Mac Mini as OSX Server + GlobalSan iSCSI
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Plan was to have a volume/disk attached to Mac Mini running the Server app. in el capitan its nice! alot of changes and merged to a single app... more rounded & polished per say.
But all shares would be SMB (as apple moving away from AFP) and also WebDav share option
Formatted as HFS+ ofcourse -
ease of use and drives auto map to login.
These are not brighest computer users. Trying to KISS
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Also I know the limitation on the share being formatted as HFS+
Compatible with Apple eco-system. but not linux or windows. due to filesystem. the plan was have the Dropbox app be on the Mac mini and re-publish the files globally. and then only certain computers would need dropbox installed if person needs access to the company files for read/write
all suggestions welcome for cloud solutions though!
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@ntoxicator said:
Also I know the limitation on the share being formatted as HFS+
Compatible with Apple eco-system. but not linux or windows. due to filesystem. the plan was have the Dropbox app be on the Mac mini and re-publish the files globally. and then only certain computers would need dropbox installed if person needs access to the company files for read/write
all suggestions welcome for cloud solutions though!
SMB from HFS+ will still allow sharing outside of the Mac world.
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Nothing is perfect for systems. Unless straight Linux server. But then have limitations or script your own and use open source projects
can I setup linux server for Samba shares? Absolutely. Will it work? Sure...
Will there be limitations.. absolutely.
Looking to simplify their network and not have a phone call each day.
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What about read/write capability though?
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I guess I just need to be babysat some more.. lol
I appreciate everyone's input here. ALOT of opinions and knowledge shared together.
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@ntoxicator said:
Nothing is perfect for systems. Unless straight Linux server. But then have limitations or script your own and use open source projects
can I setup linux server for Samba shares? Absolutely. Will it work? Sure...
Will there be limitations.. absolutely.
Looking to simplify their network and not have a phone call each day.
Actually, in theory, a Linux server can beat the Mac Mini server in every way. More reliable, lower cost, high performance. Other than your effort in setting it up, which might alone be easier, there is a good chance that it would beat the Mac Mini in every way.
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@ntoxicator said:
What about read/write capability though?
Of what? Sorry but I lost the context on this question
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Did I miss the answer as to why you're not going to a cloud solution?
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@Dashrender said:
Did I miss the answer as to why you're not going to a cloud solution?
Speed, I think.
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They have a cloud based one today and don't like it. Not that another wouldn't be better, but DropBox isn't bad as those things go.
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Right, speed is a factor here. And they're not happy with dropbox. Years ago they had a SMB windows server that did file Shares. Then they moved to dropbox (never my suggestion) and have griped since.
As you know, dropbox installs locally on machine and uses disk space to locally sync the files to local machine(s). Not cool when they have over 500GB of data. Fills up drives fast.
I just seen Mac OSX server to be faster & easier to "turn up" and hit ground running for OpenDirectory, SMB shares and "Group Policy" like settings.
i'm all for hearing suggestive alternative solutions!
But right now thought process is Mac mini + DAS (if can find one having features.. looking at drobo now)
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Read/write capability was in regards to the drive being HFS+ file system. Even with SMB share option checked on mac mini. This allows for read/write capability from Windows hosts?
I thought would be able to write to the drive from Windows because being HFS+.. or is that ONLY if the HFS+ formatted drive was directly connected to a Windows/linux machine?
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@ntoxicator It can write to the drive over SMB. Windows doesn't natively have the driver to write/read hfs+ so it cant access the file system directly attached. Going over the SMB protocol windows doesn't care what the file system is, that is not its job.
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Gotcha.. Thats what I originally thought. As I use to use SAMBA as file share server years ago and was fine for my windows hosts.
So then could really do away with dropbox up-sync. Unless they decide to keep 1-user account for backup purpose. Otherwise, all shares could be accessed over the Site to Site VPN tunnels
Still not truely seeing a good DAS thunderbolt unit. The Drobo 5D is a good contender. Alot of bad reviews; but appears to be from folks using it with Windows system with USB3.0. reviews for device connected over thunderbolt appear to be positive.
Unsure about their Hybrid Raid (RAID-6) setup though.
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@ntoxicator said:
Gotcha.. Thats what I originally thought. As I use to use SAMBA as file share server years ago and was fine for my windows hosts.
So then could really do away with dropbox up-sync. Unless they decide to keep 1-user account for backup purpose. Otherwise, all shares could be accessed over the Site to Site VPN tunnels
Still not truely seeing a good DAS thunderbolt unit. The Drobo 5D is a good contender. Alot of bad reviews; but appears to be from folks using it with Windows system with USB3.0. reviews for device connected over thunderbolt appear to be positive.
Unsure about their Hybrid Raid (RAID-6) setup though.
Any storage connected with USB - doesn't matter which version - is just a disappointment, and it's not restricted to Drobo.
Use SSD caching and stop worrying about RAID levels (as long as it's not RAID 5). -
Is speed really the issue? or the amount of storage that Drop Box takes?
What type and size files are we talking about here?
Why are you looking to share storage from a MAC mini? Why not just a plain jane NAS?
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Speed would help, but would want to propose a solution that would be worth its value in 2-3 years, ROI
its essentially space drop-box takes on local workstations and the sync issues they experience.
File sizes are company PDF's, Images (alot of images), movies, word docs, spreadsheets... normal stuff.
Share storage from mac? So SSO will work on mac environment.
Can I create SMB Share from the Synology NAS? Yep.
Would creating Shares directly from Synology NAS be easier: Sure
But then I would have to goto each work station and manually add the network shares.
I do not trust LDAP connectors on third party products. Be better to manage it directly from Mac OS Server.app
Can the Synology NAS support AFP Time Machine network backups? Yep.. Planned on using it.
Also Planned on using the mac Mini server for NetInstall & NetRestore setup procedures.
