Run Final Cut on OS X Server

[stepsascend]

I am in need of an FTP server and a Final Cut Pro workstation. Can I order a Mac Pro with OS X Server and satisfy both of these needs? The FTP server will not be high traffic, so I think a quad core Mac Pro should be able to handle it. I'll be mostly using FCP and Soundtrack pro as well. Any thoughts? I've never run FCP on OS X Server so I wanted to be sure it'll work fine.

EDIT: On second thought, do I even need OS X Server? Should I just use a 3rd party ftp server on OS X?

[terryj]

Mac OS X Server is primarily for (1) hosting a netinfo based
solution of laboratory networked macintoshes, and (2) good
for hosting shares of data that aren't accessed frequently
or require constant read/write to the shares. ( A more robust
solution would be to upgrade to an Xserve and either RAID it,
or attach an XSERVE RAID for more robust throughput to the
shared disc).

For what you are doing, you'd just as easily get away with
putting the MacPro on a fixed IP, turning on FTP access in the
Software FireWall panel, locking down the port, and
assigning the FTP traffic on Ethernet Port 2, leaving Port 1
for dedicated http traffic.

see here for single user ftp, and what to do for multiple users:
ftp usuage on a mac

as to the first part of your question, I would imagine that a Quad core would be fine to do this all on, but, IMHO, I would make sure the Mac had of course two or more drives, so that my
dv captures reside on one drive, and my shared stuff resided
on another, just in case something dl/ul got hosed, only the
FTP stuff would be down, and I could still do FCP work.
YM( and wallet)MV.

[Case]

A couple of points to consider:
• Will the FTP server be accessable during work hours, i.e. while someone is using FCP?
• How many separate FTP accounts will you be needing? (1 to 10, or several hundred?)
• How large do you think the average transfer will be? Several MB or several GB?

The main point being, that one service shouldn't (be able to) disrupt the other service. FTP doesn't need loads of CPU time like video rendering does, but if 12 users are reading and writing on the same disk at the same time, then the FCP user may notice some negative effects of that.
As for data integrity, I agree with terryj on the multiple drives for separate purposes.

Even a standard Mac OS X installation has FTP server capabilities, although maybe more limited in features that you would like.
With a 3rd party FTP Server app (like Rumpus), you can create accounts which are separate from Mac OS X accounts, thus adding security and simplicity in user administration, besides all the other advanced features that the built-in FTP server lacks and 3rd party apps may provide.