start Nexus, manually start the modules that did not shut down properly, quit Nexus, restart Nexus and if you are lucky everything will work the first time through this exercise. Only happens on the dual core processors I'm told though. :evil:

[born2print]

Xserve (used as parallel for client files Raids) has been trouble free for 1yr and counting.