Super Cheap mini!

[sverican]

Hey everyone,

I have a friend who is getting rid of his mac mini and selling it to me for just 1500 sek or about $200. It is the early 2009 2.0 with 1 gb memory and the 9400M. He is throwing in all the connectors he has as well.

I plan on using it as a file server as well as a media server. I figure I have to upgrade the memory on it, Thinking of just getting a 2 gb at first to add and see if 3 gb is enough. Then if not, picking up another 2 gb stick. Do you think 3 gb is enough? I will only be running 720p.

Also would it be smart to run snow leopard server on it? I was thinking of investing in that, I am a freelance illustrator and it might be a good idea to have it for my files as well as easy sharing for clients. As of now I just use drop box. Is running snow leopard server over kill? It has a pretty hefty price tag to just try it out.

Thanks for the help!

 

[DannySmurf]

If you are just using it as a file server, 3GB is probably overkill. And so is Snow Leopard Server. Any OS, using any amount of RAM, can act as a file server.

As for media... if all you're going to be doing is streaming from it, the network is much more important than the RAM. And SLS isn't going to do much for you as a media server beyond what client SL is capable of.

 

[sverican]

Thanks for the help!

As for media I am running it off of the external hdd attached to the mini. I need to pick up a new router, mine is an old express that is only 54mbs so 100mb line is only about 10 over wireless.

I know how to set it up as a file server over my home network but is it possible to set it up to ssh into it from anywhere without having to get SLS?

 

[cherry su]

Yes, you go to the Sharing pane in System Preferences and check Remote Login for SSH.

 

[sverican]

I have searched around and haven't found any clear info. How can I set up a usb hdd on the mini to be a network drive? That way I can do wireless TM backups.

 

[ljonesj]

i dont think u can unless its with hp's home servers windows home server os with the right plug ins

 

[talmy]

Now you need Snow Leopard Server which can do this.

 

[sverican]

I figured. Now I have to decide if wireless backups are worth the price of SLS. My guess is no. I think it is cheaper to just get an airport extreme and do it that way.

 

[apbsignal]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html

Disks that can be used with Time Machine

You can use Time Machine with a Time Capsule, and with USB and FireWire disks. The backup disk can be directly connected to your computer or be on a network. If the backup disk has been divided into partitions, you can use one of the partitions.

Time Machine can’t back up to an external disk connected to an AirPort Extreme, or to an iPod, iDisk, or disk formatted for Windows. (You can use the Backup utility to copy specified files to your iDisk. For more information, see the MobileMe website.)

If your backup disk is on a network, the network server must use Apple File Protocol (AFP) file sharing, and both your computer, and the networked backup disk, should have Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later.

The most common format for a Time Machine backup disk is Mac OS Extended format, but Time Machine also supports Mac OS Extended (Case sensitive, Journaled) and XSan formats.

If the disk is partitioned using the Master Boot Record (MBR) partition type, some partitions may not be available for use with Time Machine. The GUID Partition Table (GPT) or Apple Partition Map (APM) partition types are recommended.