Home Office Server setup question: re RAID or not on Mac Mini Server

I recently purchased a Mac Mini with OS X Server (10.6) for my home office. I also have an AEB.
Is there any point in configuring the 2 500G disks as a RAID 1 setup? Given Time Machine backup and an inability to easily open it up and replace in case of a single drive failure, I don't see the point. But maybe I'm missing something.
Rather, I think the best setup is to use the main drive for the OS and services data, and drive 2 for user home directories.
Anyone have a recommendation for using the 2 drives?

for the two mini servers i've configured so far for clients, the internal drives are used just as a raid1 boot volume with data and backups stored on different external drives.
i chose to mirror the drives to add some redundancy. realistically, i'm not onsite with these clients all the time, and i'd prefer they can continue operating if one drive fails. replacing an internal drive isn't as easy as on other models, but it's a manageable process.

Similar Messages

Home/Office network setup (Mini Lan Network) if possible?

Hi,
To all the people that know what the best way to set up a home to office network such as the diagram below, please help us out with the following questions:
I hope that someone can understand the diagram. Anyways,
We currently have both setups, but there is no network communication either through Home nor Office where a PC will talk to a Mac or vic versa, nor through connecting through the internet where our office machines will talk to the home machines and vices versa. This is where my requirements for such a setup is needed.
Our Office uses the iMac for general Administration/Accounting work, whilst the PC is used for Engineering Draft work and others. The home machines; the PC again is used for Engineering work and others whilst the Mac is a general Purpose machine used by most members of the house hold.
Basically speaking, we would like to somehow link all peripherals and machines in such a way that:
- The home machines can talk to each other and their respective connected devices as well as the Office machines and their respective devices.
- The Office machines can talk to each other and their respective connected devices as well as the Home machines and their respective devices.
Currently the setup is as follows:
Home: PC : Has one main user for doing Engineering work and General other purpose activities.
MAC : Has multiple Accounts for doing general work
Office: PC : Has one main user for doing Engineering work and General other purpose activities.
MAC : Has 3 accounts; One for main Admin user and the other two only to access MYOB accounting and shared folders.
If I can get a point listing of how to achieve all this, I would be very grateful. Also, due to software licensing imposed by S/W companies what would be the best way to reduce the number of software bought for each computer only to be run from one main machine... similar to how program linking worked in Mac OS 9.2.2. I would like to do this through Virtaul PC running off the iMac and say running Microsoft Office from the P3. I currently have MS remote Desktop connection but this logs out the user that would otherwise been logged on when I hook up to the PC, is there another way?
I hope to get lots of feed back for this one guys.
Thanks
Tibs
<pre>
Home/Office Network Diagram:
PC (P4/2GHz Win 2000 Professional) Mac ( Dual Boot Dual 1.25GHz G4/ Tiger 10.4.9)
- Microsoft Office - General Software
- Engineering Software
| |
| |
| |
---------------------- SWITCH (100MBps) -------------------------
|
|
|
ADSL/CABLE Modem
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- HOME
|
INTERNET
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- OFFICE
|
ADSL/CABLE Modem
|
|
|
---------------------- SWITCH (100MBps) -------------------------
| |
| |
| |
PC (P3 800MHz/ Win 2000 Professional) iMac ( 1GHz G4/ Tiger 10.4.9)----------------------------- USB HUB ----------------------
- Engineering Software - MYOB Account Edge Version 6 | | |
- Microsoft Office - Virtual PC 6.1.1 | | |
| - Apple Works 6.2.4 | | |
| Epson Scanner Lexmark BW Laser Brother Fax
| |
|
---------------------------------- |--- FW 400 Ext. HD 80GB
| |
| |
HP A0 EPSON COLOUR
(NETWORK PLOTTER/PRINTER) (NETWORK LASER PRINTER)
</pre>
PPC MDD Dual Boot/Dual 1.25GHz Mac OS 9.2.x 2 x 23" Apple HD Display, 2GB RAM, 2x150GB + 1x1TB HD
PPC MDD Dual Boot/Dual 1.25GHz Mac OS 9.2.x 2 x 23" Apple HD Display, 2GB RAM, 2x150GB + 1x1TB HD

You should study VNC.
You will need to configure the router at work, to accept and forward VNC connections. (open port 5900, forward to computer#1's IP address. open port 5901, forward to computer#2's IP address...see below)
You will need to set up work computers to be running as VNC servers.
Work computers should also be configured to have static IP inside the LAN. Your router will need a fixed IP address to forward VNC traffic into.
standard listening port for VNC is 5900 (i think), and each VNC server can be set to listen on different port. (5900,5901,etc)
You will need to configure home computers to be VNC client.
On home computer, in order to connect to work computer #1, run VNC client to connect to Work Public IP address (WAN router address) on port 5905(or whatever standard VNC port is). Work router will forward that hit on VNC port, into work computer#1.
More FAQ here:
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=vnc+faq&btnG=Search

Home Office Server setup question: re Time Machine

I recently purchased a Mac Mini with OS X Server (10.6) for my home office. I also have an AEB.
I'm pondering two options for backing up via Time Machine
10.6 Server Managed Time Machine vs. AEB AirDisks
Option 1: Use AEB AirDisks and have all machines - including the server - backup to the time machine.
Option 2: Use Snow Leopard as the backup server. Connect the external drives to the Server and manage all backups there.
I'm thinking Option 2 because it coordinates with the Managed Workgroup and isn't using AirDisk access. But I'm not sure why I need to send all of the data through the server and impact its overall performance. Either way the traffic goes through the AEB so that's a moot point. And then again maybe the backup isn't a big deal for the server either.
Looking for recommendations.
FYI, my backup is a simple RAID 1 config.

I don;t believe TM will give you a complete backup of your server, as there are some files that change frequently, and some items that TM does not copy.
If you're looking for an automated solution, consider SuperDuper, CCC, or even an online service like Carbonite. There are other backup solutions as well if you google around but they may be overkill (and expensive) for your needs.

Home Office Server setup questions: re: firewall

I recently purchased a Mac Mini with OS X Server (10.6) for my home office. I also have an AEB.
I'm pondering two options for managing network traffic. I want to enable VPN for any access to the Mail, iCal, etc. I also will have a public website and public email.
10.6 Server Firewall vs. AEB
Option 1: Use AEB to prevent all incoming traffic and use port mapping (and probably automatic control via Server) to allow only those ports I want external access to (likely just Web, SMTP mail and VPN).
Option 2: Use Snow Leopard as a "default host" and allow AEB to forward all traffic and then use the Server firewall to manage incoming traffic
I think I should do option 1. But I'd like to know what other folks think.

for the two mini servers i've configured so far for clients, the internal drives are used just as a raid1 boot volume with data and backups stored on different external drives.
i chose to mirror the drives to add some redundancy. realistically, i'm not onsite with these clients all the time, and i'd prefer they can continue operating if one drive fails. replacing an internal drive isn't as easy as on other models, but it's a manageable process.

Home Office Network Setup

Sorry in advance. Just spent the better part of the weekend trying to find related post/replies...and just got woefully confused.
I do architectural graphics and work primarily on a mac for PShop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Sketchup. I also use a PC to work in AutoCAD. Trying to update my OSes (major backup needed, hence the external drive)AND streamline my workflow.
Currently, I use sneakernet/flashdrive to share graphics files between the two platforms. This is getting old. Was told I could share an external hard drive between the two. Bought one without researching HOW-TO first. My bad. Before integrating the hard drive, would like to create a home-office network. (hard drive not connected yet)
Here's what I have:
imac G4 17-inch, OS X 10.4.11, NO airport extreme card installed
Dell Latitude D610 notebook, Windows XP, sp1 (I know, updating after success here)
My Book External Hard Drive (non-portable, TO BE usb-connected to imac)
ABS Snow
A few pre-bluetooth printers
*Current set up*, archaic, but works fine:
Cable modem> ethernet> ABS (WAN port)
ABS (LAN port)>ethernet> imac g4
Windows wireless to ABS
Printer > usb > imac
What I want to do:
1) Print wirelessly from pc.
2) Access my mac-stored graphic files from pc.
3) Share external drive with mac and pc without having to do the sneaker-flash drive dance. I intend on connecting directly from mac via usb.
4) Read/write SHARED files to/from said external drive with either mac or pc.
5) Use external drive for backups, mac and pc.
6) Share iTunes library between pc and mac.
Money's my biggest limitation, or I'd just go buy a newer extreme w/ usb ports, etc. After trying to piecemeal the 5000 related posts I've read, I officially have no idea where to start.
I THINK I understand how to share files/folders between the two (http://www.ifelix.net/tech/3020.html) With my current setup, can I simply use file sharing in a similar way to connect PC to external hard drive? printer?
I THINK I will be moving my mac documents/graphic files/music to the external hard drive. I THINK I will chose the moved folders on this _external hard drive_ that I want to pc-share. I THINK the mac-pc compatible external drive will allow equal read/write access. I THINK it's going to be THIS easy.
BUT...does the Snow have the capacity to support my intended network (internet, external drive, printer)? Or will the mac need an airport extreme card to make this work?
Also, any thoughts on partitioning the external drive? I've read some posts elsewhere with that recommendation. It seems like a potential headache since I'll be sharing things like music and graphic files.
I have some serious backing up and general hd cleanup to do but am petrified to lose everything in my attempt to share this external disk. Help! Mega-many thank you's if you made it this far in the post!

Does the mac need to be wireless in order to utilize file sharing or 'Connect to Server' commands?
No. You can do both via an Ethernet connection. A matter of fact, file sharing will be demonstrably faster with Ethernet as compared to wireless.
Do I need programs like DAVE and/or SAMBA to make all this wireless talk happen?
Neither. These have nothing to do with wireless connectivity. When sharing files between Macs, you will utilize AFP which is built-in OS X. Sharing with Windows/Linux clients will require SMB. This too is available from OS X.
It sounds like, by your post, that the pc will only network with peripherals directly connected to the router (snow) and NOT to peripherals connected to the mac, which is wired to the snow. Is that correct?
Sorry, if I mislead you. That is not true. A PC can access either devices connected wired/wirelessly to the Snow or to devices connected to a Mac that is sharing them.
Let me know if the AFP link I provided doesn't answer all your questions. You may also find the following iFelix link handy: Sharing files between a Windows XP PC and a Mac running OS 10.4.x

Why does exchange server work for MSN Mail on iPad and not on Mac Mini?

My MSN Mail works great on my iPad and iPhone but will not work on my Mac Mini? I input the same server address but it will not connect. I've even tried m.hotmail.com, etc. but not joy.
Any ideas please?

At the moment the only way to do this between a Mac and iPad with Outlook/Hotmail would be if you used webmail on the Mac. Anything you do in webmail would be shown on the iPad and vice versa.
It used to be possible with the free GMail to use IMAP on the Mac and ActiveSync on the iPhone/iPad which would have been the sort of solution you are looking for. Now with the free GMail you have to use IMAP on the iPhone/iPad as well (ActiveSync is no longer available in the free GMail). IMAP would sync the changes still.
Unfortunately as IMAP is not available for Outlook.com/Hotmail you cannot do the samething as a workaround.
You could get a free GMail account and have it collect all your Hotmail messages, then you could use IMAP on both.

I am trying to play my digital music off a hard drive onto my home stereo. I would like to know if the mac mini can just hook to my processor and play music through the processor(preamp) on my home stereo speakers?

I currently have a nice home stereo component system. I also have a 500 GB external hard drive loaded with music. I am looking for a way to play the music off this Hard Drive onto my home stereo system. I currently have a WD home entertainment box that I can play movies that I download off the Internet on my TV, of course piped through my home stereo for the sound. I would like to know if the mac-mini could be used in this form also. Just have the HD hooked to it, the TV would become my monitor and the mac mini would play the music ... RANDOMLY ... with the use of iTunes. This of course would be hooked up to the home system with an hdmi cable and the HD hooked up through a USB connection.
Just would like to know if this could work?

Yes. Is the short answer.
You can directly connect the speaker out port of the Mac mini to an input on the AV Receiver which then feeds your speakers. This would be an audio only solution. If you use a TOS-Link connection this will be a pure digital connection ensuring the best quality (important for audiophiles).
You can if you wish connect the video from the Mac mini to the AV Receiver, and if you have a Mac mini with HDMI or a Mini Displayport you can run the audio and video via a single cable. (Older models would use two cables, the aforementioned TOS-Link pus a DVI to HDMI cable.)
If you do connect the video output from the Mac to the AV Receiver you can then display this on your TV, and have as one possibility iTunes displayed with perhaps one of the iTunes visualisers playing along with the music. Another possibility would be to use FrontRow on the Mac.
A different approach would be to have the Mac mini stream over a network to a device e.g. the Sonos Zoneplayer which is then connected to the AV Receiver. An AirPort Express is also able to do this.

Please help!! new home wireless music setup questions

I am building a new house, and I would like to have a system in which I can play music on itunes and wirelessly decide which speakers in the house I want to hear it on. Airtunes sounds great because I don't have to use new music playing software, but here is my issue: All of my speakers will be prewired to come into a central location. So do I have to have, like 10 airport expresses plugged in next to each other with the speaker wires coming into them at this central location? I suppose I could just have one airport express on my one stereo and control which speakers separately, but I really like the option of being able to decide in the itunes program which speakers the music plays on.
Other OS

That's not the way I would do it, that would also require 10 amplifiers .
I would build a central audio system using a DAC and connecting the airport express to the DAC for very good sound.
Then I'd splurge and go buy a Bang and Olufsen setup, they have a pretty (and) good way of dealing with multiple room multiple audio sources setups.
the system is described here:
http://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/systems/beolink.asp?section=systems&prodid=1004 &sub=bl
and check out www.bang-olufsen.com for their systems.
I must say, I don't have a B&O system myself, but I do fancy them .
B.

RAID on Mac mini Server (2011 i7)

I just purchased a new Mac mini Server today (the base configuration 2011 Quad Core i7 with 4GB RAM and 2x 500GB 7200RPM magnetic hard disks) and wanted to share what I've learned about setting up RAID on the system.
First, as you may have heard, the Mac mini Server does not include any installation/reinstallation media (I was hoping for a USB reinstall key, but it seems that the new systems don't include these or optical discs; last year's Mac mini Server included handy reinstall DVDs even though the system didn't have an optical drive). Out of the box, the new Mac mini Server has Mac OS X Lion, the iLife suite, and the Mac OS X Lion Server tools pre-installed on one of the two 500GB internal drives; the other disk is formatted as a separate, second drive.
If this is the configuration you're looking for, you're good to go right out of the box. As an aside, this shipping configuration is ideal for using the second disk as a Time Machine drive. I would argue that Time Machine would be a better use of the second volume than a RAID 1 configuration, as Time Machine provides versioned backups and you don't incur the write performance penalty RAID 1 requires every time data is saved to the disk. I would further caution that, while an internal Time Machine disk is a convenient safety measure, any critical data should be backed up outside of the system as well.
Now for those like me who were intrigued by the opportunity to mate the Quad Core i7 with a RAID 0/striped configuration for a performance boost (or if you want to use RAID 1), a RAID configuration is possible, but it there are a few caveats.
First, Apple has two recovery options for the new Macs: a small hidden recovery partition on the boot drive and their Internet Recovery system. While it's possible to boot other systems from a Lion installation DVD extracted from the App Store Lion installer, such bootable optical discs will not boot the Mac mini Server at this time (this may change if Apple modifies the App Store Lion installer). Therefore, as of right now, the recovery partition or the Internet Recovery system are the best options for installing/reinstalling on a RAID set.
Second, if you boot the system using Command+R to access the recovery partition, you can wipe the two drives and create a RAID set, but this process will remove the recovery partition and is incompatible with FileVault encryption (a warning to this effect comes up when you try to start an install/reinstalll on a RAID set, but at that point, you've likely already erased the recovery partition in Disk Utility). If the system boots after the recovery partition is deleted, the only install/reinstall option is Apple's Internet Recovery.
Third, as might be expected depending upon your internet bandwidth, the Internet Recovery system can take a while to boot the recovery tools (10-15 minutes to boot on a standard cable modem connection) and to reinstall the OS (50+ minutes on a standard cable modem connection). Internet Recovery currently reinstalls only Mac OS X Lion and the Server tools on the mini Server; there's no option to install iLife during the OS install (Apple could always change this by updating their servers, and there is a Customize button on the installer, but it is greyed out and cannot be clicked at the present).
Fourth, once the OS is reinstalled, it's possible to reinstall the iLife applications by launching the App Store from within Mac OS and selecting Purchased. The store will indicate that the system is eligible to download the iLife apps and you can do so by agreeing to upload system-identifying information to Apple and signing in with your Apple ID.
I hope all this helps. Here's a more concise step-by-step of how to set up the system with RAID:
THINGS YOU NEED
A fast Internet connection for the mini
Patience
Hold Command+R on the keyboard at start up to boot from the system's recovery partition (if the recovery partition has been deleted, the system should start from Apple's Internet Recovery system; you may need to connect to WiFi if wired ethernet isn't available)
Once you get into the recovery utility, select Disk Utility and for each of the two hard drives:
highlight the drive
select the Partition tab
select 1 Partition from the Partition Layout pulldown menu
select Free Space from the Format pulldown menu
click Apply
After you've wiped both of the drives, highlight one of the disks and click the RAID tab, then create a RAID set (striped or mirrored, as you prefer)
Quit Disk Utility and from the main recovery utility menu select Reinstall Lion (from this point on, if you have any trouble, you can restart the mini from the Internet Recovery system and return to this point, but the recovery partition will be gone as long as you keep the RAID set)
After you install and configure Mac OS X Lion Server (which can take well over an hour to download and install), you should be able to reinstall the iLife applications by launching the App Store App and selecting Purchased, then logging in with your Apple ID and agreeing to send your system info to Apple to download the iLife Applications
If you're using the mini as a production server, I highly suggest setting up some local, external recovery tool, as you don't want to have system downtime protracted by having to wait for an Internet Recovery boot/reinstall. I would also beg Apple to consider this sort of scenario and to provide more supported methods for recovering and reinstalling from local media.
Best of luck to you all.

I found the basic principle on another forum thanks to a guy called 'e-whizz' and this what I did to make RAID 1 work on a mac mini server with LION server.
You can easily configure the second drive on a mac mini server for a Mirrored RAID 1 set with Lion Server without either reinstalling or erasing your existing setup.
The initial setup process takes about 30 minutes, though the rebuilding of the mirror disk will take several hours, depending on the amount of data you have on the drive. It took around 3 hours on a new mac mini server with lion server installed, nothing else configured.
Before you start, please ensure you have a current backup of the server. Getting the following commands wrong can render you server unusable.
What you need to use is the command line version of Disk Utility, diskutil.
Before you start, clone the hard drive. You can use SuperDuper (or similar, I have used SuperDuper) with copying all files onto a USB memory stick. If Lion is freshly installed, 8Gb will do. SuperDuper will create a bootable copy on the USB.
Boot the mac mini from the external USB. To do that, reboot and hold down the option key while restarting. You will see a window, select the USB drive to boot from.
Launch the terminal and type the following command:
diskutil list
This gives you a list of all the drives and partitions your system knows about.
You need to find the Server HD partition (the first disk) and the HD2 partitions (the second disk). These are the two main ~500GB drives. You will be using the disk IDENTIFIERs when issuing the diskutil commands. For a stock standard Mac Mini Server, the commands below are correct, but if you have previously changed the volume names, or repartitioned at any stage the disk identifiers and volume names may differ.
First enable RAID mirroring on existing Server HD volume. This will create a single disk, unpaired mirror, without affecting your data.
Using this syntax:
diskutil appleRAID enable mirror disktomirror
where disktomirror is your disk identifier for Server HD
On my mac mini server, Server HD was disk0s2, so I used this command:
diskutil appleRAID enable mirror disk0s2
You now need to run diskutil list again to see the disk identifier for the new RAID volume. The new RAID volume will be listed as disk# on its own at the bottom of the list.
On my mac mini server this was disk3 (disk 2 was the USB I booted from, disk 0 the first disk and disk 1 the second disk)
Next add the disk HD2 to the Server HD raid mirror volume (on my mac, as I said before, this is disk3) as a new member.
This step will erase disk HD2 and begin an auto repair of the Server HD.
Using this syntax:
diskutil appleRAID add member newdisk raidvolume
replacing newdisk and raidvolume with your particular disk identifiers
On my server this was:
diskutil appleRAID add member disk1s2 disk3
To follow the progress of rebuilding the mirror set, type
diskutil list
It will show you the progress in % of the rebuilding under status
Once finished, reboot and your RAID 1 is up and running and you have also a working backup on your USB (coz' that's where you booted from ;-)
After reboot you can check the status of your RAID with
diskutil appleRAID list
Both drives should show ONLINE under status, interestingly, the device node for the RAID changed on my mac mini server from disk3 to disk2
That's it

Home Office Network Software Challenges - Post HP Support Assistant Update

Hi
I have an existing home office network setup on an HP Officejet 7410 with assistance from 'Dean' at the end of 2009 / early 2010.
Essentially I have a relatively new HP Compaq 6000 Pro MT Windows 7 32 bit main desktop connected by ethernet to a Netgear DG834GT router, a wirelessly connected Vista Business 32 bit laptop I use when in London and a secondary wirelessly connected family XP Pro Desktop.
All has been running smoothly until fairly recent HP Support Assistant updates for the main desktop - this has caused the HP all in one not to function and corrupted the HP Support Assistant software. I have tried uninstalling the HP 7410 software and have had to use Revo Uninstaller on a medium setting to remove some stubborn programme elements.
I am now unable to reinstall using the Full HP Software suite but have managed to get the printer part working using the basic HP driver download.
Can anyone provide assistance as to how to get back my computer and printer functionality ?
I did try contacting HP support but as it is an old printer they will not provide support (without considerable charge) despite being related to their own HP update software on my somewhat newer (but again out of warranty) Win 7 main desktop.
If I can not solve this problem by uninstalling and reinstalling the software I will be forced to consider a new printer (for which I will get support) but currently the most likely candidate is going to be a move to Epson which would be a shame after over 15 years of sticking with HP.
I look forward to hearing of any possible solutions but please let me know if you need any further info from my end.

Sorry to hear you also have a similar issue. I tried every thing I knew but unfortunately due to the lack of support I gave up ,and ended up purchasing a new printer from a competitor after 15 years of using HP printers. It was a great shame as HP had always been the leading choice for me as a small business.

Multiple iPads, need to be able to Push apps from home office

We have sent iPads out to all of our external sales reps and regional sales directors (about 17 total). Each one has a different Apple ID because we forward our exchange e-mail to their Apple ID's,and we do not give out the password to their Apple ID's so they can't download whatever they want onto the iPad. Some iPads were not sent out with the necessary apps to do business, and we would like to be able to push Apps from one computer to every iPad (this may become necessary in the future for all of them if we want to have them have new apps and not have 17 different iPads mailed back to the home office). I saw the help page of sharing multiple iPads with one computer (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495), but does this also work with Apps and not just music?
At the home office all computers have XP and we have no Macs. Are we even able to push if we have XP?
Thanks for any help, even if this isn't possible.

Unfortunately alot of the apps we need are free, so this could work if we get Paid apps but the main app right now doesn't seem like it would work with this (Salesforce for iPad). Thanks though!
I'm trying to find the right people here to find out what security measures we have in place to prevent the logging out part, but another thing I thought of could be to create another apple id for the iPads just for the store. I know my personal phone has two apple id's because my original one (connected to the store) is so old that it can't be used for Find My Friends, but I don't know if we could have another apple id on the ipads (the one for the e-mail would be different for each one, the one for the store would be one I or someone else at the home office manages just for iPad apps). Hope that made sense.
It does turn out that we have one Mac and one computer with Windows 7 (Mac is a development computer that doesn't have much memory left and Windows 7 computer doesn't have a monitor yet plus it is also for testing), so I'm going to ask my boss if I can get a dedicated Mac for this or a new operating system. I also need to ask for an iPad so I can see what the users see, but thats another story.

Small fast network with Mac mini server and Promise Pegasus?

I have 7 Mac Pros and iMacs that need to be connected to the same storage. I'm doing non MPI-based numerical modeling so the transfer rates have to be fast but not infiniband fast. I'm considering a setup with a Promise Pegasus thunderbolt RAID connected to a Mac Mini running Lion server for Access controll/Roaming homer directories. The Mac Pros and iMacs would the be connected via 1Gb ethernet.
My question is where the bottlenecks in this setup would be. The server software/hardware? The network? What else am I forgetting

I assume you're looking at Mac mini because you've already run the numbers on Mac Pro and ruled it out. I wonder how many buyers are opting for Mac mini solely for those Promise Thunderbolt arrays.
I also assume that each of your users is currently using a single gigabit Ethernet port to connect to the LAN.
If these assumptions are accurate, then I think that a Mac mini will work as long as you and your users have appropriate expectations. The win from putting this server in place won't be networked storage that outperforms an internal SATA drive, although in bursts it probably can. The solution you've described is smart because it's centralized, securable and adds a layer of data protection (RAID).
You asked about bottlenecks. I can think of three, two of which you can work around now or in the near future. The first is Mac mini's slow internal hard drive(s). You'll have a solution in hand: Boot Mac mini from the array. Some consider that to be a controversial choice, but you shouldn't spend extra for the Mac mini server with dual 7200 RPM drives. The less costly Core i7 configure-to-order upgrade will give you a bigger boost.
Booting from the array also protects you from the most likely "repair" scenario for Mac mini: Swapping out your entire machine.
The second issue is Mac mini's lack of an expansion bus. If you get more users or start using apps that demand more from the LAN, you might want to fire up additional gigabit Ethernet ports. Mac mini has just one. At present, the only way to add a gigabit port is with a Thunderbolt PCIe bus expander. Early next year, there should be more options that connect directly or via an intermediate bus like ExpressCard/34 or USB 3.0.
The one limitation you're powerless to work around is RAM. Mac mini tops out at 8 GB. That meets requirements, but it will be tight if you try to use Mac mini as a client and a server. I deploy them headless so no one's tempted to use the console.
You can improve your odds that gigabit will cut it by using heavy, short Cat6 cables and a switch dedicated to the Mac LAN. Use Mac mini's built-in Wi-Fi to keep Remote Desktop and other low-priority traffic off the wire.
Whatever solution you choose, I wish you the best of luck.

Question about Mac mini

I have a powerbook, but I want to get a Mac Mini for the windows use instead of upgrading and buying a new desktop (by Windows ie Dell). The question is can I have a mac mini and use my powerbook screen for the monitor?
Thanks.

Hello,
Not directly. The PowerBook cannot act as a monitor for the other computer.
And, the devices to connect the other computer to the PowerBook's USB or FireWire port (to pipe video in that way) would introduce such a lag that you would find games unplayable (and even controlling your mouse would be very difficult).
You could try a remote control program such as:
http://www.netopia.com/software/products/tb2/mac/index.html
You would then sit at the PowerBook, and remotely control the Mac Mini through a home network. Everything would appear on your screen as if you were sitting in-front of the Mac Mini.
Now, the program mentioned would only work for Mac OS to Mac OS remote control. But, there are Mac to Windows remote control options out there as well. But, they are a little trickier to set-up. But, one solution uses VNC networking and programs (of which there is a version for just about every platform / operating system).
But, the trick there is that you need to be able to see what you're doing on the Mac Mini computer long enough to setup the remote control program.
I'd suggest just finding another monitor for the other computer. They can be had for free and often only $5 if you buy them used. But, check around.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.

Mac Mini as mail server

Okay, Im a mac noob. But as the IT Guy for a small company I have been tasked with moving our email from a hosted email provider to inhouse.
We have about 85 email accounts.
My question is Looking at the new mac mini with lion it seems to have enough horsepower to handle the load
but disk space is an issue. My users are Medical equipment imaging techs and email HUGE dicom images back and forth all of the time.
The internal storage on the mini is max'd @ 1 tb and thats not enough.
I saw the Promise Pegasus RAID with thunderbolt as an addon. Is the performance of this device
good enough to put the user incoming mail on?

It should be fine... the new Mac mini Server with quad-core i7 has plenty of power....However, I would wait for lion server issues to be worked out. I currently upgraded my Macmini Sever to Lion Server to test out before upgrading my clients servers. There are bugs even when doing a fresh install. Hopefully Apple will be able to fix them on the upcoming months.

Cannot select 5.1 surround in Midi Setup on 2010 Mac Mini

Hi all,
I have tried searching around the net to answer this question but nothing seems like a concrete answer.
2010 Mac Mini connected via HDMI to...
Sony 55NX720 3D TV which is connected VIA HDMI (return audio) and Toslink Digital Audio to...
Sony Home Theater DAV-DZ840K which outputs in 5.1
However, when using Audio Midi Setup on OSX Lion, there is no way for me to tell the Mini to output in 5.1, the only options i get a 2channel. What is weird though, is if I use a program called Plex and tell it to output in 5.1 then it does.
So why will OSX itself not allow me to tell it to output in 5.1? I can't use plex for everything, and other programs such as Bino don't have a setting to tell it what to output.
Thanks

Hello,
Don't know if you have found the solution already but I decided to post a solution that helped me.
I am not using Mac Mini but a MacBook Pro mid 2010 model. Anyway, I found the solution from this thread which is from people having the same problem with Lion. I used on my Mountain Lion and it fixed the problem for me.
So, in short:
1. Go to the Audio MIDI Setup from Utilities
2. Select the device you want to use
3. Change the Formet from "2ch-16bit Integer" to "6ch-16bit Integer"
4. Now you should be able to change from stereo to 5.1
In the other thread there were different choises in the Format section, but those were the ones that I had. Anyway changing this Format settings fixed the problem for me since I can now see and select the 5.1 option as well.
Hope that helps

Home Office Server setup question: re RAID or not on Mac Mini Server

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