Worst and best Server version?

[KoolAid-Drink]

I was wondering which version of Mac OS X Server was the worst and best out of all? I heard personally that the best in terms of flexibility, bug-free, and speed was Tiger and Snow Leopard, and the worst (buggiest, inflexible, problem-prone) was Leopard and Lion. Or maybe it was reversed and Lion/Leopard was one of the best? Curious for your input and why

1.0 (Original Server)
10.0 (Cheetah Server)
10.1 (Puma Server)
10.2 (Jauger Server)
10.3 (Panther Server)
10.4 (Tiger Server)
10.5 (Leopard Server)
10.6 (Snow Leopard Server)
10.7 (Lion Server)
10.8 (Mountain Lion Server)

 

[mvmanolov]

i'm running SL right now. and it's been great. However i only use it for a few things so i cannot testify for anything aside of VPN/FS/DNS

these services run smoothly and without glitches.

Good luck

 

[benwiggy]

I suspect that every one of those versions will have buggy-ness, inflexibility and problems of some sort, and putting them in some sort of order will depend on more rigorous criteria.

I've heard of plenty of issues with Snow Leopard (sacrilege, I know).

This is some good authoritative reading:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/the-server-simplified-a-power-users-guide-to-os-x-server/

 

[rlkarren]

SL server has been the best so far, IMO.

As the last of the real "enterprise-level" Mac OS X server solutions, it has been by far better than it's predecessor's. And since the newer versions are not really enterprise level, I prefer SL server over any other.

 

[neier]

Snow Leopard

Agreed that Snow Leopard server was the last enterprise-level release.

You can pick up a new DVD (unlimited client version) from Amazon for around $60. But, be sure to check the minimum OS requirements for any hardware you plan to install it on. The last MacMini which will boot 10.6 was the model released in June 2010. Not sure about the MacPro.

 

[chrfr]

You can pick up a new DVD (unlimited client version) from Amazon for around $60.

You can also apparently just call the online Apple store and get it for $19.99.

 

[neier]

You can also apparently just call the online Apple store and get it for $19.99.

For 10.6 Server? I think that's what they charge for just the replacement basic OS.

 

[chrfr]

For 10.6 Server? I think that's what they charge for just the replacement basic OS.

There's a thread here that discusses installing 10.6 in Parallels, and it also discusses that you can buy 10.6 Server for the same price as the non-server version.

 

[awair]

10.6 Server version from Apple (telephone order only), $19.99 plus tax.

Bought two in the last 6 months, one for a VM to run 10.6 desktop apps, the other for a real server (not very keen on Lion).

 

[Alrescha]

SL server has been the best so far

I agree, with the caveat that you install all the updates before you touch anything. SNS out of the box was <mostly> fine, but some of the early updates caused problems with user attributes stored in Open Directory. Subsequent updates fixed the cause, but not the damaged records.

A.

 

[alexrmc92]

I run a large XSan system on SL server and wont go to anything newer. Although i do virtualize ML to get profile manager.

 

[freejazz-man]

Curious as to what it is about SLS that people like/seem to think is 'enterprise' ready. I'm not a fan of the new server app, but having never used SLS - I'm wondering what the hubbub is about

 

[MacsRgr8]

My $ 0.02:

Snow Leopard (10.6) Server was the most complete version, and looks and feels most "server-ish".

But, I must say that Mountain Lion Server, even with its reduced possibilities, is very good. Pretty well done that Apple has made such an unbelievably easy interface for configuring a Server. Even changing the IP address and / or DNS name is absolutely easy on Mountain Lion Server.
The Profile Manager of 10.7 and 10.8 Server is nice, but a bit "iffy"...

The most "fun", IMHO, was the Rhapsody-release, i.e. Sever 1.x.
Such a new thing when all we had on the client-side was Mac OS 8.5!
The first experience of NetBooting, "Classic" and the UNIX of Mac OS X.

10.3 (Panther) Server was probably the first completely usable server for managing Macs based on LDAP (Open Directory).

 

[ratsg]

Mac OS X Server 1.2v3

For the interface alone!

 

[MacsRgr8]

Mac OS X Server 1.2v3

For the interface alone!

Yep! The "Rhapsody" interface.

Check these out... I always have a VM of Rhapsody just for ol' time's sake...

 

[mmomega]

SL server was the last great full release server.

Lion Server I wasn't much a fan of.

ML Server was a move in the right direction.
I use it as:
Time Machine Server
iTunes Server
CrashPlan+ Server
Wiki Site
NetInstall Server
Caching Server
VPN Server


I just recently jumped to Mavs DP9 Server (I didn't try previous server builds) and it has been rock stable so far. I likey.

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

Whoa, what program are you using to virtualize Rhapsody? I was struggling to make it work in Parallels. Can you PM me with the instructions of how you got it to work? Got the CD still, just want to make it finally work!

Yep! The "Rhapsody" interface.

Check these out... I always have a VM of Rhapsody just for ol' time's sake...

 

[Nicholas Savage]

I was wondering which version of Mac OS X Server was the worst and best out of all? I heard personally that the best in terms of flexibility, bug-free, and speed was Tiger and Snow Leopard, and the worst (buggiest, inflexible, problem-prone) was Leopard and Lion. Or maybe it was reversed and Lion/Leopard was one of the best? Curious for your input and why

1.0 (Original Server)
10.0 (Cheetah Server)
10.1 (Puma Server)
10.2 (Jauger Server)
10.3 (Panther Server)
10.4 (Tiger Server)
10.5 (Leopard Server)
10.6 (Snow Leopard Server)
10.7 (Lion Server)
10.8 (Mountain Lion Server)

Huh. Mac OS X Server 1.0 was interesting to deploy back in the day. I never was a fan of the early aqua interface, so having the os8 interface sitting on top of unix was a treat; even if it wasn't exactly a feature rich release. As for general deployment; 10.4 was about the time when I was getting my clients to switch from their crappy Services for Macintosh equipped windows servers n' deploy a mac server in their departments.

I liked 10.6 Server. 10.7-8 and this bizarre soho emphasis is beyond annoying. Apple really botched their server product; just in time for decent NAS offerings to pick up the slack on smaller rollouts.

 

[Abacab]

10.6

I think Snow Leopard was great as far as stability but the later versions although less "Server like" were very functional especially with the mobile device integration. My 2 biggest gripes with Apple pertaining to enterprise was EMAIL, And an industrial cost efficient backup solution.
We used a combination of Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner & Rsync with great success.

 

[MacsRgr8]

Whoa, what program are you using to virtualize Rhapsody? I was struggling to make it work in Parallels. Can you PM me with the instructions of how you got it to work? Got the CD still, just want to make it finally work!

I use VMware Fusion.

See this link.

Have fun!

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

Thanks! Does this work with the latest version of VMware Fusion (6)? I tried it using the instructions in the link below, but it kept failing.

I use VMware Fusion.

See this link.

Have fun!

 

[tomsdongle]

Having used ML in a production environment for quite some time now, I can safely say whilst it was a massive improvement over Lion, it still isn't that good - I continue to experienced random lock ups, that effectively cripple the system, without anything ever being reported in its logs.

Im running both 10.6 server and 10.8 server in a Windows / OS X environment - namely file sharing over afp/smb, web sharing, vpn, OD and virtualisation. The SL server just works.

SL is by far my favourite, I quite often take for granted it firewall and DNS manager.

 

[spencers]

I like 10.6 for sharing printers across the network.
10.8 for File Sharing
10.9 for Caching Server

 

[ChristianVirtual]

I moved from Linux to SL and liked it; with Lion too much got removed/replaced and I moved back to Linux/FreeBSD. don't really like server product anymore, hardware and software don't get enough love. And that's fine for me. If they don't want there are enough alternatives. They should focus on what they see as their core business.

I'm happy now with FreeBSD/pfSense as firewal/IPsec VPN, and FreeBSD with ZFS as NAS and a number of other dedicated virtual machines running under ESXi. And keep for desktop and mobile devices perfectly being able to communicate with my other servers.

 

[Alrescha]

I moved from Linux to SL and liked it; with Lion too much got removed/replaced and I moved back to Linux/FreeBSD.

Exactly this. With SLS my shop started a move toward using OS X Server. With the arrival of Lion Server that project was put on hold and then cancelled with Mountain Lion. We are now using FreeBSD again.

A.