Just before the holidays I invested in Apple’s new server offering for small firms and workgroups, the Mac Mini Snow Leopard Server. It’s a sweet package.
For $999 you get a whisper-quiet, energy-efficient server not much larger than a paperback book. The device comes with 4GB of RAM and a terabyte of built-in storage, plus an unlimited client license to Apple’s powerful server software (10.6.x Snow Leopard).
Apple claims this combination of hardware and software can handle up to 25 concurrent users. To handle more users would require more powerful hardware. I’ve been using it to serve a handful of concurrent users, and it’s plenty fast.
The server software comes preinstalled. Sadly, I had to reinstall the OS with phone-based help from an AppleCare technician when the device refused to accept my serial number as valid. The 3-year extended warranty, which includes tech support, is a very good value.
The device takes up no space at all. As promised, you hear nothing when it’s running. It generates no heat, and has a negligible impact on the monthly electrical bill. In this regard it’s a wonderful set-up for small firms, especially creative firms where people need to hear themselves think, rather than be distracted by loud whirring fans.
Great for End-Users
From the end-user’s perspective the server’s main features — blogs, wikis, calendars, etc. — all function with Apple’s legendary simplicity. Compared to mainstream wikis I’ve used elsewhere, Apple’s approach is visually elegant, especially the feature that provides a “quick look” at documents that are attached to bullet points or sentences within the wiki. Apple appears to be “printing” your doc to PDF format while the doc is being uploaded to the server. This means that in addition to the file you can download from the wiki, you can zoom and preview key documents even if their native application does not run on the server or your end-user’s PC. Inserting hyperlinks and media files is also very easy.
Hire an Expert to Configure It
Be cautious. Don’t attempt to set up the device and configure it without the aid of an IT professional, unless you understand all the ins-and-outs of TCP/IP protocols, DNS, LDAP directories, root certificates, etc. Even if you get the impression from Apple’s marketing collateral that this is a “just add water” kind of product, don’t believe it. Server configuration is not easy.
We needed help to configure the port forwarding details on our business-class Comcast router, so our public fixed IP address would connect reliably to the server’s login page. Configuring the TCP/IP protocols on the Comcast router and the various networking and user directories on the server is not for the faint of heart. Even with the help of a networking veteran, we’ve had some glitches both inside and outside our firewall. Some of these glitches can be resolved by resetting the router periodically, but we still don’t understand what’s driving the problem.
I believe a technically savvy client who knows what she wants should expect to pay for at least a half-day of consultation from a network specialist who is also an Apple specialist. Someone who is primarily a Windows server expert will probably take even longer, although the details to be configured are generic and not specific to the Mac server OS.
If the small business owner is not technically savvy, even more time is likely to be required to configure the server properly — easily a day or more. This scenario will occur if the only way the business owner knows what she wants is by hands-on trial and discovery of what doesn’t work for her firm.
The issues I’m describing are independent of the server OS; you’d face the same thing with Linux or Windows servers, and would probably have to pay for even more hours to configure the networking properly.
My main point here is to manage expectations properly. Just because the device is small, cute and carries an Apple logo does not mean you should expect to set up and configure this server without an expert’s help.
But once you do, it’s very sweet. I love its wiki capabilities in particular, and look forward to sharing this form of collaboration with clients.
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