“Snow Leopard Server is a tremendous value. It offers a range of features that aid collaboration and mobility for small businesses through enterprises. The improvements in collaborative tools will probably be adopted in education, one of Apple’s core markets. The simple licensing structure and lowered price are enough to make the platform competitive,” Faas reports.
“For organizations that already run in part or entirely on Mac OS X Server, this is a definite upgrade. With so many new technologies and under-the-hood changes, though, you’ll definitely want to spend some time testing and getting to know the new face of Mac OS X Server before making the jump,” Faas reports. “For organizations running on other platforms, Snow Leopard Server’s lower cost and the maturity of so many technologies originally introduced in Leopard Server make it a product to seriously think about, particularly for smaller organizations needing a simple yet powerful option.”
Full article – recommended – here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Absolutely! The tools that allow companies to configure iPhones for corporate use are in…SL Server.
The queue and cluster server tools that allow people to make Mac Beowulf-esque HPC clusters are in…SL Server.
Great value indeed! and under rated too!
Just my $0.02
Yes, and the Mac mini server is a great deal for a small group’s server needs.
I wonder what Apple will be doing with their new BILLION dollar server farm? It should be up and running next year.
The licensing model alone makes it a tremendous value. As companies continue to scale back, look for more of them to ditch Microsoft’s exorbitant per-seat license fees, which they must pay over and over and over again.
IT departments are cost centers. They are constantly asked to do more with less. Problem is, many of them still have the mindset that a MS-only shop is still a best practice. Either that, or they’d rather dance with the devil they know, instead of one they don’t know. Either way, the devil is killing them, cost-wise.
But, as budgets continue to shrink, it’s just a matter of time before there will be too much pressure for them to stay in their MS comfort zone and look at other products. When they finally do, they will see Apple there, waiting for them with a great value proposition.
And then there shall be light….
Would LOVE to get Snow Leopard Server on the new Mini for our small business! Considering it pretty seriously…
Riiigght. For around half the price one can purchase Small Business Server 2008 which about doubles the features using the same tools used in Fortune 500.
Active Directory- check
Exchange Server- check
Sharepoint Server- check
SQL Server- check
Centrally managed desktop configurations & updates via Group Policy- check
Daily Reporting on Health & Network Status- check
Built in Remote Access to all of the above including remote desktops WITHOUT VPN- check
@ IT Guy
With MS, it’s not the initial purchase price, but rather the CALS cost that makes it so obscenely expensive.
That, and the security issues.
@ IT Guy
Looks to me like Microsoft’s cheapest SBS 2008 package (server plus 5 clients) is over $1000. That’s without hardware. Apple Mini hardware, with Snow Leopard Server and 5 client softwares totals well under $1000.
http://www.microsoft.com/sbs/en/us/pricing.aspx
???
@IT Guy,
you forgot:
Viruses and Spyware – check
Endless Headaches -check
Extortionate Licences -check
It’s nice to see you Apple guys argue about price on both ends of the spectrum.
When Apple is more expensive, you’re all about “Value”
When MS is more expensive, you’re all about “Price”
Dell/HP all have SBS entry level servers around the $1000 mark. Microsoft publishes RETAIL pricing.
Regarding the Mac Mini, most would not recommend a real business implement their infrastructure on laptop parts.
The fact that Apple’s major Leopard Server feature is “Podcast Producer” is evidence enough of how far out in left field they are relative to the real needs of the typical small business.
Snow Leopard Server has unlimited client licenses.
How much would it cost for 200 MS licenses for their server?
No Answer?
Here you go”
10 x 20 Window CALs = $8000
+ 200 Exchange CALs = $13400
+ 200 Sharepoint CALS = $18800
TOTAL: $40,200
Apple is the better VALUE at $500.
See
No, I dont’ see. Because your pricing is completely fictional.
Essential Business Server is the next step up past SBS, for 200 users roughly $16,000. Again, that’s RETAIL pricing on the MS website, OEM’s have it for much less.
And again, that’s 200 people that are being productive with enterprise class software. What good does $500 software do when a business isn’t interested in creating podcasts or sharing recipes?
IT Guy writes, ” For around half the price one can purchase Small Business Server 2008″. I don’t know where you’re getting your figures, but the Standard edition of SBS, according to Microsoft, is $1,089, including just 5 CALs. Snow Leopard Server is $499 with unlimited licensing!
And, BTW just for perspective, I like Macs. I really do. I own three. I just don’t think OS X server is the best solution for the ‘typical’ small business owner looking to centralize from a peer to peer network. If they are already all Mac and in an industry (audio, photography, etc) that leverages/requires it, great. But that’s a corner case.
IT Guy lives in another world and has no interest in getting a passport to visit other lands. So I will not waste my time with his issues.
I can, however, relate my experience installing SL Server last week. Our law office has 8 client Macs interacting with the server. All client Macs are running Snow Leopard. SL Server is running on a Mini that we bought for <$1000 with SL Server software installed. This is the third version of Apple server software we have used, starting with Tiger Server.
SL Server is easy to use and maintain, once it is up and running. However, setting it up in a critical production environment, like a law office, is something you should not try to do yourself.
At this point you might be saying, I’m a smart guy and I don’t need an expert’s help. Well, smart guy, answer me this: do you understand server technology and can you understand Unix commands? If you answer no to either question, hire a Mac server consultant to set up your server or plan to first spend the next 6 months of your life teaching yourself server technology and basic Unix, before you install SL Server.
We hired a consultant to set up both Leopard Server two years ago and again to set up SL Server last week. A consultant should cost you about $1,000-1,500 and it is money very well spent.
Like I said earlier, once the server is set up, you will probably not need to see the consultant again until OS X 10.7 Server is released.
Finally, I do have to respond to IT Guy’s comment about running server software on a computer (Mini) with laptop parts. Essentially, he is full of shit. I ran Tiger server on a G3 Mac tower. I ran Leopard server on an old mirrored-door Mac. In both cases, the server software ran just fine on these grandpas of computers.
Small business does not need racks of servers in special air conditioned rooms that only IT geeks are allowed into. We need inexpensive solutions that just work–something only Apple seems to understand.
IT Guy:
I’m sure you are convinced in your argument, but by the same token, many of us are absolutely certain, Snow Leopard Server is an excellent and thoroughly complete solution for vast majority of small businesses, whether they are mom-and-pop stores (selling mail-order gym equipment), law offices, CPA/Tax preparation companies or any other small business. None of these have any specialised software requirement that cannot be met by Snow Leopard deskot/server combo. Office suite, plus standard collaboration tools (mail/calendar/directory/IM) covers huge swaths of small business space.
I would say, the vast majority small businesses would save a lot of money by moving to an all-Mac solution, and those savings would probably recover the transition investment within less than three years (pulling it out of thin air a bit here, but not without some basic data).
“IT Guy lives in another world ” …with the other 99% of the real world whose businesses run on Linux & Windows servers. lol
A “critical production environment” on a Mac Mini. LOL. That speaks volumes. Do you keep it on a chair, or does it prop up the janitor supplies in the closet?
RE: ” We need inexpensive solutions that just work”
Which is why you needed to spend $1000+ plus dollars for a consultant who knows Unix?
@ PreDrag.
You’re right, there’s no absolutes. Whatever tool(s) that provide the solution. But actually, I don’t see Apple going anywhere with SMB’s. If start ups can’t afford Small Business Server, they’re mostly moving to cloud based hosted solutions. In my experience, anyway.
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IT Guy, I’m afraid you are simply wrong.
Thank you and goodnight.
@IT Guy
I stand by what I said, including the part where I mentioned you were full of shit.
Unless you have some numbers regarding the TOTAL cost of buying, setting up, supporting, and maintaining a Windows server in a small business with all Windows client machines (<20 clients), you are just trash talking.
I know the cost of supporting and maintaining a Mac system in a small office and that cost is near ZERO. The cost of setting up a new Mac with SL Server is about $1000. Let’s be generous and add $1500 for a consultant to help with the setup and we are done. No additional client licenses to buy, no add-ons to nickle and dime you at every term. Just a system that works.
Face it, a Windows system for small business comes nowhere near this cost. Windows always need to be tweaked with, especially servers. Hell, that’s why many geeks like Windows. They like to screw around with their computer. Just like guys used to like get under the hood of their car and screw around with their engines. There is nothing wrong with that. But most people don’t want to be constantly f__king around with their machines. They just want to use them. Why is that so hard for geeks like you to understand that fact.
Finally, regarding your 99% number for businesses using Windows/Linux servers. I suspect you are erroring on the high side, but that’s fine. That number will plummet just like Windows usage has over the past few years.
BTW, Stockholm syndrome is a bitch, isn’t it.
IT Guy is correct.
I will tell you why, he and most if not all of small business is stuck with MS because they are too scared to switch. Software vendors are too scared to switch as well.
We need some KILLER business apps to get the ball rolling.
Apple is better, when I fix a Mac it stays fix, PCs continually
go down over and over. Virus and spyware should be enough to make the switch but it is not.
No let IT Guy speak his mind because in his world of the mundane, he is correct.
Just saying.
So, by your own admission you’re $2,500 into your superior solution, yet you don’t even have the most basic RAID setup; not even a redundant power supply? All in what YOU term a “critical production environment”.
I stand by MY statement, that’s bush league. I couldn’t even look a customer in the eye with a recommendation like that.
A quick trip out to the (for one example) Dell site yields a T610 quad core Xeon with RAID drives, redundant power supplies, remote management board, and Small Business Server 2008 with 20 CALS total for ~$3000. And been in a MUCH better position with regards to redundancy vs. your laptop/Mini. Expandable to EIGHT drive bays and an additional processor slot.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&fb=1&l=en&oc=bqdwe2k&s=bsd
Really, scared? Enterprise business environments have TERABYTES of documents they use to collaborate with in Sharepoint alone. They’re too scared to move it to an OS X server? Why would they? It doesn’t support 1/2 the functionality of Sharepoint. Ditto for Exchange.
Believe me, I’ve been in OS X server, and the GUI doesn’t do nearly all of the configuration required to set it up in all but the most basic scenarios. You’re then dropped off in the world of .conf files, Open Directory, and Postfix syntax to configure things properly. At that point, you may as well just be running a Linux distro. Hardly “just works”.
AppleInsider’s article “Inside Apple’s new Mac mini Server” from last month has a price and functionality comparison between Small Business Server and Leopard Server at
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/24/inside_apples_new_mac_mini_server.html