Mac Mini to replace a NAS

[SpinalTap]

So can I, with music ripped from C.D.s etc. I can't however play material linked to iTunes through iTunes purchases. I can put all my iTunes Media on my NAS and play iTunes media purchased from iTunes by leaving the iTunes library on my computer. However, as you will note there is still the link to the computer.

Now if you have found a way to circumvent that process then you must share it with us as I'm sure most iTunes users on the planet will celebrate your success.

Personally, I would never 'buy' (low quality) music from iTunes. Ultimately, the music isn't really yours to do with as you please. For example, it's a matter of public record that Bruce Willis has complained that with all the music that he's purchased from iTunes, it isn't legally possible to bequeathe his purchases to his son on Willis' eventual demise.

 

[Lankyman]

Personally, I would never 'buy' (low quality) music from iTunes. Ultimately, the music isn't really yours to do with as you please. For example, it's a matter of public record that Bruce Willis has complained that with all the music that he's purchased from iTunes, it isn't legally possible to bequeathe his purchases to his son on Willis' eventual demise.

So when you dismissed my post regarding ITunes server and needing to access a computer you were being somewhat economic with the facts. You're doing what I indicated in my subsequent post.

In fact if we are talking about non Apple purchases then you don't even need an ITunes server to do this. Simply put your media on the NAS and most DLNA kit should be able to access it.

 

[throAU]

There's a big difference between arguing price and arguing features. You simply stated there was no way to run 4 drive RAID on a mini, no mention of cost. My rebuttal is to simply counter that not only is there a way but it's very capable. As far as price goes, that's in the eye of the beholder. My mini with a 4 drive Thunderbolt RAID system was very affordable, and in fact is a power house of a small office/home server system. I've operated several NAS in the past and none could hold a candle to the flexibility and speed I have in my mini server/Thunderbolt setup.

You missed the key word in my original post.

IN a mac mini.

And if you're going to argue on features...

My 4 drive HP micro server NAS can saturate gig-ethernet, has ECC ram (to catch data corruption in flight), ZFS providing checksums and full self-healing against data corruption, proactive disk scrubbing, compression, etc. It does VMware compatible snapshots, iSCSI, NFS (in addition to appletalk and CIFS), replication, jails for running other services, etc.

The chassis was half the cost of a base model mac mini... and zero cost for a thunderbolt chassis to put the drives in... can install ten gig ethernet in it if desired, SSD cache if desired, lights out management card if desired, etc...

I'm guessing the only NAS boxes you've run in the past are consumer grade stuff, not enterprise storage arrays?

 

[marzer]

You missed the key word in my original post.

IN a mac mini.

And if you're going to argue on features...

My 4 drive HP micro server NAS can saturate gig-ethernet, has ECC ram (to catch data corruption in flight), ZFS providing checksums and full self-healing against data corruption, proactive disk scrubbing, compression, etc. It does VMware compatible snapshots, iSCSI, NFS (in addition to appletalk and CIFS), replication, jails for running other services, etc.

The chassis was half the cost of a base model mac mini... and zero cost for a thunderbolt chassis to put the drives in... can install ten gig ethernet in it if desired, SSD cache if desired, lights out management card if desired, etc...

I'm guessing the only NAS boxes you've run in the past are consumer grade stuff, not enterprise storage arrays?

Nope, didn't miss it at all, just noting its irrelevant. There's no reason for someone to discount using a mini as a home server solution because the mass storage is external. And I'm guessing you have never worked in enterprise IT, we would never use cheap NAS boxes as an enterprise storage solution. HPs own web page refers to them as a small business solution.

 

[throAU]

Nope, didn't miss it at all, just noting its irrelevant. There's no reason for someone to discount using a mini as a home server solution because the mass storage is external. And I'm guessing you have never worked in enterprise IT, we would never use cheap NAS boxes as an enterprise storage solution. HPs own web page refers to them as a small business solution.

Wrong. I am an enterprise network admin, and have been for 20 years this year.

And no i don't use those boxes in our datacenter (we're a NetApp shop at the moment). But for a home user they can provide enterprise grade data security (ZFS) for fairly little money. A mac mini isn't an enterprise device either, not sure what you're getting at with that point.


edit:
One other thing I'll add.

As much as I love apple gear... sorry, but HFS is just crap. I would not trust anything i really, really want to keep to it. Sure, you'll probably be fine for most stuff, but HFS remains the only filesystem I've ever had go into an un-repairable state (format required) on hardware that was not broken., going all the way back to the Amiga.

 

[Lankyman]

One thing I do remember about buying my Mini was the resistance from Apple store employees at the time - this happened in two of their stores.

(Me) - I would like to buy a Mini
(store employee) - can I advise sir that his money would be better spent on an iMac. By the time sir has purchased a keyboard, mouse and monitor an iMac will be cheaper.
(Me) - perhaps so, however I would like to buy the Mini.
(store employee) - will sir just wait while I speak to my manager?
(store employee) - sir I have spoken to my manager and he is going to come and discuss this sale with you.

The above happened to me in two separate Apple Stores. Not word for word you understand but the gist was the same on each occasion. They did finally sell me the Mini when they could see I wasn't go to buy an iMac. I do however now own an iMac and no longer have my Mini, but that's a different story.

Do you think they have orders to push customers towards an iMac, are they on commission for selling the iMac or are they genuinely trying to help the customer?

One wonders how many other people they have done this to over the years who have ended up going home with the iMac instead of the Mini?