I love this news story about Kraft Foods and their new “Bring Your Own Computer” to work program. Essentially, if you have a qualifying Mac or PC, and you prefer it over your work computer, just bring it on up and use it instead. Appleinsider reported on this Friday.

The silver lining is that you can bring your Intel Mac with Snow Leopard to work, assuming you have one.

You have one, don’t you?

My guess is that a large percentage of corporate employees that are chained to PCs all day, go home to a Mac that they love and adore and wish it could be their everyday computer. But in “corporate america”, the employees don’t make those decisions. In most companies, it’s the CIO or IT Dept that makes policy and enforces the status quo.

Today we are seeing a growing trend where CEOs, CIOs, and CFOs are increasing using a Mac at home, and wishing they could simply bring it to work and plug it right in to the mix. More and more, small and medium sized businesses that have been wholey based on WIndows are switching over to the Mac and loving it. They still have some PCs, and often a Windows server, but it all plays nicely together.  The great news is that it’s pretty easy to integrate Macs into your existing Windows based network. We’ve been doing it a long time, and we can say with confidence that a mixed platform Utopia can exist.

Sure, there are challenges, like home folders for all, and cross-platform printer support, and even Active Directory Group Policy support for the Mac. But it can all be done.  If you are wanting to push forward into a bright future of PCs and Macs playing happily together, give us a call. We would love to help you find the solution that best fits your company’s goals and personality. That’s what we do.

I Can Do Anything © 2008 Apple Inc.

Yes, we are very personable IT guys.  And yes, we pride ourselves in looking just a little bit cooler than your average computer geek.  But we also like to stay on top of our game, and make sure our skills exceed your expectations every time.

To that end, I thought I’d mention that we are now Apple Certified in the latest Snow Leopard certifications. These are just little badges of honor that tell you that we know what we are doing. The Apple Certified Support Professional, and Apple Certified Technical Coordinator mean that we have the skills not only on the client side of things, but are totally proficient on the Server side of things.

Snow Leopard Server is easier in some ways, but is more complex in other ways.  So if you are needing help with your Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard server, I think you’ll be glad you called us first.

In the world of Mac based IT services, one of the most elusive and thorny issues facing the OS X Admin is how best to monitor his servers and networks under his care.  For most of us, we manage small pockets of Mac servers, and simply can’t afford the pricey Enterprise tools that big companies use. We need it to be cheap or free. For the admin who only takes care of one room of servers, Lithium 5 is a great choice and does an excellent job.  But for us, we needed more.  We needed a way to reach out from one central place and check the pulse and vital stats of groups of servers all over town – each group hiding behind a firewall. Each group providing a unique mix of services for that client.

Sure, we all wish we had a fancy little iPhone app and server piece that could do all of this with Apple style and simplicity, but sometimes the best solution is one that was not built for the Mac, but can still work with it.

Our search ended last year as we settled on an amazingly powerful yet free product called Hyperic HQ.  Yes, they have a paid enterprise solution (HQ E), but they also provide a free version that seems to do just about anything we want it to.

In short, Hyperic allows us to monitor all of our managed servers, their availability and the health of their individual services. We setup triggers and alerts with escalation and then just wait for the email or SMS text to tell us when and where a problem occurs.  Through the Hyperic web console we can see trends and historical data to determine if any of our servers have an impending problem. And for any server behind the firewall, we only have to open one port to allow communication to either one server or many.

And just to show off and let Lithium know who’s the boss, any Hyperic agent running on a Mac can be setup to reach out to other resources on the local network and monitor them and report back to the mothership. It’s basically distributed monitoring at it’s best.

On the technical side, we did a few things to make it easier for us.  We built our own package installer for the Hyperic Agent that allows us to deploy it in about a minute.  After the install and a quick Q&A in Terminal, the new managed server is reporting in to the Hyperic server and we can assign preset triggers and alarms.

Using Hyperic is just one way we are setting ourselves apart from and above our competition in the DFW area. We love it. And an unexpected upside is that it allows us and our clients to sleep better at night. Thanks Hyperic.

Now, when I hear about something, see, read or experience it, I dive in deeper to learn more about it. I search and research to learn the root of the subject. I always want to know more.

Example: My wife and I just saw the movie, The Blind Side. By habit, when I got home after a nice meal at the Cheesecake Factory with some friends, I opened my computer and started researching the story. Before I knew it, it was 1:00am and I could carry on an intelligent conversation about Michael Oher as if I knew him for years.

So, Why am I telling you this? From time to time I come across things on the web and I get excited and feel the need to share the information. Now, not only will I be able to share with the guys on the team and my friends, I will be able share oodles of knowledge with you as well. Just visit my blog from time to time. The information will range from things like web technologies, to cool iPhone apps, to many things in our daily lives.

I loved watching The Wonder Twins as a kid.  Somehow, two ordinary heroes would use their special powers to achieve crazy cool results.  Apple and Kerio are two such heroes.

I wanted to follow up our previous post by looking at the mini server landscape, and drawing some conclusions that may help the small business owner make an informed decision when looking to buy their own mini server.

First, let me point you to Daniel Eran Dilger’s latest post at AppleInsider. Please read this.  He does a fantastic job painting the picture of cost, features, performance and overall value in the mini server marketplace. He also points out all of the limitations of Microsoft’s Small Biz Server. Something Snow Leopard Server does not have.

Dan is right, as usual, except for one line (in my opinion). He states about the Mac mini Server, “There’s no missing features, no usage limitations, no client access licensing, and no essential server software that has to be purchased separately.”  If you have read my last post, then you know that although Snow Leopard Server excels in an all Mac environment, if you have to include Windows users and mobile devices besides the iPhone, the paradigm breaks down.  Kerio MailServer does an excellent job of stepping in as the 2nd Wonder Twin, to make this mini server “Activate”.

I won’t bother to cover all of  Snow Leopard Server’s features. Nor will I dive into all the great features of Kerio MailServer.  There are plenty of pages dedicated to their superpowers individually. But I do want to look at the combined cost, and ease of use of these two. I mentioned last time that Kerio does add to the cost of the Mac mini Server, but that any self respecting small business person will see the inherent value and shell out the cash.  But how much more cash are we talking about? Let’s take a look. Here are the 3 choices compared by Dan Dilger. I’ve split up the cost of the Mac mini and Snow Leopard Server just to compare the hardware and operating system cost more easily.

If you ignore the glaring performance gap in the PC vs. Mac hardware comparison, then you are looking at an extra $300 to $500 investment up front.  That’s pretty cheap.  If your business needs more than 10 email accounts (let’s say 30), then you will be spending another $400.  Still, not much in the scheme of things.

As for ease of use, Kerio does an even better job than Apple, who obviously does a smash up job compared to Microsoft. All of your Kerio MailServer settings are managed in the simple (iTunes like) Kerio Admin Console.  A few of the best features are , Open Directory integration, live highlighted text in the log files, and insanely great SPAM controls. Kerio also offers McAfee virus protection as an affordable add-on. (Some Kerio features are setup within WebMail – but it’s still a simple task to undertake, and will allow your staff to share and collaborate more freely)

As you manage your Mac mini Server, you’ll be using either Apple’s Server Admin, or Server Preferences. Here you can see Server Admin in action.

All 3 of these management tools are simple enough for the “tech inclined” business owner to figure out.  As with any server, mail or otherwise, there’s a lot of tech under hood, and things can go wrong with a few innocent mouse clicks. If you fear messing something up, then by all means, contact your local Apple Consultants Network member for help. (If you are in the DFW area, by all means, give us a call).

When sticking to 30 users or less, Apple’s Mac mini Server loaded up with Kerio MailServer is an amazingly powerful Wonder Twin for any small business. If you are stuck using an aging Small Business Server from Microsoft, it’s time to yell “Wonder twin powers – Activate”!!

Mac Geeks rejoice!  Apple has finally released the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server preinstalled.  Our prayers have been answered  Or have they?

First, let me say that I love the new Mac mini Server from Apple. With (2) 500 GB hard drives, albeit slower 5400 rpm drives, and what is arguably the easiest Server Platform to setup and use, all for a “Cleveland”. (The president on the old $1000 bill). What’s not to love?

I guess if Snow Leopard Server actually delivered on the hype, then I would love it, but there are few shortcomings that make me want to kick somebody over at Apple.  Yes, you can setup your own Snow Leopard Server at home or your small business. It’s not too hard to do if you don’t mind reading a few PDF manuals along the way.  I don’t dispute the value of the Mini Server, but will you get what you where hoping for?

For me, it’s all about collaboration.  Apple is pushing Snow Leopard Server as a collaborative Hub where your files, email, calendar data and address book can live and be seamlessly synced to your Mac, your iPhone and your PC.

Sounds great, but you might be sad to learn that you’ll still need to connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC to sync contacts since their Address Book Server does not provide over-the-air syncing to the iPhone. Address Book Server also does not allow you to share your contacts with other users on the server. You might also become a bit more sad to find out that your Windows users will need to find, and install a decent “CardDAV” client for their Address Book Server connection. They also will not be able to use their iCal Server calendar without finding and installing a CalDAV calendar client too. Oh, and when you setup Mail and Calendar access on your iPhone, you’ll have to setup those up as separate items. No all-in-one ActiveSync support here. I still don’t understand why Apple has not added a Snow Leopard Server account type for the iPhone yet?

Unified messaging is starting to unravel.

So what would I do?  That’s simple.  Just install Kerio MailServer, and your done.  I would use all of the services in Snow Leopard Server that I could, without Mail, Calendar and Address Book Server. Go ahead and fire up File Sharing, Wiki Pages, Time Machine backups (just for Macs) and make the most of it.  But…..

Once you experience the sweet, sweet love that Kerio dishes out, you’ll agree.  It actually delivers on ease of use, true collaboration, and cross platform support. Here’s what I see when I look at Apple’s new Mac Mini Server.

Does this add to the cost?  Yes it does.  But it delivers.  You are saving so much cash on a decent mini server with an unlimited version of Apple’s flagship server OS, that I think you can afford to invest in your small business just a little.

So if the question is “Mac mini Server or Kerio Mail Server?” I’ll take both.

If you are like me and avoid the high costs of Directv, DISH, Comcast and the rest, then you are always looking for the best way to incorporate your Mac Mini or MacBook into your Home Theater.

Well it just got a lot easier.  Kanex has announced their new HD audio/video adapter that is a perfect fit for Apple’s current lineup and your home theater gear. It’s the Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter To HDMI 1080p Video w/ Digital Audio.  Could the name BE any longer?

At $60 retail, this is the first reasonably priced adapter to combine the Mac’s usually separate digital audio and digital video into a standard HDMI port, which makes it perfect for anyone with a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or Mac Mini and an HDTV with HDMI inputs.  Here’s what Kanex says about their product.

With audio limitation from Mini Displayport we’ve combined Apple® Mini Jack digital audio output with Mini DisplayPort digital video output into a single HDMI output solution to bring a true audio video expreience with full HD 1080p video and full digital audio 5.1 support. Powered by USB so no external power source is needed.

So there you go.  In your home or away, you can now easily turn your modern Mac into a portable media player with HDTV capabilities.  Pretty Cool!

Kerio MailServer’s strength has always been it’s ability to work well with all major operating systems and popular mail and calendar clients.  The downside to this strength is that every time one of the big software companies like Apple, or Microsoft makes significant changes to their OS, or their Apps, Kerio has to kick into high gear to roll out compatibility.  It’s a vicious cycle that will likely never end.

With Apple’s release of Snow Leopard (a surprise early release), Kerio was left scrambling to finish their work to bring their product up to snuff. Some of Apple’s last minute changes in iCal also made this more difficult.

Today Kerio released version 6.7.2 to provide Snow Leopard compatibility and a host of other fixes and goodies.  All of our Kerio clients will be thrilled that they can now upgrade to Snow Leopard and continue using their iCal without issue.

Here are the highlights of what has changed or been fixed in 6.7.2

In Kerio MailServer:

• Added support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

• Added support for Microsoft Windows 7.

• Support for iPhone 3.1 and iPod Touch 3.1.1.

• Added new anti-virus plug-in for Clam AntiVirus 0.95.

• Support for Dr.Web Anti-Virus 5.0.

• Added option to change the Spam Filter message size limit in the configuration file.

• Improved anti-virus plug-in for AVG Anti-Virus 8.5.

• Delegated CalDAV calendar in iCal could be displayed empty if the event contains invalid character.

• Apple iCal could send a new invitation for events accepted in delegated calendar.

• Configuration file with many IP address groups could cause slow start of Kerio MailServer engine.

Kerio Outlook Connector (Offline Edition):

• Added support for Microsoft Windows 7.

• Fixed rare crash on Outlook start.

Kerio Sync Connector for Mac:

• Added support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

• Added 64-bit version of Kerio Sync Connector for Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Both 32-bit and 64-bit binaries are in common installation package.