Managing iPads with OSX Sever?

[Gadget24]

Hey all,

This is my first post so please forgive my noob-ish-ness...
I work for a small hospital and we are getting iPad's for our doctors. We will have about 30. I'm looking for a good way to configure them all in mass as well as mange them remotely. I was looking at mobile device management software (so far airwatch is our top contender), but I thought if OSX server had some good tools for that it would (over time) save us money to manage that way.
Has anyone been in a similar scenario? Any suggestions...?
Thanks for your help!

 

[DustinT]

Welcome to MacRumors.

Managing iOS devices is something that Apple enhanced recently in the latest version of their server OS. This isn't something I'm personally familiar with but I think this link will help. It's Anandtech's review of Lion Server and they spend a little time reviewing the iOS management options. I think that should get you started.

The best part is that Lion Server is a $50 upgrade to any modern Mac. If you wanted to purchase a new system you could start with a $599 Mac Mini and add the $50 Server upgrade and have a system thats fully capable of managing all 30 systems. If you needed more robust hardware there is the Mac Mini Server that comes with the necessary software and 2 x hard drives in Raid 1 for uptime. Then there's the $2500 Mac Pro which is a server class system that you'd have to configure to support Raid and then add the $50 Server upgrade. Frankly, for managing 30 iPads the Mac Minis will have more than enough power. Its a pretty easy thing to do, actually.

 

[Gadget24]

Welcome to MacRumors.

Managing iOS devices is something that Apple enhanced recently in the latest version of their server OS. This isn't something I'm personally familiar with but I think this link will help. It's Anandtech's review of Lion Server and they spend a little time reviewing the iOS management options. I think that should get you started.

The best part is that Lion Server is a $50 upgrade to any modern Mac. If you wanted to purchase a new system you could start with a $599 Mac Mini and add the $50 Server upgrade and have a system thats fully capable of managing all 30 systems. If you needed more robust hardware there is the Mac Mini Server that comes with the necessary software and 2 x hard drives in Raid 1 for uptime. Then there's the $2500 Mac Pro which is a server class system that you'd have to configure to support Raid and then add the $50 Server upgrade. Frankly, for managing 30 iPads the Mac Minis will have more than enough power. Its a pretty easy thing to do, actually.

That article is very helpful. Thank you! Mac Mini is exactly what I was looking at hardware wise. Other than the iPads this will be our only piece of apple equipment so I didn't think we needed anything too extreme.

 

[rdowns]

http://www.apple.com/ipad/business/integration/

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Hey all,

This is my first post so please forgive my noob-ish-ness...
I work for a small hospital and we are getting iPad's for our doctors. We will have about 30. I'm looking for a good way to configure them all in mass as well as mange them remotely. I was looking at mobile device management software (so far airwatch is our top contender), but I thought if OSX server had some good tools for that it would (over time) save us money to manage that way.
Has anyone been in a similar scenario? Any suggestions...?
Thanks for your help!

MDM is a pretty extensive project. Have you looked into JAMF Casper? It can do MDM and client management. Its a great tool!

 

[Prov1]

One thing to remember and probably the first thing that you will need to do is get your Apple Push Notification certificate from Apple, and it is not the quickest process (if you are planning on deploying right away). Without it, you can not manage the ipads whether you have the JAMF or Lion Server.
That being said, we currently own both, but have not moved over to the Lion Management. JAMF is a great product with great support.
Also, you will need the iphone config utility.

Good luck.

 

[electrolux76]

+1 for Jamf Casper Suite. I use it at my job. Excellent package with excellent support.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Of course you need an iPhone Dev Account to get your MDM push cert. I would really call JAMF. We have ours up and running and its great. The best part is the Self Service where we can post App Store Apps or our own in house Apps.

 

[rwwest7]

MDM is a pretty extensive project. Have you looked into JAMF Casper? It can do MDM and client management. Its a great tool!

MDMA is extensive, but Casper is even more so. Much more so! MDMA does almost everything Casper does but for pennies compared. In Casper when you open the iOS part you see the exact same screen and settings as in MDM. Casper is great at inventory and managing Macs, they have some work to do for iOS.



Stoopid auto spell "fix". That's MDM not MDMA

 

[MacDann]

We adopted over 2500 iPads this year, and looked closely at third party products for management.

Our environment is 100% PC based, so supporting these was going to be a difficult task.

Apple has done a very good job with MS Exchange when it comes to management of the iPad. While it's not the panacea that a third party product is, it's relatively inexpensive and you probably already have it running in house.

MacDann

 

[NUR6]

One thing to remember and probably the first thing that you will need to do is get your Apple Push Notification certificate from Apple, and it is not the quickest process (if you are planning on deploying right away). Without it, you can not manage the ipads whether you have the JAMF or Lion Server.
That being said, we currently own both, but have not moved over to the Lion Management. JAMF is a great product with great support.
Also, you will need the iphone config utility.

Good luck.

Purchased Mac Mini server at Apple store and Apple Cert was sent to me at time of purchase-zero delay.

Good reference and series for OS Lion Server setup:
http://www.wegotserved.com/2011/09/13/os-lion-home-server-part-9-profile-manager-ios-devices/

Mac Mini server is made for this scenario.

 

[guzhogi]

Something my company likes is called Filewave. We use it mainly for our Mac computers, but there is an iOS part that works.

 

[jonini]

That article is very helpful. Thank you! Mac Mini is exactly what I was looking at hardware wise. Other than the iPads this will be our only piece of apple equipment so I didn't think we needed anything too extreme.

Hi, i have the same scenario! almost 30 ipads that we need to manage. We need to buy the mac but it is very important to reduce costs, so we think in mac mini.

Are you sure that MAC MINI with lion 10.7.2 for use profile manager will be ok?
we dont want to spend a lot of money in a mini and after buy it let know that only works with mac pro!

Thank you Very much!!!

Best Regards!!!