MacPro 2008 as a home server....advice

[DouglasCarroll]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice for a small private home network .

I recently acquired a 2008 MacPro and wanted to set it up as a small private home server. I would like to be able to do the following if possible:

1) Automatically backup the laptops over wifi to the MacPro.

2) Backup photos from peoples iPhones to the hard drive of the MacPro. (this doesn't need to be automatic but I would like a way to do it without paying for iCloud if possible.)

3) I would like to share files off one of the hard drives wirelessly to locally connected wifi computers.

4) I do not want to access this on the internet or have it connected to the internet, I have plenty of other machines for that, this is only for a home server to be accessed in the house. I don't want or need to deal with security, hackers, viruses, other internet crap, etc.


The MacPro is currently running Snow Leopard, but is being upgraded to El Capitain and can be upgraded further using DosDude Hacks if necessary all the way to Catalina, but I would need to replace the current video card which is a GeForce 8800. It has 4 GB of Ram but that can be upgraded if necessary.

The MacPro has an installed blue tooth module but not built in wifi, however I do have an unused AirPort Extreme (last model) that I can use to connect to the MacPro to enable it wirelessly, or I can purchase a WiFi Dongle, whichever is necessary. I also have an Airport Express that I can hook to it if necessary.

Can I do the above just through a version of the Mac OS or do I need to get some kind of Mac OS Server version? I like simple and I like cheap (i.e. Free!). Which version of the Mac OS does everyone recommend?

Incidentally I don't care about the power usage of the machine so I'm not going to go shopping for another piece of hardware such as a Mac mini, I like the Mac Pro and want to use that.

Thanks so much for any advice, I really appreciate it!!

 

[hobowankenobi]

Yes...you can do most of that. No need for internet access unless you want it.

The MP could be wired, assuming you can get a cable to it from your router/switch. Wifi is not required to interact with other devices on the network. Assuming your network is fairly standard, all devices will see each other (both wired and wireless) for most protocols (AirDrop is an example of an exception that DOES require wifi).

Mac OS Server had (used to...no longer in recent versions) a pretty good Time Machine Server for the other Macs to use as a backup destination. One nice thing about TM is that it will typically just run automatically run, so portables are less of a bother to keep backed up. But a third-party tool might be easier, and more flexible.

There are lots of options for tools to use on a client Mac to backup to a network volume. One I like is Smart Backup. Pretty great for free. Paid tools are out there too. Many could back up to a mounted share...and you can create and share volumes on any Mac fairly easily. You can schedule backups...but if the machine is off/gone/asleep, it is easy for backups to get interrupted or delayed. Having said that, Smart Backup or something like it can handle 1 & 3.

Backing up iPhones (including photos) can be done via iTunes/Music automatically over wifi. The downside is the backups are not the easiest to access, but are essential for disaster recovery.

 

[DouglasCarroll]

Hello,

Wow, thanks so much for all the great advice, I really appreciate it! So far all I've done is upgrade the software to Mac OS El Capitain and added a couple of extra hard drives I had laying around...I'm still reading about my options and figuring out the best way to proceed so I'll read the links you sent!!

Thanks again for your advice!

 

[hobowankenobi]

There are several open-source backup tools that are cross-platform that have both a server and client component. Some are all command line and not user-friendly at all...but there are a few that I am aware of that are not too hard to set up and run:

Duplicati
Syncthing
Backaroo

Having said all that...be aware that a decent Synology NAS would be easier and more feature-rich in the future. Better suited for both file serving and being a backup destination. Small, easy to secure, little power consumption, and little heat generated, designed to be always on. And...they offer safe and easy internet sharing and backups on just about all platforms including mobile. Pretty hard to beat retasking old Macs (or PCs).

 

[iAssimilated]

Syncthing is wonderful and pretty simple to setup. I use it on all my systems to sync certain files between them.