OS X Server for Managing a Home Network

[hwojtek]

Edit: the one feature in Mavericks server that is great for home users is the Caching Server. Software Update server itself is a pain to manage and for most home environments the caching server will be a better option as it requires no reconfiguration on the users' computers at all.

I do not run Mavericks Server, but this sounds very interesting. What is the exact difference between the Caching Server in Mavericks and a forward proxy from past versions of OS X Server (or just plain ol' Squid)?

 

[chrfr]

I do not run Mavericks Server, but this sounds very interesting. What is the exact difference between the Caching Server in Mavericks and a forward proxy from past versions of OS X Server (or just plain ol' Squid)?

I've never dealt with the previous proxies before, but what Caching Server does is that it automatically caches any updates from the iOS or Mac App Store, including system updates.
The requirement for it to work is that your network can only have one public IP address, so it has to be used in a NAT environment. Other than that, the only configuration is how much space you want to dedicate to this on your server. The iOS and Mac clients (I believe it requires iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 and up) don't need any reconfiguration.

 

[hwojtek]

Pure magic. Cool, I might really consider switching to Mavericks Server for this one... It would be lovely if it could cache Adobe updates (my Squid takes more or less care of it, but it is a PITA to configure)

 

[unplugme71]

Your management suggestions will take much more time than setting up 4-5 users on a similar number of computers.
All that work, and the few family members involved don't gain anything in ease of operation.


Edit: the one feature in Mavericks server that is great for home users is the Caching Server. Software Update server itself is a pain to manage and for most home environments the caching server will be a better option as it requires no reconfiguration on the users' computers at all.

Yes, but maintenance will be much easier going forward.

 

[ElectronGuru]

Pure magic. Cool, I might really consider switching to Mavericks Server for this one... It would be lovely if it could cache Adobe updates

My understanding is that it works by apples public servers 'tagging' your public ip so that client update requests are forwarded back to the local cache. Non apple servers would be out of the loop.

 

[hwojtek]

My understanding is that it works by apples public servers 'tagging' your public ip so that client update requests are forwarded back to the local cache. Non apple servers would be out of the loop.

Yeah, I just allowed myself to drift from the reality a bit Good solution, tho'.