[X-Servers] Mac mini server?

[Anita Holmgren]

At 1:11 PM -0600 12/4/09, Joe Sporleder wrote:
>Any thoughts on the new Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server? I was 
>always lead to believe by my local Apple dealer and mailing lists 
>such as this one, that one needed a tower like a MacPro, or an 
>Xserve for file i/o reliability because the mini's notebook sized 
>hard drives couldn't stand up to the vigorous pounding that a 
>server's hard drives would face. However, I'm also aware that there 
>are server co-location providers that specialize in finding homes 
>for mini servers, long before Apple came up with the pre-configured 
>version of a Mac mini server.

Hi Joe.

Our company, Tenon, has been making web server software for Mac 
(iTools) for many years.  Our customers have been using Mac minis as 
web servers, ftp servers, dns server on Mac OS  X client software 
since the inception of the Mac mini and specialized Mac mini ISPs use 
iTools for their customers.

Now Apple has decided to use the built-in power of the Mac mini for 
servers as well.

>We are a small print publishing company, and I'm seriously 
>considering the Mac mini server when I decide to move to Snow 
>Leopard server in the near future. We average about 8 workstations 
>that store files on the server via AFP, and we average about 2 dozen 
>users that depend on the server for POP3 email access. Before the 
>Mac mini server config, my other consideration was getting a MacPro 
>tower, which now I'm wondering is overkill (our current server is a 
>G5 tower that was retired from workstation duty and outfitted with 
>some bigger hard drives). Shoot, for extra redundancy, I could buy 2 
>Mac minis with Snow Leopard Server and still be well under the cost 
>of one MacPro with Snow Leopard Server.

It sounds like you don't need the Mac mini for the services that we 
support (web, ftp, dns), but instead for the built in Mac OS X Server 
capabilities.  I think you can feel confident using Mac minis as 
servers for your print shop.  And Snow Leopard Server is amazingly 
fast!

Best regards,
Anita
http://www.tenon.com/products/itools
http://www.tenon.com/products/post_office


>
>Joe
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-- 
Tenon Intersystems                                       805-963-6983
232 Anacapa Street, #2A                               anita at tenon.com
Santa Barbara, CA 93101                          http://www.tenon.com