Mac Mini for Lion Server

[cdolan92]

Afternoon MRF,

I am looking to get a mac mini to run lion / lion server.app for my small business. I intend to hook it up at the office and do some remote device management of iPads that our salesmen will use, and not much else.

I have been hunting for a mac mini model that will not only accomplish this, but also be able to support whatever I might desire over the next 3 or so years. I intend to heavily use the file sharing for iPads, along with push modifications. Pretty simple stuff, but I dont want the machine i buy to crap out and be legacy in 1-2 years!

That being said, I was hunting on ebay for a good model. I dont want to link to it for fear of a mod thinking i am advertising for it, or someone snatching up the item, but here are its specs:

It is the June 2010 unibody mac mini:

Product Identifiers
Manufacturer Apple
Product Family Mac Mini
Model ID Macmini4,1
Model Number A1347
MPN MC270LL/A
UPC 0885909340422, 885909340422

Processor
Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed 2.4 GHz
Number of Cores Dual-Core

Motherboard
Bus Speed 1066 MHz

Hard Drive
Hard Drive Capacity 320 GB
Hard Drive Rotation Speed 5400 RPM
Storage Controller Type Serial ATA

Memory
Installed RAM 2 GB
RAM Technology DDR3 SDRAM
Max Supported RAM 8 GB

So - ANy thoughts or suggestions? The buyout price is just below $500. Seem like a fair deal? Or should a look to another machine to accomplish my needs? Is it worth getting an i3, i5, or i7? Or a worse version of an INtel COre 2 Duo? I'm a little lost as I dont do too much server work at the moment...

Thanks for any advice,
C

 

[blevins321]

The base Mini would do fine for your purposes. I suggest, however, getting an aftermarket RAM upgrade..2GB without an SSD is slightly painful for Lion. You can get 8GB from Newegg or Amazon for $30-40.

 

[charlieroberts]

More than enough for those needs, I can´t help but feel that it may be a tad expensive?
Depends on how good it is taken care of

 

[philipma1957]

Afternoon MRF,

I am looking to get a mac mini to run lion / lion server.app for my small business. I intend to hook it up at the office and do some remote device management of iPads that our salesmen will use, and not much else.

I have been hunting for a mac mini model that will not only accomplish this, but also be able to support whatever I might desire over the next 3 or so years. I intend to heavily use the file sharing for iPads, along with push modifications. Pretty simple stuff, but I dont want the machine i buy to crap out and be legacy in 1-2 years!

That being said, I was hunting on ebay for a good model. I dont want to link to it for fear of a mod thinking i am advertising for it, or someone snatching up the item, but here are its specs:

It is the June 2010 unibody mac mini:


So - ANy thoughts or suggestions? The buyout price is just below $500. Seem like a fair deal? Or should a look to another machine to accomplish my needs? Is it worth getting an i3, i5, or i7? Or a worse version of an INtel COre 2 Duo? I'm a little lost as I dont do too much server work at the moment...

Thanks for any advice,
C

don't buy it:


it is only good if you need a dvd player. you are looking to buy a 2010 model use without warranty for 500 .

there are sellers on ebay with 2010 models with 8gb ram and 1 year warrantys for 600 or so. those sellers have 900 plus feedback ratings of 100%


if you buy the machine you will need more then 2gb ram to run lion.

you end up not using the machines strong point it runs snow leopard.

if you want lion buy a 2011 ,

buy it from amazon and put the ram in cost is about 600> there are sellers on ebay that sell the 2011 machine tested with 1 years warranties 8gb ram for 649.

paying 500 for a used machine with no warranty that prefers snow leopard over lion. that needs a ram upgrade does not make sense. unless you really need the dvd player in the mini

 

[paulrbeers]

don't buy it:


paying 500 for a used machine with no warranty that prefers snow leopard over lion. that needs a ram upgrade does not make sense. unless you really need the dvd player in the mini

He's right. Even at $500, you are going to have to pay $30 to get a Lion license since the 2010 models came with Snow Leopard so that really makes your cost $530 right?

An entry level CURRENT Mac Mini runs between $560 and $570 at amazon, macmall, macconnection. So really only 30-40 dollars more gets you a brand new Mac Mini and a full warranty.

Don't forget that Lion Server will cost you $50 from the App Store as well and as stated you really should consider at least an upgrade to 4GB, but with RAM prices at an all time low, you might as well go 8GB (can be had at Newegg and/or Amazon for $35-40).

The base Mac Mini, with Lion Server and 8GB of RAM is what I am now running as a server (although I did add a second drive) and it works great. Probably should have just gone with the Lion Server, but I had already paid the $50 for Lion Server to upgrade my 2009 model....

 

[cdolan92]

Thanks for all the replies!

A few things: I already own Lion and Lion server through the App store, and I've researched how to redownload and install those on other devices.

I have no need for the CD drive really. I intended to buy a decent machine and use that as a server until my business had some ore revenue, installed normal lion on the device, give it to an employee, and then fork out for a decked out Lion Server Mac Mini (with the2x HDD etc)

So def don't go used on eBay for a 2010? And cheapest For a new one Is $600, and it has a warnty, then upgrade RAM for a cheapo price.

Another big concern I have is this: I want to do time machine backups for some of my Macs in the office. If I just attached a 1TB or 2 TB external to the server, could I get my computers to back up to that? I certainly don't want ot buy a time capsule, they are a ripoff...