Need some advice on servers: Mac or Linux?

[alpherjo]

Hi all!

I'm a neophyte Lasso user and I could really use some help on this one.

I'm working for a small company whose e-commerce platform is built in Lasso/MySql with a Filemaker offsite database. The current server they are using is a Mac XServe.

This server is currently going kaput. I've been looking into new servers, we need to purchase two so we have a backup. The new Mac XServes run around $4500. A good Linux box from the same company who is doing the hosting is only around $1500.

I've been told it should be easy to revert over to the Linux server. I've also been told though that the Lasso browser-based admin tool doesn't work with Red Hat. I've also been told it does, but only with older versions, and new versions of Red Hat won't be supporting it.

I'd really like to switch to the Linux servers, both because of price and I'm more familiar with a Linux server.

Does anyone have any advice at all they could share please? Anything at all would definitely be helpful.

Thank you!

[alpherjo]

Just bumping this, sorry, but I'm still having some trouble getting info on this.

ANYTHING would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Steve T.]

Hi, alpherjo! Well, FWIW, I would suggest you look at the company's IT and tech level. If they already have Win/Mac/*nix boxes, then I'd say go for Linux since you are already familiar with it and they already have to have folks who work on all platforms. If they are a mac-only kind of place, I'd recommend sticking w/Mac. BTW, Mac OS X is Unix-based.. they called it Darwin and it's an Apple-ized version of BSD, so you may not find it so hard to work w/Macs now. Many of our campus Unix-guys use Mac laptops and just work almost exclusively in the shells. Also, if the company is Mac-based, they're used to the high price tags and are usually willing to pay for it... it's the "norm". However, since the server is going to be offsite at a hosted location, no one may ever see it, eh?

I'm not clear about your setup, but it sounds like

Server A: FileMaker offsite

Server B: Lasso/MySQL primary

Server C: Lasso/MySQL secondary/backup

If the B/C you are thinking about buying ONLY does Lasso/MySQL and ONLY you will be accessing it, I think you should go w/Linux. If the new servers will also be accessed by company staff, I'd recommend Apple for AppleTalk/FTP/SSH accessibility. FTP is not hard to do, but we find it easier to AppleTalk connect to our webservers when possible so users can can easily make a bunch of aliases for quickly connecting to exact directories.

As for the browser-based Lasso admin tool... how important is it? If Blueworld is moving away from RedHat, yikes! I hope there's commandline equivalents to manage/configure your setup or that makes your decision for you.

Good luck wrangling through it all,

--ST