Adventures with Mac OS X 10.4 Server

My professional life provides me with ample time to troubleshoot macs. I spend a lot of time using Apple Remote Desktop, and Workgroup Manager troubleshooting numerous issues but what I really haven't been able to do is learn the ins and outs of the Mac Server enviornment. I can't complain too much though, because even with training it wouldn't be wise for me to risk the entire district's network for my own pursuit of knowledge. This does not mean however, that I don't want to learn how to operate a Mac Server so I've decided to set one up in my own home.

Running a dedicated Mac Server machine for a house with 3 computers is horribly excessive but aside from the $2000 classes that Apple offers this is really the best way for me to learn. The original plan was to install 10.4.9 server on my old PowerBook G4, but this setup is discouraged by Apple and due to the Acceptable Use Policy governing my work machine I really needed to keep that for personal use. I began to look around for an old mac, but finances limited me to looking for something around $200. The only real options that presented were 400mhz G4 PowerMacs and older. My Dad came to a suprising rescue and gave me and older iMac G4 800mhz with a 40gb drive and 512mb RAM. Yeah, I should upgrade the RAM but that can wait a bit. I already have a 250gb firewire drive that I can connect for storage.

I've formatted, and installed...things went well for a while, but my drive may have crapped out. I go through the install, and base setup in my next post.