Home Media Center: Mac Mini Server or Mac Mini Standard?

[dmsmith]

I've been doing this for years, starting with a single core intel mac mini. It was a little challenged with the single core, so I did a CPU upgrade to a core 2 duo (merom). It was able to keep up with the challenge. I used the dvi output along with an audio cable for the picture. IIRC, it had 2G RAM.

Currently I have the latest mac mini having a dvd drive for an htpc. IMHO, it is far more powerful than what is needed. I like that audio and video is via HDMI through my receiver to my TV.

I use a 500G portable hard drive for extra space.

I'm using an EyeTV 250+ for recording TV.

Regarding hosting your website. You don't need server. Apache is part of the vanilla OS. In my experience, pages served up with apache don't need a whole lot of horse power.

There are several steps to do it: Turn web sharing on in sharing preferences, putting your website on the machine where it is expected to be, turn on port forwarding in your router, setting up a hostname (I use dyndns to map my dynamic ip to a free hostname).

 

[pmcdunnough]

Sound comparison? Hard drive speed?

I am also trying to decide between the i5 Mini w 8gigs, 750 7200rpm drive and the Server. I have the 2010 Mini server which has been great, though I installed the client OS.

- is the server more silent than the nvidia i5 model? I don't want to hear anything ( my current server is silent). Or is the sound level basically a non-issue?

- what about the difference between the slower hard drive and 7200 drive. Is that noticeable?

Don't want to remove or add hard drives or ssd's from the Mini. Money isn't the issue. Just want a reliable fast system for Plex, XBMC and mirroring to my ATV.

Can the server OS on the 2011 Mini be replaced with the client and will it still support the quad core i7

Thanks,

Philip