[X-Servers] Mac mini server?

[Joe Sporleder]

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.

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.

Joe