• 10/24/24 7:50 AM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 3.1.6 has been updated for macOS Sequoia, gets a homebridge.conf AND now has info on FileMaker Websockets and Azure Oauth conf (courtesy of Paul Royse)!
    Alex Narvey


  • 1/30/22 1:35 PM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 3.1.5 has some edits, some permisions fixes and better https rewrite rules!
    Alex Narvey




  • 11/19/20 9:03 AM

    Target Disk Mode goes away on Apple Silicon. There is a way to transfer files though and we have included a link in our Resource section on TDM below.
    Alex Narvey




  • 10/03/20 5:55 PM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 3.1.4 has a Kerio Connect fix and updated ssl certificate instructions for reverse proxy using Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur native apache!
    Alex Narvey




  • 09/28/20 7:54 AM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 3.1.3 has fixes and now supports TLSv.1.2 for reverse proxy using Mojave and Catalina native apache!
    Alex Narvey




  • 08/10/20 7:34 AM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 3.1.2 has fixes and improved documentation for reverse proxy using Mojave and Catalina native apache!
    Alex Narvey




  • 05/07/20 7:26 AM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 3.1.0 now comes with a comlete set of example site files, an editing guide and better documentation for reverse proxy using Mojave and Catalina native apache!
    Alex Narvey




  • 03/22/20 3:48 PM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 3.0.0 now covers native Apache on macOS 10.14 Mojave and macOS 10.15 Catalina!
    Alex Narvey




  • 03/17/20 12:00 PM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 2.0.6 fixes remaining typoes.
    Alex Narvey




  • 03/16/20 6:36 AM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial 2.0.5 now includes the missing file from the Synology set of example files.
    Alex Narvey




  • 03/14/20 3:35 PM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial has been upgraded to version 2.0.4 with information about Reverse Proxy to Synology (and various minor fixes for older methods)
    Alex Narvey




  • 10/13/19 9:56 AM

    J. M. Schomburg submitted photos of a very well-crafted T-Key Dongle - now posted in the T-Key gallery!
    Alex Narvey




  • 6/17/18 12:42 PM

    Sonnet Technology's xMac mini Server (Thunderbolt 3 Edition) has Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion system/1U rackmount enclosure for Mac mini with Thunderbolt 3 ports. Features 150W power supply, and auxiliary power connector, and Thunderbolt 3 interface.
    Alex Narvey




  • 11/18/18 12:53 PM

    Luna Display lets you turn your iPad into a wireless main screen for you Mac mini!
    Alex Narvey




  • 10/30/18 10:53 AM

    Apple came out with a massive upgrade to the Mac mini including up to 6 core processors, up to 64 GB RAM, up to 2 TB storage, and up to 10GB Ethernet! Huzzah!
    Alex Narvey




  • 10/18/18 1:53 PM

    Apple has announced a big Event to be held 10 am Eastern on October 30th in Brooklyn. Could this be the venue for the unveiling of a new Mac mini?
    Alex Narvey




  • 07/27/18 7:35 AM

    Now Bloomberg is reporting that a new Mac mini is coming this Fall. Is the long wait really nearly over?
    Alex Narvey




  • 07/27/18 7:35 AM

    We already reported that MacRumors.com is expects that Apple is planning to introduce a new mini this Fall ("based reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo"). We note that the newly introduced MacBook Pro 13 has finally returned to quad-core processors and that the Mac mini has traditionally been based on the MacBook Pro 13. The last quad-core Mac mini was the 2012 model. Here's hoping...
    Alex Narvey




  • 07/13/18 7:15 AM

    Mac Rumors predicts a Mac mni refresh this Fall! I am not getting my hopes up but check it out for yourself at: https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/11/apple-product-updates-fall-kuo/
     Alex Narvey




  • 06/10/18 7:15 PM

    NOTE the Reverse Proxy Tutorial has not yet been tested with FileMaker Server 17.
     Alex Narvey




  • 04/03/18 7:45 AM

    Apple has posted a Service Migration Guide for the services being removed from macOS Server: https://developer.apple.com/support/macos-server/macOS-Server-Service-Migration-Guide.pdf
     Alex Narvey




  • 03/31/18 9:13 AM

    Apple has updated the tech note - and significantly clarified - the road map for macOS Server: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208312
     Alex Narvey




  • 02/26/18 7:51 AM

    As if the depecration of most of macOS Server wasn't enough of a blow, Apple has told SoftRAID Support that RAID volumes themselves have been deprecated and will no longer be supported: https://www.macintouch.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=2147&pid=33781#pid33781
     This may be because the new Apple File System (APFS) does not directly support software RAID. See this Apple Developer FAQ: https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/FileManagement/Conceptual/APFS_Guide/FAQ/FAQ.html

     To quote" "Can RAID be used with Apple File System?"
    Yes. Apple File System does not directly implement software RAID; however APFS-formatted volumes can be combined with an Apple RAID volume to support Striping (RAID 0), Mirroring (RAID 1), and Concatenation (JBOD). APFS-formatted volumes can also be used with direct-attached hardware RAID solutions."

    Alex Narvey



  • 01/24/18 4:35 PM

    macOS Server deprecating loads of features in upcoming update as focus changes

     Alex Narvey




  • 01/17/18 3:29 PM

    SoftRAID has introduced version 5.6.4 with increased support for High Sierra. https://www.softraid.com/PDFs/SoftRAID_5.6.4_PR_2018.01.pdf

     Alex Narvey




  • 12/12/17 7:24 AM

    I have included a document called "FileSharing Tips" in the Tutorials section. It covers various things about SMB and also mentions the new FileSharing Assistant for High Sierra.

     Alex Narvey




  • 11/23/17 10:30 AM

    Mac concept imagines a refreshed mini form factor w/ built-in Touch Bar & Face ID! https://9to5mac.com/2017/11/17/mac-mini-redesign-concept-touch-bar-face-id/

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/19/17 1:05 PM

    Tim Cook says the Mac mini is not dead yet! https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/10/the-mac-mini-isnt-dead-yet-says-tim-cook/

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/14/17 12:30 PM

    SoftRAID has notes about how to move to High Sierra on a SoftRAID boot volume. We added the link to our Tutorials section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/14/17 12:20 PM

    A member of the FileMaker communicaty using Mac mini RAID says that Apple does not allow upgrading RAID volumes to High Sierra. https://community.filemaker.com/message/695079

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/1/17 3:10 PM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial (v.2.0.3) has now been tested and updated for macOS High Sierra 10.13 and macOS Server 5.4.

     Alex Narvey




  • 9/17/17 9:37 AM

    Cleaned up the links in the Resources section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 3/28/17 7:25 AM

    SoftRAID 5.5.6 is now avaiable which has several bug fixes regarding mirrored volumes. Hoping this will fix the problem of primary Mac Pro's sometimes losing their TDM Mac mini secondary mirrors when the primary is restarted.

     Alex Narvey




  • 9/8/16 3:06 PM

    I am now the proud owner of one of John Stephen's rev. 3 T Key Dongles from www.fobis.com!

     Alex Narvey




  • 8/28/16 12:17 PM

    Inspired by an idea of FogDogIT's Justen Wattenbarger I created a launch daemon that monitors a server for a static i.p. and notifies by email if that WAN i.p. changes. You can find it in the Resources section under "Software/Monitoring"

     Alex Narvey




  • 8/9/16 10:10 AM

    We added a "Performance" category in the Resources section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 8/7/16 2:45 PM

    I have added a photo of John Stephens v.3 T-Key Dongle (with extra cable stored in the unit) He said he has enough parts to make a few more and will sell them for $35. fobis.com

     Alex Narvey




  • 8/1/16 6:55 PM

    We've added a "rogues" gallery of T-key dongles sent in by readers. And, for fun you can now hold down the "t" key while browsing this web page and start off our hero graphic into target disk mode - complete with boot sound. Enjoy!

     Alex Narvey




  • 7/11/16 7:37 AM

    Pierre, if you are still having issues please email me at "support @ precursor.ca"

     Alex Narvey




  • 6/28/16 8:38 AM

    Hi Alex,
    I finally updated our server from Filemaker Server 14 on 10.10 to FMS15 on 10.11.5.
    Everything went smooth. Websites work, Fms works like a charm.
    Only web direct on localhost works.. but on other machines when i go to filemaker.myserver.com/fmi/wedb# it goes to localhost:8011/fmi/webd#.

    I think in the filemaker deployment the server name is correct filemaker.myserver.com... but in the web server settings of filemaker it says access.myserver.com .. I have to figure out how to correct this still.

    Also.. from your Reverse Proxy Tutorial 1.0 I had to change nothing in the apache scripts.. everything worked..
    thanks a lot.
    yours
    Pierre

    Pierre Froelicher




  • 6/16/16 4:26 PM

    MacNN is reporting that RAID control in back in the macOS Sierra Disk Utility!

     Alex Narvey




  • 6/12/16 8:26 PM

    Reverse Proxy Tutorial 2.0 is finally here! It now covers El Capitan 10.11.5 and OS X Server 5.1.15. It also provides a fix for the Kerio Connect proxy timeout error. Enjoy!

     Alex Narvey




  • 6/8/16 6:59 AM

    I am hoping to complete the new tutorial this weekend after I test it with Server 5.1.5 and FileMaker Server 15.

     Alex Narvey




  • 5/25/16 10:21 AM

    Hi Alex, I was the one posting the 'Absolutely brillant' comment on the Kerio Connect forum. Your solution is great, but I ran into the timeout problem as well. I tried several proxytimeout options, but couldn't get it to work. Is the '2.0' solution a complete rewrite, or is it a matter of a few adjustments? If so, could your share them by mail? Or is the 2.0 tutorial coming up soon? Thanks and keep up the good work! Rob

     Rob Scheepstra




  • 4/23/16 2:39 PM

    Finally! After much trial and error I have been able to deal with the nagging 60 second proxy timeout that affects reverse proxy with Kerio Connect 9. By combining the BunnyFu method with a technique suggested by Dr Greg Multiuser on his CodeMemes page, and putting in values suggested by Kerio I have managed to eliminate this nasty little glitch. The method will be written up and included in the next version of the Reverse Proxy Tutorial (so look for version 2.0 when I manage to get it posted).

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/18/16 6:58 AM

    Saw this posted in the Kerio Connect forums today: "Installed Kerio Connect 9.0.3 today on El Capitan with Server.app 5.1 following your tutorial, and seems to be working fine. Absolutely brilliant!"
    Very encouraging.

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/12/16 9:59 PM

    Our favorite RAIS utility SoftRAID just got better. SoftRAID 5.5, announced today, adds the ability to convert AppleRAID volumes created by earlier versions of Disk Utility to SoftRAID, expanded error logging, and Thunderbolt chain error detection. SoftRAID version 5.5 is a free update for all version 5.x users of SoftRAID.

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/2/16 11:28 AM

    The Bunnyfu method of dealing with the Kerio Reverse Proxy timeout error does not seem to work with OS X 10.11.4 and Server app 5.1. I have now hit upon another method which seems to work and I will outline this in an upcoming revision to the Reverse Proxy Tutorial.

     Alex Narvey




  • 3/22/16 8:10 AM

    The Timeout going to Kerio via Reverse Proxy in Server.app 5.1 seems to now be a default of 5 minutes rather than 1 minute. And the error is different and may not cause the loss of the compose windows being edited. I will pass on the info to Kerio and see what they say.

     Alex Narvey




  • 3/22/16 8:03 AM

    Apple has a released Server.app 5.1 and the behavior with the respect to the Kerio Connect timeout seems to have changed so we are testing now. Stay tuned for results.

     Alex Narvey




  • 2/14/16 10:37 AM

    Target Disk Mode is here for the 12" USB-C MacBooks. We added a link to the Apple Tech Note in our Resource Section: Target Disk Mode.

     Alex Narvey




  • 1/16/16 10:49 AM

    The proxy 502 error that is coming up when Kerio Connect 9 and Server app 5.0.15 are being used has been partially resolved by a suggestion of “Bunnyfu” in the Apple OS X discussion forums https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7331447 "server 5 proxy timeout settings”.
    The file: /library/server/Web/Config/proxy/apache_serviceproxy.conf
    is edited to add one line under both <VirtualHost *:80>
    and
    <VirtualHost *:443>
    that reads:
    ProxyTimeout 300
    (which changes the proxy timeout from 1 minute to 5 minutes.
    This will at least allow a user to edit and submit their out-of-office message without it being interrupted by the proxy 502 error. I have reported the results to Kerio Support.

     Alex Narvey




  • 1/2/16 1:02 PM

    Added a link in the Resources section (Misc) to a description of the new OS X Server 5 – iOS File Sharing

     Alex Narvey




  • 12/22/15 3:06 PM

    After upgrading a Kerio Connect install on Server 5.1.5 reverse proxy we found that if webmail is left open for a period of time Kerio will generate a proxy error. You can continue to work in webmail so it appears to be mostly cosmetic but I have reported the problem to Kerio Support and will report back to this page when I have a resolution.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/28/15 9:15 AM

    The release of SoftRAID 5.1 for El Capitan has now been pushed back to November 2!

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/28/15 9:04 AM

    I have added Reid Bundonis iTunes book: El Capitan Server - Foundation Services to our Resource section. (under miscellaneous).

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/28/15 8:18 AM

    I have updated the Reverse Proxy Tutorial to v.1.0.10 to cover the recently introduced OS X Server 5.1.5.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/22/15 8:23 PM

    Lo and behold, Apple has rewritten the Read Me file in /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2/ReadMe.txt and also has explicit help documents "About the web proxy" at https://help.apple.com/serverapp/mac/5.0/#/apdf37747285

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/22/15 8:00 PM

    Apple has release OS Server 5.0.15 (up from 5.0.4) and the release notes say it has some "web" fixes. So we are checking things out on our Reverse Proxy test mule.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/20/15 6:00 AM

    The release of SoftRAID 5.1 with El Capitan compatibility has been pushed back to October 26.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/10/15 11:36 AM

    Drank my own KoolAid today and used Server 5 when asked to convert a Server 4 Apple Mail Server to Kerio. Upgraded to Server 5 and followed the Reverse Proxy Tutorial. Everything went according to plan but I did find some typos in the command line represented in Appendix C "Server 5" so I have corrected that and the Reverse Proxy Tutorial is now version 1.0.9.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/8/15 7:08 AM

    SoftRAID 5.1 will have complete support for OS X 10.11 El Capitan when it is released on October 15! see SoftRAID.com for details.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/8/15 7:07 AM

    SoftRAID 5.1 will have complete support for OS X 10.11 El Capitan when it is released on October 15! see SoftRAID.com for details.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/7/15 9:10 AM

    The original bug report I filed on Server 5 (#22838385) has now been closed because Apple Engineering has determined it is a duplicate of a previously filed issue (#22772031). I can't access that one when I log in to bug report so I can't say where we are at on it but at least Apple Engineering is aware of the issue.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/1/15 7:45 PM

    The Reverse Proxy Tutorial (1.08) is now revised to work with OS X Server 5 and is posted in our Tutorials section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/1/15 11:52 AM

    I believe I have the key to making the Reverse Proxy files work with the new OS X Server 5. It is certainly working on the one test instance now. After I have done more testing I will revise the tutorial and post it.

     Alex Narvey




  • 9/24/15 10:02 AM

    Thank you Michael, I have now done some extensive testing with Yosemite and El Capitan GM along with Server 1pp 5.03 and 5.04 and it is as you have described. I have filed a detailed bug report with Apple Developer (#22838385). If I hear back on any progress I will be sure to post it to this site.

     Alex Narvey




  • 9/21/15 3:41 PM

    i have just adapted your reverse proxy settings to my server situation and found out what is broken by server app 5.0.3, at least for my problems:
    i've added the line "Servername test.example.com" to the top of the included .conf file. that, i guess, overrides the "Servername test.example.com:34543" in the .conf file which gets written by server app.
    hope that helps you, too.
    and thanks for the tutorial!

    michael

    Michael Heck




  • 9/17/15 4:04 PM

    Server App 5 (released today and no longer OS restricted - i.e. it works with both Yosemite AND El Capitan) seems to have played havoc with some of our Reverse Proxy settings so we will have to figure this out and update the Tutorial to cover the new Server app.

     Alex Narvey




  • 7/23/15 6:03 AM

    Samsung's new EVO 850 is a 2.5" Flash storage device that now goes up to 2TB. In the Pro version it is warranted for 10 years.
    And now that Apple has enabled TRIM support for 3'rd party SSDs in OS X 10.10.4, Mac mini mod here we come! We've added a review in our Reviews section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 7/8/15 8:28 PM

    Dear Alex,
    great Job, I installed with your instructions fms 14.v2 on OS10.10.4 and latest Server Built.
    Works very good it seem.
    I stil run Zulu Calendar on the filemaker server, that does not yet work.
    But now I can have Server with Filemaker Server going on on the same machine.
    Before I used the vhost feature and let filemaker server host everything. But I could not get this solution to work anymore because SERVER always takes over the apache httpd.. at least it seemed to me.
    Anyway. Thanks a lot.
    Pierre

     Pierre F




  • 5/31/15 8:17 AM

    Version 1.0.6 of the Reverse Proxy Tutorial in our Tutorials section now covers FileMaker Server 14.

     Alex Narvey




  • 5/14/15 5:55 AM

    From the FileMaker Server 14 Getting Started Guide (page 76) it appears that FileMaker Server 14 CAN be installed over OS X Server app. However, you will be prompted to either disable OS X Server OR change the ports that FileMaker from their defaults of 80 and 443. This will make the Reverse Proxy instructions a lot simpler since we won't have to manually disable and reenable OS X Server.app just to get FMS 14 installed. We will get to work on a Trial of FMS 14 so that we can provide more detailed instructions for an upcoming revision of the Reverse Proxy Tutorial in our Tutorials section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 5/11/15 7:31 PM

    Had to reverse proxy a kerio server in the field and realized there were a few typos in the Tutorial. So the Reverse Proxy Tutorial has been updated to version 1.0.5.

     Alex Narvey




  • 5/4/15 7:34 AM

    This week, I was interviewed about the R.A.I.S. concept on the Command-Control-Power podcast by Joe Saponare, Sam Valencia, and Jerry Zigmont. A link has been posted to Resources:Miscellaneous.

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/29/15 1:32 PM

    Enjoyed chatting with the hosts of Command Control Power so much last night that I think it is time to dust off the R.A.I.S. Cookbook iBook I was working on last year. I feel like we barely scratched the surface last night. But first... have to deal with the Apple Watch that just showed up at the door!

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/27/15 7:35 AM

    Today we've added an KVM-over-IP subsection in Resources and mentioned the Lantronix SpiderDuo - a internet operated KVM switch with Power Management via an option power unit. Is it the Holy Grail of TDM RAIS? I think we shall have to order one up and test it out!

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/16/15 5:37 PM

    #1 reason the R.A.I.S. is better than a NAS? According to the ACN-Alumni Google Group, NAS search capabilities are nowhere near the abilities of Spotlight on an OS X R.A.I.S.

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/14/15 7:09 PM

    SoftRAID 5.0.7 claims important speed enhancements including making use of all disks when reading from mirrors - up to 86% for mirrored SSDs, and write speeds for mirrored SSDs is also improved by up to 11% !

     Alex Narvey




  • 3/24/15 6:57 AM

    Added the Target Disk Mode T Key Dongle instructions to the Tutorials section to make it easier to find.

     Alex Narvey




  • 3/16/15 4:58 PM

    We have now implemented several RAIS systems that utilize a Mac Pro as the primary device and a Mac mini as the secondary. It was easy and the performance is exceptional.

     Alex Narvey




  • 1/14/15 7:53 PM

    The 2014 Mac mini re-acquired a 2TB option today. This is a 2 TB Fusion drive, not two 1 TB drives.

     Alex Narvey




  • 12/30/14 9:58 AM

    Success at last! Version 1.03 of the Reverse Proxy Tutorial in out Tutorials section has now been updated to include instructions for Yosemite's Server.app 4. Enjoy!

     Alex Narvey




  • 12/5/14 7:59 AM

    We finally found a powered HDMI to VGA adapter. The Accell HDMI to VGA adapter can take power from either USB or AC (both are included) so it should actually work with the 2012 and 2014 Mac minis using Mavericks or higher. We included the link in our Resources:Video section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 11/22/14 9:42 AM

    The R.A.I.S. page is celebrating 50,000 views! Thanks to all our visitors and to our sponsors: Watchman Monitoring and MacTech Conference!

     Alex Narvey




  • 11/19/14 5:42 AM

    We added a link to a great article on how to make a dummy dongle for a headless Mac mini using an 85 ohm resistor (from macminicolo.

     Alex Narvey




  • 11/9/14 9:32 AM

    Corrected a problem in the html that was causing the Tutorials section to not display properly.

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/16/14 6:03 PM

    It was only a footnote in the Yosemite presentation but the Mac mini received a long overdue overhaul today, acquiring up to a 3 GHz processor, up to 1 TB of faster flash storage, and most importantly for our purposes here at R.A.I.S., two Thunderbolt 2 ports! Excellent!

     Alex Narvey




  • 10/2/14 7:11 PM

    The R.A.I.S. page welcomes a new sponsor today: MacTech Conference. Having been to several excellent MacTech BootCamps and MacTech Conferences myself I am very happy to be associated with them.

     Alex Narvey




  • 9/29/14 5:04 PM

    Version 1.0.2 of the Reverse Proxy Tutorial in our Tutorials section now has an Appendix covering the importing and exporting of SSL Certificates back and forth from OX S Server.app to the reverse proxies services such as Kerio Connect.

     Alex Narvey




  • 9/2/14 6:55 AM

    LaCie 8BigLaCie has introduced a 1u rack mount 8 drive ThunderBolt 2 array with hardware and full component redundancy that can hold up to 48 TB. We added a link to the Resources section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 8/3/14 2:37 PM

    SoftRAID.com has released SoftRAID 5 which along with a new UI allows you to create RAID 5, RAID 4, and RAID 1+0. Upgrades from v 4 are available for $69.
    SoftRAID 5 will be required for OS X Yosemite.


     Alex Narvey




  • 7/22/14 7:12 AM

    Added links to Automatica's AppleScript in the Server.app Reverse Proxy tutorial in our Tutorials section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 7/8/14 4:17 PM

    Put some protection into the self-serve forms to keep out those nasty bots!

     Alex




  • 6/27/14 11:25 AM

    I gave added a Tutorials section to the page and included a new detailed tutorial with screen shots and diagrams on how to properly enable the Guest Network on an AirPort Extreme Base Station when it is in Bridge mode below a non-Apple router.

     Alex Narvey




  • 5/8/14 2:42 PM

    This is a great concept!

    I was wondering if this has been automated?

    Andrew




  • 5/2/14 11:29 AM

    We gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship of Watchman Monitoring.

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/15/14 7:11 AM

    We added info in Resources about the fit-Headless HDMI adapter that can enable GPU usage on a headless Mac mini server.

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/8/14 7:38 AM

    We've added several colocation services to the Resources section.

     Alex Narvey




  • 4/6/14 11:20 AM

    We've added a new "Reviews" section (and cleaned up the Resources section even more).

     Alex Narvey




  • 3/18/14 11:34 PM

    The site got a small redesign. Links were tested and refreshed

     Alex Narvey



  • 9/2/13 2:42 PM
    | I have a doubt..
    | Do I need really to use the SoftRAID or can I build this set without it? Just using target disk mode?
    You can use Apple's Disk Utility to make a software RAID but SoftRAID provides greater functionality and much better performance on rebuilds.
    | When I use this set.. can I also use IP failover?
    | Thanks in advance.
    | Rafael
    IP failover has not been supported since Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. But failover is for different computers with a heartbeat going over a secondary network interface - not in a RAIS where the second computer is functioning in Target Disk Mode unless there is a failure and then it needs to be manually restarted without Target Disk Mode.
     Alex Narvey



  • 8/28/13 5:01 AM
    I have a doubt..
    Do I need really to use the SoftRAID or can I build this set without it? Just using target disk mode?
    When I use this set.. can I also use IP failover?
    Thanks in advance.
     Rafael



  • 11/28/12 8:19 AM
    I wrote up the procedure for making the Target Disk Mode USB "T" key dongle with a few pictures. You can access it from the Resources section above or find it in the Resources:Guides area of the main www.precursor.ca web site.
     Alex Narvey

  • 11/27/12 8:17 PM
    Turns out making a home-made TDM dongle is easy. All you need is an old PC keyboard. That's right! Put that ugly old Wintel keyboard out of its misery. I posted the link to the "One-Key Keyboard Hack" in the resources section. It doesn't cover the "T" key exactly but you will get the idea. I had no trouble discovering which pins out needed jumping.
    Much easier than programming a Teensy!
     Alex Narvey

  • 11/27/12 1:28 PM
    Made my first "T" key USB dongle!!
    Plug this baby in to a USB port and start up any Mac and "Voila!" instant Target Disk Mode with no keyboard necessary! Power the Mac off and power it back on again - Hey! its still in Target Disk Mode and will remain so until you unplug the dongle.
    The prototype is too butt ugly to take a picture of for the page but when I find an appropriate case for it I will be sure to showcase it.
     Alex Narvey

  • 11/2/12 7:45 AM
    Sonnet has introduced a new rack item called the xMac mini Server. I have added it to the Resources section above.
     Alex Narvey

  • 10/14/12 10:11 PM
    Something like Pingdom would allow you to get a notification when your domain stops responding. You could automate something off of that, or just know something is wrong.
    For networking, the easiest thing would be to have each mini's ethernet plugged in to your switch. That way, when either mini was booted on it's own, it would become the server. You could potentially use a managed switch so that you could change the ip address range of the first mini in order to turn it back on and not interfere with the first server.
    You could use a kvm that allows remote power switching in order to turn off the 1st machine and turn off and on the first (to get out of target mode). If you get these hardware kvm machines, you could use them to hold down the t key when booting one of the machines.
    If the mini is plugged into some sort of raid, you'd likely want to have a raid that had two of whatever type of port it uses, so that you wouldn't have to physically swap the plugs to allow the 2nd machine access to that drive.
    I'd bet a company could build this stuff all into one of those dual mini racks.
     Ian Page-Echols

  • 11/14/11 6:12 PM
    Lion R.A.I.S. with SoftRAID 4.0.7 !!
    Okay, having now used SoftRAID, I would have to say that trying to do a R.A.I.S. without it is crazy.
    For one thing, you can install Lion to a single Apple formatted drive and not get the Recovery HD error.
    Then you can convert it to a SoftRAID format and mirror it to your TDMac.
    Pulling the plug on the Target Disk mode Mac to degrade the RAID was not a problem: SoftRAID rebuilt automatically and it only took TWO MINUTES whereas the Apple formatted software RAID required 8+ HOURS to rebuild.
    With SoftRAID you can even add ANOTHER mirror. So if you have used the FireWire port for your TD Mac mirror you can add a USB/FW800 drive to the USB port, make it a mirror and then if one computer or the other blows up you can send it off for repair and replacement and maintain a mirror all the time just by popping that USB drive into the empty FireWire port (for best performance of course).
    (With the new Thunderbolt minis your FireWire port would be available for the external drive all the time.
    Add SoftRAID to the recipe book!
     Alex Narvey

  • 8/21/11 7:46 PM
    After a power failure I think that it would depend on how you set up the Target Disk Mode.
    I gather you would have to try to make it permanent by using the Startup Disk control panel to set it.
    I guess I will have to see if this can be tested.
    Otherwise one would have to use the Schnitz Technology Target Disc Mode USB Dongle which is mentioned in Resources above.
     Alex Narvey

  • 8/21/11 3:31 PM
    What happens after a power failure when both machines reboot?

  • 3/14/11 4:37 AM
    Interesting idea. What consequences does such a setup have re lifetime of fans? I admit I haven't had use for TDM in quite some time so I don't know if they're still running at full speed these days. Do you have any insights to offer there?
     Martin

  • 3/12/11 7:27 AM
    I asked Mark James of SoftRAID about that product as opposed to Disk Utility. He replied that "SoftRAID would be the same, essentially, with the extra information about the disks, error tracking, etc.".
    HE noted that neither SoftRAID nor Disk Utility is offering fail-over. If a one part of the mirror dies (the part inside the boot Mac mini) then the TDM Mac mini must indeed be restarted.
     Alex Narvey