ScottBordoni

Thanks for the comment Antonio: Bordoni: "The Mac server will also facilitate the integration of your Macs to your AD . . ." Antonio: "Apologies but I don't think this is correct? Any client OS X will do this all by themselves without OS X Server facilitating anything" Can I ask if you have looked up the 'Magic Triangle' scenario mentioned above? This is something we have been deploying under Apple's guidance for years, and many reputable guides/forums etc will outline this as the recommended process. "For mixed networks of Windows and OS X computers, Apple now tells server admins to bind Macs to both an Active Directory server and an Open Directory server, a configuration it calls a "magic triangle"—the Active Directory server handles authentication and settings for the Windows computers and authentication for the Macs, while the Open Directory server controls settings for Macs." Ars Technica To elaborate (and you touched on it above yourself) binding to AD is just part of the process... AD handles authentication, whilst OD (Mac server) handles GPO, you then add AD users in to an OD group and apply settings. I see what you are saying about being able to remove the server from the equation, but is this not a 'quick and dirty' solution? Especially with Mac minis being so cheap these days. And in this instance, with an MDM solution being required for the iPads mentioned above, seems like a good fit to me

Also, not sure how helpful the comment from M25Man is... Without proper instruction and consultation ANY piece of IT can be useless! For example, if you were sold a toaster on it's capabilities to heat bread, but were never told to plug it in to make it work (i.e not given proper consultancy and instruction before sale), it would very quickly become a door stop... Surely ANY device can be valuable is used correctly, and a long as you are getting the proper advice, guidance, and support... be it Windows, Android, Apple etc

Looks like not everyone is an Apple fan I am from an ICT provider, that regularly deploys iPads and Macs in school environments, so come across your concerns on a regular basis... Ok, so even though your iPads and Macs run different Operating systems (iOS and Mac OS respectively), this is not a problem, as they can be managed in the same place. If you grab yourself a Mac mini and the server app (depending on the number of devices you might want to look at enhancing specs, i.e. 8GB of RAM etc), you can actually enrol all of your Macs and iPads for management from your Mac server (using Profile Manager). Profile manager will allow you to create groups/policies etc and manage all your Apple devices from one place! The Mac server will also facilitate the integration of your Macs to your AD (check out the 'Magic Triangle' for more info on Mac/AD integrations). As you are aware, iPads do not have a 'login' screen as such, so you can't just link them up to the AD... there are ways to get data sharing between your AD and iPads, with various amounts of labour, costs etc (also some really nice free ways of doing things!!) Can I also ask what version of server you run? Hope some of this helps Scott