The first thing you should do is to check if your machine can run OS X Server 10.4. Keep in mind that these are minimum requirements so you’ll want something a bit more in terms of memory and disk size.

System Requirements:

• A PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor
• Built-in FireWire
• At least 256 MB of RAM (512 MB or 1 GB recommended)
• DVD drive (DVD-ROM) for installation
• At least 3 GB of free disk space; 4 GB if you install the XCode 2 Developer Tools

So what you should have prior to starting this tutorial is:

• A Mac that can run 10.4 Server that isn’t about to blow up.
• A broadband internet connection, a router, some cat5 cables, and at least one more computer on the network as a client that can also be used to administer your server remotely. While it’s possible to run your server over wi-fi like Airport, I wouldn’t recommend it.
• A registered domain name for the services you may be interested in running like web, mail, DNS, etc.

To squeeze as much performance out of my G4 733, I upped the ram to 1.25 GB and replaced the stock hard drive with a 120 GB one.

I didn’t even consider buying a faster CPU since the upgrade will cost several times what the actual computer is worth, which is like 50 cents accounting for inflation.

Reliability and stability are key when it comes to servers so it’s probably better not to have any third party upgrades that may cause problems.

Are you ready? Let’s roll!

But before you fire up the installation DVD, you should plan on where and how you want to use your server. Ask yourself some important questions like who will have administrative duties for which services, maintenance, backup, how many people you’ll be supporting, and so on.

I would assume that for many of you, this will be the first time installing OS X Server. If you’re upgrading from previous versions, the installer will guide you through upgrading and migrating existing data to you new server.

If you have a spare drive and a drive bay available, you may want look into the option of setting up a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). RAID is often used for backup or performance purposes commonly found in server environments.

In order to use OS X Server’s software based RAID, you’ll need 2 identical sized drives or partitions. Consult the Help file in Apple’s Disk Utility application to see how to set up a RAID.

For my G4, I’m using a single drive that was upgraded for size and speed while the old one is used as an external drive for backup. The backup is effectively a clone of the main drive that can be swapped quickly in the event of drive failure.

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