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Dual drives in the Mac Mini
- Thread starter Maury
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There really isn't a "limit". You are limited only by what is available. I have 2x 1TB Samsung 2.5" 5400RPM drives in my 2011 Mac Mini Server.
You will be fine if you need to go with a 256GB SSD and say the 1TB 2.5" from either Samsung, Western Digital, or Hitachi.
Let me know if you need any help.
You will be fine if you need to go with a 256GB SSD and say the 1TB 2.5" from either Samsung, Western Digital, or Hitachi.
Let me know if you need any help.
There are height restrictions as well. Anything over 1TB are Enterprise class 2.5" drives so they taller than "standard" 2.5" drives (i.e. they are 15mm rather than 9 or 12.5). However, You might be able to use something like a Samsung 830 that uses a super thin SSD (I believe 6mm?) and one of the Enterprise Class 15mm drives, but I'm not sure anyone has tried that yet.
Sorry to jump in but I'm getting a mini and I'm looking at dropping a 256GB SSD in, as all my movies, music, photo's etc etc are on my NAS box, would I even need a 2nd drive in the mini, I'm thinking 256GB would be enough for app development + games and a bootcamp partition.
Anyone have anything similar?
Anyone have anything similar?
No you wouldn't. You will be fine with one drive. Many just choose to make use of the 500GB drive it comes with as a local data drive since the only cost is adding a $35 cable.
Fair enough, but wouldnt there be heat issues as the server has a more powerful fan to cool 2 drives and the other minis only have one? In my exp heat is the long term killer.
Roger that, but I'm going on the assumption that the servers fan is ramped up, those 7200rpm drives get HOT!
Biggest part of the heat is from the processor and the fact that Apple continues to use way more thermal paste than they need to....see attached picture for what I found on my 2011 Server.
I removed all the factory Apple thermal paste and replaced with two BBs worth of Artic Silver...more than enough to get the thermal transfer we need. Temps dropped 5-7 C during idle and almost 15 C during encodes of BluRay...
I removed all the factory Apple thermal paste and replaced with two BBs worth of Artic Silver...more than enough to get the thermal transfer we need. Temps dropped 5-7 C during idle and almost 15 C during encodes of BluRay...
Unless someone has noticed a difference in the fans, I doubt they are different. Its cheaper to use the same fan in both.
Coincidentally, they did update the fans in the last few weeks. So some machines may be shipping with one version, and other machines with the newer version.
https://twitter.com/macminicolo/status/195219780368732161
Generally my base Mini seems fine with two drives. I've only ever heard the fans kick in when I run dual monitors AND have a lot of Flash animation running for prolonged periods of time.
Though I should mention that my main drive is a SSD and my 500gb HDD hasn't yet been used for anything major. I've just stored some videos and files on there and forgotten about it tbh...
Finally!
IBM experimented a lot with their fans in the Thinkpad laptops and developed a shape that has a lot less noise. (and patented it) I am sure the new blade shape has less noise than the old one - obviously Apple must have taken note of those who complained about the fan noise of the 2011 Mac mini. How much less noise is to be determined and the difference will be the biggest when running at higher revs.
I run an OCZ Agility III SSD in the Lower bay (OS Drive) and a WD Scorpio Blue 1TB in the Upper Bay. I run thin on 2011 Mac Mini Server. No problems with heat.
Also I run a Mac Mini i5 2011 with the two "Old Server" 7500rpm drives and don't have any heat problems either so I am not sure why some people say they are might hot?
I don't think Apple would have any restrictions on HD capacity (with respect to what is even close to being on the market). But just make sure you use both 9.5mm drives, not the thicker ones that often come in Portable USB Drives (Seagate Freeplay 1.5TB for example).
Also I run a Mac Mini i5 2011 with the two "Old Server" 7500rpm drives and don't have any heat problems either so I am not sure why some people say they are might hot?
I don't think Apple would have any restrictions on HD capacity (with respect to what is even close to being on the market). But just make sure you use both 9.5mm drives, not the thicker ones that often come in Portable USB Drives (Seagate Freeplay 1.5TB for example).