Apple Mac OS X Server (Version 10.6 Snow Leopard) User Manual

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Chapter 2

Planning Server Usage

Home folders for network users can be consolidated onto one server or distributed

among various servers. Although you can move home folders, you might need
to change a large number of user and share point records, so devise a strategy
that will persist for a reasonable amount of time. For information about home
folders, see Mac OS X Server help or Mac OS X Server Resources website at
www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/.
Some services offer ways to control the amount of disk space used by individual

users. For example, you can set up home folder and mail quotas for users. Consider
whether using quotas will offer a way to maximize the disk usage on a server
that stores home folders and mail databases. The additional information at
Mac OS X Server Resources website at www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/
describes home folder and user mail quotas, and service-wide mail quotas.
Disk space requirements are also affected by the type of files a server hosts.

Creative environments need high-capacity storage to accommodate large
media files, but elementary school classrooms have more modest file storage
needs. The additional information at Mac OS X Server Resources website at
www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/ describe file sharing.
If you’re setting up a streaming media server, allocate enough disk space to

accommodate a specific number of hours of streamed video or audio. For
hardware and software requirements and for a setup example, see additional
information in online help or at Mac OS X Server Resources website at
www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/ .
The number of NetBoot client computers you can connect to a server depends on

the server’s Ethernet connections, the number of users, the amount of available
RAM and disk space, and other factors. DHCP service needs to be available to the
clients and can be provided by a different server than the NetBoot server. For
NetBoot capacity planning guidelines, see additional information at Mac OS X Server
Resources website at www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/ .
Mac OS X Server offers extensive support for Windows users. You can consolidate

Windows user support on servers that provide PDC services, or you can distribute
services for Windows users among different servers.
If you want to use software RAID to stripe or mirror disks, you’ll need two or more

drives (but not FireWire drives) on a server. For more information, see online Disk
Utility Help.

Before finalizing decisions about which servers will host specific services, familiarize
yourself with information in the administration guides for the services you want to
deploy.