To add to David's answer to get your other question - nothing that you do as a client would ever be reason for shutting down the BIM Server. There are reasons to shut down a BS, but not related to any of your questions.

You can be joined to as many projects as you wish on as many servers as you wish. You do not need to leave a project in order to join another, or to switch between joined projects. Further, within each project, you can potentially access a separate server for each loaded library - speaking as an academic and not practical exercise.

Karl

I see this thread was from a while ago... but the title is close enough for me...

I wonder if there could be some discussion on when it's appropriate to HOST separate BIM Servers?

Should I run 1 bim server and let the MODULES differentiate between 14 and 15?

Should I set up two completely different BimServers?

Is it possible / recommended to set up MULTIPLE BIM SERVERS on ONE MACHINE?

hi,

we have got a 'modular bim server' AC13&14 running on a mac mini which works rather well, at least for the AC14 projects. luckily the AC13 projects are legacy anyway and will be archived soon.

regarding your question though, here my 2 cents worth on determining factors for teamwork setup (btw. i was trying to get some other people to comment on a similar issue regarding hardware a while back, available here: http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=35906&highlight=😞

1. project / file size & number of users > basically & simplistically put one of the limiting factors on any server is read/write speed, i.e. a 7200RPM harddrive can only do so much;

2. hardware cost > what gives you the best bang for your buck;

also check out the following posts:
on archicad user management: http://goo.gl/Eyozv
article on archicadwiki on best AC15 TW practices: http://goo.gl/zliik

at the moment in mac environment, i reckon the following setup is the best:

mac mini server, 2.66 GHz, 8GB RAM, 2x500GB

reformat & install with normal OSX, then install bim server and the projects on the two separate drives for optimal access speed.

but really i would wait until the next gen macs come out and include thunderbolt - also note that the mac pro series is rumoured to be upgraded soon...

any other thoughts are much appreciated.

ds.