This is probably a horrible idea; putting a Mac Mini in a mini-fridge

[gnasher729]

Yeah I'm probably going to see if I can't find somewhere else to put them next year. Thanks for all the good suggestions.

And just to clarify, it's not about not having the space to put them, but they have to be somewhere where the noise isn't an issue and they don't stand out. Also the good thing about the attic is that it's probably the only room where it's okay to have a "messy" setup with an old 12" LCD display hooked up to it at all times.

At this point I'm considering building an isolated box for them, with proper cooling, and placing that outside behind the house where it's not visible (have a pretty nifty storage space underneath the porch).

One thing to remember: Your backup drives should be in a place that is safe from burglars, so the attic is a good place for them. Which means you can do backups cheaply with a cheap big USB drive connected to the Mini in the attic. (If your house burns down you probably have worse things to worry about).

 

[cstromme]

Yeah. In every single way it's a great location for the server other than the heat during summer.

- Cat-6 directly to the router
- Plenty of space
- On it's own circuit
- Easily accessible if I need to
- Hidden from view
- "Safe" location
- Very cool during winter, fall and spring

 

[js81]

That's a lot of money (not to mention important data) to stick in a non-temperature controlled space! Even a closet would be better...

Under the porch has bad idea all over it, too. I can't imagine it's completely dry (mine's not), and when the rain does come, the relative humidity (100%) would be bad on the electronics, too.

I see two options:
1) Run new ethernet cable/ethernt over power/whatever. Get that mini into a temp-controlled space.
2) Just use it wifi. A wireless N connection is enough for most people...

And ditch the monitor. You don't need it anyway; just remote into it when you need to access the mini itself. If the two drives connected are a mess, then buy a new dual-drive enclosure and reduce the clutter.

Sorry, but I assume your media and/or backups are important to you - mine are to me! If so, protect your equipment and data and get it inside.

 

[cstromme]

Yeah the monitor really isn't that big of a deal. During the last 4-5 years I've needed one perhaps once or twice.

The problem isn't so much the cables as it is finding a suitable location. Underneath the porch is completely dry, but it might become humid. Building a box it would have to be properly insulated though.

And I do use 802.11n on 5GHz for everything else, but I do a lot of up and downloading from the box, and I want to take full advantage of the 100/100 connection I have.

 

[js81]

want to take full advantage of the 100/100 connection I have.

Jsyk, I hate you. I really, really do. (Not really... ) I have a grand total of 6Mbps down, 512kbps up. Best that's offered in my podunk town.

That being said, how about under a piece of furniture? I hide one of my wired ethernet switches under my entertainment armoire (tv stand). Or on top of one? I used keep to keep said switch on top of a bookcase. And believe me, my wife is pretty hardcore with the no-visible-tech attitude too.

 

[cstromme]

Yeah I went from a crappy 12/1 connection with a lot of packet drops to a stable 100/100 fiber connection with incredibly low latency. It's sooooo great.

I would love to find a way to cool it anyway though, the Mini runs pretty damn hot when it's at 100% CPU usage, and I would love to be able to extend its life a bit.

 

[js81]

I would love to find a way to cool it anyway though, the Mini runs pretty damn hot when it's at 100% CPU usage, and I would love to be able to extend its life a bit.

Elevate it, or stand it on its side. That would be an easy way to get airflow. Otherwise, maybe a laptop cooling pad?

 

[Torrijos]

Mechanical hard drive DO NOT like to work at low temps...

Google published a paper where you can see that the best reliability is with the drives being around 35-40°C

So no need to go crazy on the cooling system, on the contrary your machine might suffer from it.

 

[Cheese&Apple]

swap the fiancee, if she "would not allow".

This sounds like the best solution to me.

Seriously...I don't know where you are but around here you would have to worry about rodents (mice, squirrels, etc.) chewing on wires and cables in an attic or under a porch.

 

[cstromme]

Yeah we don't have rodents in the attics here. And "under the porch" might be a bit misleading.

 

[mwhities]

Jsyk, I hate you. I really, really do. (Not really... ) I have a grand total of 6Mbps down, 512kbps up. Best that's offered in my podunk town.

That being said, how about under a piece of furniture? I hide one of my wired ethernet switches under my entertainment armoire (tv stand). Or on top of one? I used keep to keep said switch on top of a bookcase. And believe me, my wife is pretty hardcore with the no-visible-tech attitude too.

I just added an Airport Extreme to a clients conference room and the network jack just happens to be under a small couch in that room. I slide it under that and set it up. Running great.

 

[The-Pro]

Do it like this:

Put the mini and the HDD's somewhere in your main living space.
Buy this, or something similar: http://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Power...UTF8&qid=1352827507&sr=8-2&keywords=Powerline . They should be available at different speeds up to 500mb/s

Then route an ethernet cable from the router in your attic into one of the powerline adapters, from above, which is connected to the nearest socket.

Take the second powerline adapters, plug it into the closest socket to where you want the mini, route and ethernet cable from the adapter to the mini.

Done.

What you can do by the way if you want a location for the mini which is not "in your face" or annoying. You can build a little case for it. What I mean is get a piece of wood, lets say 18" wide, 12" deep, and 0.5" thick. Screw two 1" thick 12" long, 3" tall wood blanks on the right and left side of the board.
You will then have something like this (From the front): l____l
Screw it under your desk where its least in your way of your legs and site etc.
You can place all your wiring, HDD's and the mini inside there, it will be under your desk, completely out of the way.

I use this to hide all the cables of all the screen computers and so on.

 

[Mojo1]

If your attic is anything like mine it is the hottest part of the house in the summer... Really Hot! Fans won't do anything to cool the Mini if the ambient temperature is already high. I tried using an attic fan installed at a gable end vent but it did little but increase my electric bill every month. I got better results installing a ridge vent and reflective asphalt tiles when I replaced the roof. (The tiles have an Energy Star rating so the cost of the replacement was reduced for a net savings of around $500 thanks to federal government tax incentives.)

FWIW, the Mini case does play a part in cooling the computer. I tried placing a miniStack enclosure on top of my 2.3GHz Mini. iStat indicated that the Mini temps rose around 15 degrees fahrenheit; I moved the drive enclosure. The funny thing is that OWC advertises the miniStack as being great for stacking on top of the Mini.

 

[sno1man]

could this be a possibility

We have a customer that sounds similar to your SO.

In his case it was an Apple Time capsule that he wanted to hide. The solution we came up was using the dresser in his bedroom. The dresser had a significant amount of hollow space behind the mirror and so we mounted it there.

The one thing we did have to do is put a small layer of foam insulation between the time capsule and the dresser. Not for heat, but for vibration from the time capsule.

 

[fig]

Ethernet cable is cheap and you're already in the attic. Fish it down a wall and put the Mini in a living space. Done.

This. Stick it in a closet if noise/viewability is an issue.

 

[California]

I want easy access to my back up and machines no matter what. I'd build a false wall or false ceiling with a small door or hatch. Dry wall and 2 by 4s are cheaper than losing data or your mate. I had a handyman build me a "closet" in an unused corner recently... excellent.

 

[petece]

Put the Mini in the attic, inside a sealed plastic case closed on all sides that has no bottom, but is attached to the drywall that makes up the ceiling of the room below. Should be easy enough to build one. I'm thinking preferably above a closet of some kind. Drill out a couple fan-sized holes in the floor/ceiling within the area of the case, and fit in two small PC fans powered by the Mini's USB - arrange them so that one draws air in, and one sends air out.

Baby, you got a habitat goin' on!

Although I suppose any power outage (or it sleeping at night) could result in the air-buffer inside your case heating up, and then the Mini heating up. But I think there's an idea there you could work with.

 

[thestickman]

Run some ethernet cable to it. Set it up at a nice lil' desk. Noise? They don't make noise loud enough to hear unless you lay your head on one.

Or is that a hint of troll in the air?

Good grief! Smh.....

 

[cstromme]

Really? You think I'm trolling?

 

[CausticPuppy]

Yeah. In every single way it's a great location for the server other than the heat during summer.

A server in a non-climate-controlled environment is a very bad idea. It's not just the temperature to worry about, but also the humidity, which is a problem even in winter. Punch a hole through the ceiling in a closet and run your cat 6 down there. Then stick your server in the closet.


It'll probably work just fine in the attic though-- for a few weeks.

 

[cstromme]

A server in a non-climate-controlled environment is a very bad idea. It's not just the temperature to worry about, but also the humidity, which is a problem even in winter. Punch a hole through the ceiling in a closet and run your cat 6 down there. Then stick your server in the closet.

Yeah, I agree. Even if I could cool it during summer it would need to be enclosed. A super cooled Mini in a warm room would probably create a lot of condensation.

Putting it in a closet isn't really an option though, I don't want it in a bedroom or living room.

 

[CausticPuppy]

Putting it in a closet isn't really an option though, I don't want it in a bedroom or living room.

Well, it is an option, just not the one you want.

 

[cstromme]

Well, it is an option, just not the one you want.

Haha, true.

 

[SDub90]

I bought a wall mount for a mac mini from someone here on MR about 6 months ago and I ended up just mounting my mini on towards underneath my desk towards the back, along with 3 external drives, and an additional switch to run a network cable to my PC and laptop, and noise wasn't an issue. Maybe you should look into something like that? It has worked well for me, and it was fairly easy to access the machines when I needed to.

 

[Siggen]

I have a crazy idea!

If it has no mecanical harddrive (only SSD and or external Harddrive), and you remove the fans (or turn them off). Also no Superdrive.

You can submerge the whole computer in frying oil. It wont rust, or lead electricity. You can cool the frying oil tons of different ways.