The icon for Mountain Lion Server.

If you want a great overview of Mountain Lion Server, the website Ars Technica has an extensive yet well-written article about how to set it up, and how it’s been simplified compared to its predecessors.

Now even families, as well as small businesses, may find a use for a server. A few ways to use it:

• For Time Machine backup of multiple Macs, wirelessly (it will work much better than Time Capsule, which has been plagued by hardware failures).
• Sharing files across multiple computers easily
• Manage your Macs, iPhones, and iPads from a central location
• Access to your files from outside the home/office (via “VPN,” a Virtual Private Network)

And the price is only $20 for the software–which can be installed on any Mac. Or you can buy a Mac Mini starting at only $600, it makes a great server that fits almost anywhere.

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