Mac Server?

[Guest]

We have been running our website from a dedicated server for the past year now, and pay roughly £500 every 3 months for this.

We have got to the point now, where we are wondering whether we are better off doing this our selves and having our own server. We are not interested in leasing space out to people, or anything like this. Pure and simple, it will have our forum on there and 3-4 very small Wordpress sites.

Now, we are Mac addicts here and have had a business meeting at our local Apple branch. They have shown us the Mac Mini Server, as well as raid storage (i think?) and basically just everything and showed us how we can easily set up our own server using Apple products.

Sorry i babbled on a bit there, the point is can i run this forum software on a Mac Mini Server, or is it not that simple? For example is it more of a case of whether i can run php, Mysql and Apache etc on a mac mini server?

Thanks for any help/advice anyone has on this.

[Jonathan B]

Sounds like your considering http://macminicolo.net/. It should work fine as ioncube has a mac version. I almost went that way until I discovered 1&1 Dynamic Cloud Server. With the mac mini, you'll likely do more configuration work than with a linux or windows server.

[Guest]

Thanks for the tips. We are not looking at renting from someone else though, we are looking at purchasing our own from the Apple Store and running it here at home.

[Jonathan B]

I'm not sure where you are located, but some Internet Service Providers restrict this type of setup. If the site gets significant traffic, your provider could determine if you're running a server (via automated triggering systems) and shut down your service. Take caution. Also, you'll need some SERIOUS upload bandwitch similar to what Verizon and Comcast offer.

[Guest]

I am located in the UK. We would be installing a business internet line from our provider (hopefully!)

[wmarcy]

I have been running my IP.Board setup on a MacPro for a year now, and it is running without a hiccup. I have a mac mini that I keep as a backup server in case anything goes wrong with the pro, no need to use it yet.

The Apple Server Software is simple to maintain. And, it comes preloaded with php/mysql/apache (Now Leopard that is, Lion does away with myql for postsql).

Zero issues. Can't recommend it highly enough.

[Guest]

So i should pretty much be able to install the forums to the mac server (kind of like how you do with a localhost) and have the website up and running?

This is more about having 100% control over our own business, than it is the cost.

[Jonathan B]

I agree with you Trix. After a short time running on Cloud server. There is one issue that is nagging me....large file upload. Its just not working even after I set PHP.ini rules. Do you have your mac server up and running already? I'm considering the switch within the next month.

[Rhett]

There are so many issues that come into play with self hosting and especially with a home connection, save yourself the headaches and find a good affordable host imo.

[Grumpy]

Unless you have several million dollars to invest at minimum (cost of a small datacenter), do not bother attempting to host anything yourself. It's not worth it.
- Your internet connection is not as reliable
- Nor is it as fast, both capacity and latency
- Nor does it have network failovers
- You don't have safe power setup. Do you have multiple power sources coming into your office? With battery/diesel backups?
- Your electricity cost probably much higher than bulk pricing
- Most often, electricity cost ALONE is higher than a hosting account.
- You have NO room for growth. Try getting a price quote for fully burstable 100mbit business to your office. It's well into four~five digit/month prices.
- You are unlikely to have redundancy of ANYTHING. Failed hard drive on saturday? What's your plan then? Do you have a spare ready to go?
- You will likely get a big ass bill from your host should you ever get ddosed and then possibly cut off subsequently.
- Can you maintain a clean environment? High tier datacenters are as clean as a surgery room.

The list just goes on and on...

You'll be well into extreme minority if you can even keep up 99.0% uptime if you host it yourself.


If you need to upload something faster... get a better Internet connection.
If that's not possible, colo. Then you can walk in with a usb stick and just copy the files over.

[Jonathan B]

Though I have the fastest Fios available (150/50), I had no plans to host at home. My issue isn't upload speed, but upload size for IP.Download users.

Macminiloco offers a 100mbit connection, RDP, and other good features. I need advice or review from someone who has run IP.Board on OSX Server.