Mini Server really worth it?

[talmy]

I don't really know what does that Server App actually provide for OSx already provides many sharing features.

http://www.apple.com/osx/server/features/

The only reason I'm considering the Fusion drive is because my only Mac is now a MacBook Air 2011 and running stuff and the OS itself off its SSD drive is a whole different game!!! I just got rid of our late 2011 MacBook Pro base model because I couldn't stand the beachball. It popped up too often.

A *server* is a whole different game! You won't be booting it often (my last bootup was 35 days ago) or launching programs. And if it takes an extra 0.01 seconds before you video starts showing, because you have a HD rather than an SSD, you won't notice it. You also won't notice higher end processors or GPUs. The only thing that will matter is the drive capacity, if you don't have enough. Put your money into drives.

Note that all bets are off if you are using server as a processing farm (such as with Final Cut), a web server with many simultaneous clients, or to run large databases. But home users don't do these things.

 

[marc.garcia]

http://www.apple.com/osx/server/features/



A *server* is a whole different game! You won't be booting it often (my last bootup was 35 days ago) or launching programs. And if it takes an extra 0.01 seconds before you video starts showing, because you have a HD rather than an SSD, you won't notice it. You also won't notice higher end processors or GPUs. The only thing that will matter is the drive capacity, if you don't have enough. Put your money into drives.

Note that all bets are off if you are using server as a processing farm (such as with Final Cut), a web server with many simultaneous clients, or to run large databases. But home users don't do these things.

Thanks for your ideas, they are very interesting. I guess that for the time being I will go with the 799$ model as the server only adds a 1TB disk hardwarewise... I guess I'll be better off if I install a 3 or 4 TB disk in the remaining slot, right?

I'm still wary at external USB drives. I just don't like the idea of having an external drive powered 24x7 if the server can drive the power adapter. I feel that plain USB disks are not meant for that, are they? are there any external storage devices that anybody monitoring this thread could reference?

I would love to hear your comments on this latter aspect.

Thanks

 

[talmy]

Thanks for your ideas, they are very interesting. I guess that for the time being I will go with the 799$ model as the server only adds a 1TB disk hardwarewise... I guess I'll be better off if I install a 3 or 4 TB disk in the remaining slot, right?

It's not a PC. There is no "slot". You have to buy a kit to install a second drive and it is limited to 2.5" drives, which is 1TB maximum for now.

I'm still wary at external USB drives. I just don't like the idea of having an external drive powered 24x7 if the server can drive the power adapter. I feel that plain USB disks are not meant for that, are they? are there any external storage devices that anybody monitoring this thread could reference?

I would love to hear your comments on this latter aspect.

Thanks

My mini system has been running 32 months. It's the server which has 2 500GB internal drives, but I have 4 external drives attached. As mentioned, it runs 24/7. I had an internal drive develop some bad sectors at about 24 months and it was replaced under Applecare. Just this past week one of the external drives developed one bad sector. It was running at 90% capacity. I've replaced it with a new 3TB drive. All of the drives are in OWC Mercury Elite Pro housings. I've got six of these and never had a failure. They are aluminum so the drive will run cooler than the plastic housings. Most of them also support FW800 (my older ones only do FW400 and USB 2.0). The latest models do USB3 as well. I'd be buying them if I had a new mini server, but they run $100 each (the FW800/USB2 models aren't that much less expensive). Really, though, for the most part USB 2 is good enough. I just think that "you get what you pay for" and I don't want the drives crapping out all the time.

I had been buying Samsung drives (although the one that failed was a Seagate), but they have sold their business. My most recent drive is a WD Green. You really want the low power drives because they 1. run cooler 2. save electricity, and 3. you don't need the speed for this application.

3TB seems to be the best $/TB cost at this time. The 4TB drives carry a big premium.