Mac mini server as a standard computer

Hi, i have a mac mini server which i would like to set up as a standard computer. Am i able to delete the snow leopard server software and just install the standard snow leopard software. Would this allow the unit to "sleep"? I am trying to keep it as simple as i can as i am not the most experienced. It is mostly used for media multi media applications. Thanks for any advice.

Just a warning: Doing this is "illegal" in Apple's eyes. They could even void your warranty, if you take the computer in for service and you get a Genius who's not very nice and he observes the install of a different OS. (Or if you ship it in for warranty service, your chances of having the warranty voided are probably even higher).
Also, this discussion of this topic in this forum is very restricted, due to Apple's rules. I suggest you seek out other Mac Mini-specific discussion forums to get some guidance and suggestions that aren't censored.

Similar Messages

  • Mac mini server install DVD - install on a different computer

    I bought a Mac mini server (= a Mac mini with a Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server pre-installed) a while ago. I am planning to install Lion Server on the same Mac Mini and get rid of the Snow Leopard installation DVD. My question is, can the DVD that came with the Mac mini be used to install the server OS on a different computer (another Mac mini or iMac etc.)? or is it somehow tied to the original Mac mini?
    Thanks!

    Install discs included with a Mac are only able to install on the same model Mac. However historically Mac OS X Server install discs are not limited in the same way. (Remember there is no such thing as a Lion install disc.)
    The server install disc is more typically limited in being an older version of Mac OS X e.g. 10.6.3 and thus not able to boot and install on the latest model Macs. It is however possible to boot and install on an older Mac e.g. an older Mac mini but install on to an external hard disk which might even be the internal hard disk of another Mac connected via FireWire Target Disk Mode. You can then run the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Server Combo update to update it to the latest Snow Leopard Server version which will then boot successfully on all the current Macs including those that have only ever shipped with Lion.
    Since a DVD disk takes very little space I would suggest you don't throw it away.

  • How to add a computer to Mac Mini server network?

    Hello,
    Can anyone tell me how to add a Mac Air to the computers my Mac Mini server recognizes? Currently, I cannot share files between computers.
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    Hmmm, not sure which end the problem is on, if you don't get an answer here you might post over here...
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  • Adding computer to Mac Mini server network?

    Hello,
    Can anyone tell me how to add a Mac Air to the computers my Mac Mini server recognizes? Currently, I cannot share files between computers.
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    Thanks for any help!

    Hmmm, not sure which end the problem is on, if you don't get an answer here you might post over here...
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  • Using a Mac Mini Server as a traditional stand alone desktop

    Hello all, currently I have a late 2008 model 17" MacBook pro, Time Capsule, Apple TV and an Iphone 3GS and Ipod Traditional. I would like to add a desktop system to coordinate all of these items, to be the centerpiece is you will, in my home. I'm interested in buying a mac mini, I began to do research however and saw the Mac Mini Server which has greater memory capacity 4GB vs 2GB RAM, and dual 500Gb vs the standard Mac Mini which has one at 320GB. I would like to take advantage of these upgrades as I'm a writer and will be constantly on the web for work as well as likely keep a lot of items on the hard drive.
    However I noticed the Mac Mini server utilizes Mac OSX snow leopard SERVER as opposed to the user grade Mac OSX. *My question is if the Mac Mini Server with MAC OSX server can still be used as a stand alone desktop, connecting it to a spare LCD television I have and a mac wireless keyboard/mouse?*
    I'm aware that unlike the other mac mini and imacs it does not come with ilife and other pre-installed software, and *I want to know if it's still possible to purchase after market and install said software utilizing them in the traditional manor?*
    Thank you in advance for any feedback you can provide and I apologize if my question was difficult to comprehend due to my lack of computer knowledge. I also apologize if this question is similar to others you've received lately as I did a quick scan of google and these forums and did not seem to find the specific answer I was looking for.

    Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
    Let me clear up a misperception that you have. Both the Mac mini and the Mac mini Server have a capacity to address 8 GB of RAM. There are two SO-DIMM slots in each model. The mac mini comes preconfigured by Apple with 2 GB of RAM (2 x 1 GB). The mini Server comes preconfigured with 4 GB of RAM (2 x 2 GB). You can buy and install yourself up to 8 GB of RAM (2 x 4 GB).
    You can even install Mac OS X Snow Leopard client, which will meet your needs a bit better than Server, now that folks have figured out how to do it;
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2539663&tstart=0
    And yes you can buy and install iLife, and pretty much everything else that you want to include in your kit. Either model of mini works fine with wireless keyboards and mouses. If your LCD TV has an HDMI port, then a simple HDMI to HDMI cable would be the simplest manner to connect it to the mini.
    Dah•veed

  • Is the Snow Leopard Mac Mini Server the right solution for my office?

    I'm the de facto "sysadmin" for my small office, which usually just means I set up the wireless, configure network printing, troubleshoot little issues with Mail and MS Office products.
    Currently, we have 4 employees all on iMacs. We share files through a slapped-together setup, where there is a public folder on our owner's iMac and we all share files there. There are a few problems with this:
    - If the owner's computer is off, no-one can get to the shared files.
    - The owner's computer has had some strange "permissions" issues so sometimes files in the "Public" shared folder end up being read-only, or "read & write" for "nobody".
    - A 5th employee telecommutes on an iMac, and can't access the shared folder or files.
    So, we're considering getting a Mac Mini Server to do file storage and sharing, both locally and with telecommuting employees (of which there may be more in the future).
    - Is this the best solution to our needs - really just file sharing, no web hosting or anything like that?
    - What level of access control / authentication can we do on the Server? For example, could we have a password protected folder on the server to restrict access?
    - Would we need to upgrade our standard DSL service if we want to share files on the server with folks not on the local network?
    - Am I biting off more than I can chew here, given that my technical knowledge is slim but I am the most computer-literate of anyone in the office, so I will need to trouble-shoot any issues that come up with the server?

    For your stated goal, network-attached storage (NAS) or an always-on Mac client would be a simpler solution. Either preferably with RAID, and with provisions and storage for periodic archives.
    A Mac OS X Server box is overkill. The Mac client boxes have 10-client sharing.
    If you want single-signon and shared directory services and mail and web and various of the other pieces and services that are available within, then you can grow into a Mac OS X Server box.
    A server is rather more to manage, regardless of what you choose. You're getting DNS and networking and other core pieces, minimally, and you're also responsible for many of the configuration settings and services and details that a client box receives from a server box. And you're definitely dealing with protections and such across multiple boxes.
    For some other perspectives, there are various previous discussions of this posted around the forums. A search that includes NAS should kick over a few of these; this is a typical low-end alternative to running a server.

  • Help! Can't install SSD in my new Mac Mini Server (2012)

    Previously I've purcahsed Mac Mini servers and removed one of the two drives, replacing it with an OWC SSD. The hardware change was not hard to do and resulted in incredibly good computers for my employees to use which allowed us to retire several old, slow and abandoned-by-Apple Mac Pros. There were no issues with reformatting the computers after they had SSDs put in.
    Today I took delivery of a new Mac Mini server, and started to do the same thing, removing the top HDD and sliding in my SSD, since I have many of them around. Unfortunately, the OS would NOT let me format the disks separately or remove the RAID. The volumes (the original 1 TB that was inside and my 480GB SSD) were both colored red when I booted into Internet Restore mode and ran Disk Util, something I've never seen before, and all it would do was say "there was a problem with your disk, would you like to revert it to a working state?" which in this case means Disk Util forcing my drives back into a RAID whether I want them that way or not. (At one point it fused my SSD and the 1TB drive into a single logical drive that had the correct size but didn't show separate sections, and couldn't be de-RAIDED at all, even when I connected to another computer with the Mac Mini in Firewire target mode.)
    I gave up and put a 240 SSD in the lower bay, resulting in a 760GB RAID of two mismatched SSD sizes, which isn't what I wanted but I guess it will do. So far it seems to be working.
    My question is, why in the heck is Apple forcing me to run my computers as a RAID and/or not letting me break the system into one hard drive and one RAID, which is what I want? (Having the backup disk right inside the computer is very handy.)  Is this some feature to keep us from "making our own" Fusion drives? If Apple is deciding we can't hack or do anything interesting with Mac Minis, this will the last one I purchase, and I'm sure there will be others who do the same.
    Since replacing one HDD with an SDD is likely to be the most popular mode imaginable for Mac Minis, can anyone tell me if they got a similar setup to work, and if so what did you do? Can you post the steps here for others who will be in this situation?

    I'm not sure how or what is different between the Standard 2012 Mac Mini and the 2012 Server...? However it looks like your Server also uses Fusion like or similar to the regular Mac Mini's.
    "The version of Disk Utility that comes with Fusion Drive is unique. Earlier versions of Disk Utility can't be used with a Fusion Drive."
    Have a look at > Mac mini (Late 2012) and iMac (Late 2012): About Fusion Drive
    and > Special Note for Adding an SSD to a 2012 Mac mini. | Other World Computing Blog

  • Help With MAC Mini Server and New SSD

    Hey Guys,
    I just got a Mac Mini Server. I swapped out one HD for a new SSD. A Crucial One.
    I am booting in recovery mode and it only sees one HD and says it is 1.5 TB, (1 tb regular and the new SSD is 512)
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    I'm unsure of the proper procedure as I'm not experienced dealing with Fusion Drive setups. If Disk Utility shows you have a 1.5 TB drive, then what do you see when you boot the computer and check disk drive space using Get Info? I know you can revert the volume you have back to standard format if you don't mind using the Terminal in your Utilities folder:
    Open the Terminal and paste or enter the following at the prompt:
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    Press RETURN. This will list for you the device information for your HDD. Here is an example of the output:
    /dev/disk1
       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *120.0 GB   disk1
       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
       2:                  Apple_HFS Yosemite                119.2 GB   disk1s2
       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk1s3
    You want what you see at the top left - /dev/diskn, where n is the integer number. Then enter or paste at the prompt:
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    Press RETURN and enter your admin password when prompted. It will not echo to the screen, so be careful typing. Press RETURN again. Wait until it completes the process which is when the prompt returns.
    Given the potential danger when using the Terminal in this way, please be sure you have first made a reliable backup. Better safe than sorry.

  • Restore Mac mini server

    I have a mac mini server, which is blocking and I can not restore the password and not use qu DVD drive, I can do in this case?

    xnav wrote:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718
    The article you linked here describes Internet Recovery and says:
    “If you use Internet Recovery to reinstall OS X, it installs the version of OS X that originally came with your computer.”
    So that would be what I want. Unfortunately, the problem is to actually get into Internet Recovery mode, you’d have to put your Mac in a state where regular Recovery doesn’t work anymore. One article on the topic says:
    ‘You can’t unless you really need to.’ As long as you have a valid Recovery HD partition, trying to boot into Internet Recovery will instead boot your Mac into standard recovery mode.
    Which is what I experienced here. So before killing my Recovery partition and hoping that Internet Recovery will kick in, I’ll do what Joe Bailey suggested: Download the Mountain Lion installer and let the buyer of that Mac decide which OS X flavor he wants.

  • I am having keyboard problems when trying to boot up an OS (bootcamp on Mac Mini Server)

    I recently tried using bootcamp on my new Mac Mini Server.
    I uploaded a windows ISO Image perfectly the way it asked, Windows 7, I followed the correct steps, euqally divided one of the hard drives, and I was ready to actually set up the new Windows section of my computer. During this booting session, my dog came in the room with her ball and knocked the computer plug out of the socket. Now when I turn on the mac, the fan still works, the same Macintosh sound comes up, the screen turns that usual very bright gray, but it stays on that gray. After a minute or two, the screen turns black, with a blinking underline, as if it were confused to choose which operating system it has to boot.
    My problem here is that I use a wireless keyboard (not by Apple) -- and I suppose that bluetooth syncronizes with the OS and not the computer system itself -- so my keyboard commands do not get recognized in order for me to navigate into Windows 7 or OS X Mountain Lion. I tried solving this problem by purchasing a brand-new USB keyboard (since Mac Mini Servers do not have the PS/2 entrance). I guess this new USB keyboard didn't work, I imagine, either because the USB slots on the machine are not recognized by the computer's internal system, only by the Operating Sysytems (which I hope isn't true), or that the mac had never used that USB Keyboard and wasn't going to be capable of using it until it had installed the necessary drivers, but without the OS running that would become impossible.
    So my question is: Is there a way that I can connect a keyboard to the mac so I can continue installing my alternate Operating System? Is it maybe another problem all together?

    It is starting to sound more like Bootcamp failed to install properly.
    Have a look at > Boot Camp 5: Frequently asked questions
    then perhaps > Failed bootcamp instlation - Google Search

  • Mountain Lion Mac Mini Server Ethernet Port Not Working

    I have a Mac Mini Server and once I upgraded to Mountain Lion Server the Ethernet port is unresponsive. It worked before upgrading. Is there something with Mountain Lion Server that is causing the Ethernet port not to work properly?

    Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store.
    Back up all data on the internal drive(s) before you hand over your computer to anyone. If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.
    Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair
    *An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

  • Monitor Not Going To Sleep on Mac Mini Server With Lion

    Summary: I am attempting to configure a Mac Mini Server that runs OS X Lion. This machine was originally shipped with OS X Lion; it is not an upgrade. My current specific problem is that my Viewsonic VX2835wm monitor will not go to sleep when the minutes setting on the Display Sleep setting for Energy Saver has been reached. Instead, the screen goes blank for a couple of seconds and is replaced with a blank blue backlit monitor. (Ironcially, the display sleep menu cautions: "Never letting your display go to sleep may shorten its life".) I very much want and need the ability to have my monitor go to sleep so as to save energy and to extend the monitor's life for as long as possible.
    Additional Background: I have had a couple of calls with Mac support and they have been unable to tell me whether this is a "design feature" or a flaw in the Lion OS because they have had no similar reports and they do not have the latest hardare available running Lion Server to test to see if this happens with other monitors. (They also, of course, don't have the VX2835wm monitor.)
    I do, however, know the following:
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    (2) The Lion operating system correctly recognizes (in Hardware / Displays) the model of my ViewSonic monitor.
    (3) I have a MacBook Pro running Leopard (OS X 10.5.8) that is connected to the same monitor through the same KVM switch (by way of a BookEndz docking station) which properly shuts down the monitor when there has been no activity for however many minutes are set in the Display Sleep setting under Energy Saver. (Indeed, all I want is the same functionality on my Mac Mini that I have enjoyed for the last two years with this MacBook Pro.)
    (4) When fully connected to the KVM, if I switch from my Mac Mini to my MacBook Pro and my Mac Mini display goes to sleep while I am working on my MacBook Pro, when I switch back to the Mac Mini, my monitor backlight will be off (and the power light will be standby yellow rather than the blue on) until I wake my computer up by touching the mouse of keyboard. I wonder if this may mean that the Mac Mini's signalling of the change in status from on to standby is somehow dysfunctional.
    (5) Shutting down the server functions (and other open applications) has no effect.
    I would greatly appreciate feedback from anyone out there running a Mac Mini with Lion regarding whether or not their monitors go into standby mode when the Display Sleep time is reached (please note whether or not you are running the Server or Client version, whether or not it is a new install or upgrade, and what monitor you are using).
    Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

    No, I didn't solve the problem. The monitor still goes to sleep with WIndows but not with my Mac Mini. About 8 months ago I basically wore out the power switch on my monitor so I bought a wireless power switch to shut it off at the outlet. The VX2835wm monitor itself is now starting to fail as well-- a couple of times it's gone through a weird sequence of flashing screen colors on power up and ended up in an overscan mode (that took me for ever to figure out how to fix). I have decided to replace my VX2835wm with a Dell u2412m once it fails for good partly because I really want to keep the 16:10 resolution (very hard to find these days) and partly because I want to see if a different make of monitor will go to sleep properly based upon my Mac Mini power down settings.

  • 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

  • Mac mini server on two different location

    Hi,
    With my partner we are working on very havy image file from two different location. we wont to be able to share those file to each other easly and quickly mad make sur those file are allways up to date.
    - My first idea was to install in my place one mac mini server with external hard drive (RAID 0) and install the same server in my partner place. then I would like to create a VPN connexion between both Mac Mini server and setup a kind of RAID 1 between then. link that if my partner modify an image file on the server, With a short delay I will be able to see it on my side. this solution would be the best for me as all the data would be save in two different location and I would not have any backup issue.
    I did not buy the MAC mini server yet but as soon that I know the best soluiton and that it is possilbe to do so I will buy it.
    - My second idea (if the first one is not possible or if you guy's convins me that my idea is stupide) would be to have one MAC Mini server in one location setup with an external hard drive in RAID 01. my partner will need to connect to this server through VPN. This solution seems to be a good option but my partner will need to copy the file in local to work on it (few Gb eatch file) and copy it back on the server when he finish to work on it.
    With this solution I will also need to organise manual backup through another hard drive to avoid to have all our data in the same location.
    Witch one of those solution seems the best and can work with MAC mini server? If you have another idea for my situation I m more then happy to read it.
    Knowing that other user may need to access to my file, is the MAC Mini server VPN connection safe and fast?
    Thank you in advance for your help.
    Chris.

    The fact that you are both working on multi-gigabyte
    files, the statement BDAqua made about network speed
    is a big issue.  Small incremental changes in a single
    multi-gigabyte file still require that entire file to be transferred.
    There in lies the big issue with network speeds.
    Basically, it seems idea 1 will probably not work well and
    besides, RAID is for local drives and not for over networks.
    One solution to the synchronization issue is have a single
    computer that has the application and the data and log into
    it and work remotely.  However, it sounds like these are image
    files and working and any kind of graphics over a remote
    connection is problematic unless there is a very high speed
    network connection.
    Second idea is the simple solution.  As for the backup, that
    can be automated with backup software and the backup could be
    put any where.

  • How many users on Mac Mini Server?

    Good morning,
    Apple's recent changes to the Mac Mini line have thrown a wrench in a project plan I've been working. One part of the project needs a quad-core computer (FileMaker Server) and so I'm having to either search for an older model or switch up to a Mac Pro.
    The other part of the project involves bringing a Mac-based server in for directory and user services, including mail.  I had planned to use the high-end Mac Mini Server but that option was removed. The office I'm supporting is about 15 people (usually a little less on the network) and most of their work will actually be done against the other computer running the FileMaker Server-based application. I was not expecting a big load against the Mac Mini Server. But these changes got me wondering, what are others' experiences with Mac Mini as a server for 12-15 people? I'm happy with qualitative and quantitative data, but I would like to know which is which. In general:
         For how many users have you provided directory and user services (built in to the OS) using a single Mac Mini?
         What were the specs of the Mac Mini (year or model, speed, CPU config, RAM)?
         Other thoughts?
    In essence, I need to understand if people have successfully used dual core processors as Mac Mini servers in environments of 12-15 people. I've done it using a 2012 Mac Mini Server with 5-6 and the loading seems to support further growth, but would like real-world experience.
    Thanks.

    Dutch Apple employee told me that Mac OS X 10.6 Server has also Windows Terminal Services equivalent.
    But this is not !
    Not yet (?) available in Snow Leopard Server.

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