Anyone use OS X Server as main desktop too?

[unplugme71]

My macbook pro crapped out on me and being old as it is, don't want to bother fixing it. Also don't want to buy a new rMBP right now as I'm waiting to see what they will update with.

I have a Mac Mini that i'm running as OS X server (DNS, DHCP, File Sharing/WebDAV, and VPN). Debating on using this as my desktop for now until the rMBP's get upgraded. May just load vmware Fusion on it and create a VM for my desktop use instead to keep things separated. Thoughts?

 

[tommayye]

If the server is being used for corporate or a small business, I wouldn't recommend it.

If the server is just being used for your personal use, yeah sure go for it... as uptime isn't really a concern.

 

[theluggage]

I have a Mac Mini that i'm running as OS X server (DNS, DHCP, File Sharing/WebDAV, and VPN). Debating on using this as my desktop for now until the rMBP's get upgraded.

As tommayye said - if the server is being used for anything important (read: affects other people), using it as a desktop machine would not be good practice. If its just a home/personal/hobby server then there's no issue.

There is a configuration option in OS X server that 'tunes' the machine for server use: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4750 and would, presumably, limit its performance as a desktop.

Without this, its just OS X with a couple of extra services running and some extra configuration tools...

 

[unplugme71]

As tommayye said - if the server is being used for anything important (read: affects other people), using it as a desktop machine would not be good practice. If its just a home/personal/hobby server then there's no issue.

There is a configuration option in OS X server that 'tunes' the machine for server use: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4750 and would, presumably, limit its performance as a desktop.

Without this, its just OS X with a couple of extra services running and some extra configuration tools...

It's personal use.

Not sure if Mavericks has this same option or not, but the only apps I really use on my mac mini would be Safari, iTunes (strictly for downloading and storing content), and iBank.

I don't really use any other applications on a daily basis and none that are CPU/Graphics intensive. My only concern with limited resources is, when I launch iBank if it'll reserve enough RAM as I have thousands of transactions to load into the application itself. Same with iTunes, having over a 2TB library.

 

[mvmanolov]

It's personal use.

Not sure if Mavericks has this same option or not, but the only apps I really use on my mac mini would be Safari, iTunes (strictly for downloading and storing content), and iBank.

I don't really use any other applications on a daily basis and none that are CPU/Graphics intensive. My only concern with limited resources is, when I launch iBank if it'll reserve enough RAM as I have thousands of transactions to load into the application itself. Same with iTunes, having over a 2TB library.

I use my Mini as my home server running the server app, basically for the same purposes as you described (plus TM) it is also our HTPC, which means that we use it quite often as a matter of fact i am typing this out right now on the mini

I have not experienced any issues that i have not caused myself (while trying to tinker ) so i'd go for it

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I did until Mavericks. Haven't bothered getting the Server package for Mavericks. (Partly because at the same time as upgrading to Mavericks, I switched to using a dedicated server, when I had been using my desktop as a home server previously.)