attention web admins: mac mini server edition

[haven]

Of interest to web administrators is a new server version of the Mac Mini. Apple removes the optical drive from the Mac Mini, and replaces it with a second 500 GB drive. The server also has a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, and a Firewire 800 port for adding additional disc storage. Read about it here:
http://www.apple.com/macmini/server/

The price of the Mac Mini Server is $999. This sounds like a lot until you consider that it includes an unlimited copy of Mac OS X Server software, which would cost $499 if you were building your own server. OS X Server provides Web hosting, File and Print services, Mail services, Podcast support, Application services, Media streaming, directory services, and simplified admin applications. See the full list of services here:
http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/specs.html

It's true that you could start with the $699 basic Mac Mini, upgrade it with bigger hard drives, and then add free unix software to provide the server functions. But Apple's server package will be cheaper, better integrated, and supported by a warranty.

Chip Haven

 

[redbeard]

Web Admins? More than that. I was thinking it would work nicely in the car... Storage, raid, server, wireless. Then All you need is a touch screen usb monitor and a usb gps attached. Heck with wireless, I'm guessing you could get it running a gps site and just connect to the web site it hosts with your mobile internet device.

 

[slomatt]

There are a couple of companies offering hosting on the Mac Minis, the racks look quite different than a standard farm of 1U servers.

http://www.macminicolo.net/facility.html

- Matt

 

[bmonday]

I still don't understand the premium people pay for Apple products.

You can get the same exact capability in a Windows Home server, such as the HP MediaSmart server, which has a street price of under 500 bucks and has room for 4 drives.

 

[DaJudge]

I still don't understand the premium people pay for Apple products.

You can get the same exact capability in a Windows Home server, such as the HP MediaSmart server, which has a street price of under 500 bucks and has room for 4 drives.

There is no premium for Mac products. You have to compare machines with the same specs. Yes you can buy a cheap PC but it will be far below the Mac in hardware specs. The HP Media Server is a good deal but it is ten times the size, comes with less ram and it comes with Home Server wich is a complete peace of garbage. Try to buy a PC with equal hardware and then add on Windows Server Enterprise 2008 and see how much that costs.

The only way to match the Hardware you get in a Mac for less than the price of a Mac is to build your own. (And even this is very hard)

I am not a MAC person but I do have both types and my MAC Pro blows away my Dell Precision Workstation and it actually cost less. The Mac came with Server and the Dell came with WinXP64.

 

[RETROFIT]

Web Admins? More than that. I was thinking it would work nicely in the car... Storage, raid, server, wireless. Then All you need is a touch screen usb monitor and a usb gps attached. Heck with wireless, I'm guessing you could get it running a gps site and just connect to the web site it hosts with your mobile internet device.

All you need is one of those : http://www.mimomonitors.com/products/imo-pivot-touch

And one of these : http://www.usglobalsat.com/p-62-bu-353-w.aspx

With http://www.macgpspro.com/

And your good to go ...

Pat

 

[nwoods]

Question: I am considering a MacMini Server for home, and have signed up for the fully functional trailware version of the Snow Leopard Server software. However, I do not have a Mac Desktop, I have a MacBook Pro (a fairly new one). Can I partition the drive on the MBP and run the Server software on the MPB partition?

What program or app do you use to partition a Mac machine?

 

[Root Moose]

I've been eyeing the server edition of the Mac Mini... I have an "old" Dual G5 PPC that does chores around the house now (email, web, home directories, iTunes server back-end for the various AppleTVs scattered around the house and workshop).

It's really just overcoming inertia for conversion at this point. I've got about a TB of stuff on the server's internal drives (home dirs) and about 4 TBs externally via NAS and USB (dev and AV)... I'm not relishing the thought of getting it setup on a new host but given that PPC is end of life'd it needs to be done... and it will be nice to use the server edition of Mac OS X to do this stuff (using normal desktop OS X now).

I wish the server ed. came with internal TB drives...

:coffeedrink:

 

[Root Moose]

What program or app do you use to partition a Mac machine?

From the GUI, use Disk Utility. It lives in /Applications/Utilities.

 

[nwoods]

From the GUI, use Disk Utility. It lives in /Applications/Utilities.

Sweet! Built right in, I love that.

FYI, I think the Snow Leapord Server requires the Intel processor. Here are the tech specs: http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/specs.html

Here is a good article I found, sort of picking apart Mac Server compared to Windows Small Business Server. It's three pages, so be sure to click the little tiny link in the lower left of each page: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/24/inside_apples_new_mac_mini_server.html

 

[Root Moose]

Sweet! Built right in, I love that.

You'll find that with pretty much everything at the utility level you want to do with Mac OS X... for the most part all the tools are shipped with the operating system - you don't need add-ons.

FYI, I think the Snow Leapord Server requires the Intel processor. Here are the tech specs: http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/specs.html

Here is a good article I found, sort of picking apart Mac Server compared to Windows Small Business Server. It's three pages, so be sure to click the little tiny link in the lower left of each page: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/24/inside_apples_new_mac_mini_server.html

Yep, Snow Leopard is Intel only.

I'm not terribly interested in running Windows server myself. I'd go back to running Linux before I did that... and to get me to go back to running Linux at home would be pretty much impossible. I have better things to do with my time beside fricken' around with computers. I do enough of that at work.