Your boss might want to consider how hard it may or may not be to find someone to handle the XSERVE thing as well, the talent pool will be smaller and (I would expect) the salaries to be higher. I know of some Mac users that love their Macs unless they need help with it, because so many folks are PC types..
Also "I have been told that 150 users can be better managed on two XSERVE's than on a Windows Active directory network" Have them define "manage". I would expect it manages Mac's better :). David Lum // SYSTEMS ENGINEER NORTHWEST EVALUATION ASSOCIATION (Desk) 971.222.1025 // (Cell) 503.267.9764 P.S. I have to LOL Za, I have a Optiplex 745 with 64-bit XP running VMWare Workstation and it is hosting my dev environment: SQL server, web server, misc. development servers (W2K8, Moss2K7, SCCM, etc) and a VM of Win XP. Of course, I can only power up about 4 VM's at a time, but... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: Vue, Za [mailto:z...@emory.edu] Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 6:19 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Apple vs Microsoft? Where does the boss get the idea that a Mac environment will be a better long term move? I still manage one Xserve. Attached to it is an Xraid with 16 hard drives. Used exclusively for data storage. One 400 GB hard drive failed in last 3 years. Controller B was also replaced on the X-Raid. The server is attached to a Win08 AD. Overall the system works well but I am just not a proponent of Mac OS. AD integration has greatly improved with the latest OS. A Dell Optiplex running Windows 2008 for under $1000 can handle 150 users but maybe your company has money to spend. Get two Optiplex'es and cluster them and attach a disk array. The cheapest single Xserve is currently $2999.00 and comes only with a 7200 160gig HD. Customize the system to your requirements and you are looking at $6000-$7000 per server. Just to remote into the server requires a $300 extra software. Crazy man.. I torrent the damn thing instead. :) I have a Dell Optiplex 745, 3.0 Ghz, 6/GB RAM, 2x250 GB HD set up as a 64/bit Win08 DC and print server for 23 networked printers. I have 160 users & 400+ students in the department. The darn thing is as quiet as my laptop. -Z.V. ________________________________________ From: Shawn [sh...@loprestohome.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 10:01 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Apple vs Microsoft? Does anyone here have any experience, good or bad, regarding the Apple XSERVE being utilized to host email, data storage, open directory, etc as an equivalent replacement for Microsoft Server? We are currently running SBS 2003 and have 40 users, but will soon be upping that number to 150. My boss insists that moving everything over to a Mac environment will be a better long term move, but I am a bit hesitant without having some outside data to back that up. I have been told that 150 users can be better managed on two XSERVE's than on a Windows Active directory network, yet I have had a rough time finding any direct comparisons. If any of you have experience running either a mixed environment with both OS X Server and Windows Server or just a pure OS X environment w/ Mac clients as well, I would be interested to hear what your take on this is. I would also be very interested to here from anyone that has done a migration from Active directory to Open directory, along with any challenges on the user end. What challenges did you face? Are there any specifics that you can offer regarding stability, administration, etc? Thanks in advance for any input you can provide. Shawn ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments). ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
