This is a sequel (1, 2) question.
I'm interested in setting up a home networking solution. One or more individuals would be able to access their accounts from any one of multiple Macs around the house.
Direct Attached Storage is one solution.
Here I'm pursuing the alternative, Network Attached Storage.
- What hardware do I need for a minimal installation. Say two Macs are the "terminals". Is a third Mac needed as a server?
- Presumably I need some kind of RAID disk. Can you confirm?
- is macOS server needed?
Best Answer
To answer your question keeping in mind that you specifically want to be able to login to your account on another Mac (i.e. sharing your home directory as well as account, including preferences, etc.):
1) You do not need a third Mac, one of the two Macs can pose as the server. However it needs to be turned on while the other Mac is using the file storage.
2) RAID disk is not needed as such. You can use multiple ordinary hard drives or SSDs and form a RAID volume using macOS software in order to gain reliability and/or speed. It is not a requirement though.
3) Yes, macOS Server is needed if you want to easily setup sharing of the home directory over NFS as well as the account using OpenDirectory. You can do without macOS Server and set it all up manually, however it is usually not worth it compared to the low cost of macOS Server (19.99$).