Mini As Workstation?

Task: Image processing (retouching) of complex high res images w/Photoshop. Some 3D modeling/rendering. Running multple apps, Using Apple 30' cinema display.
Currently using an early 2011 MacBook Pro (15" Model 8,2) which simply isn't up to the task of running multiple apps on the 30" display. A loaded Mac Pro would handle the tasks smoothly, but I am reluctant to invest in a very expensive workstation based on 2010 hardware. My interim solution of the MacBook Pro has greatly slowed my workflow. I read good reviews about the Mini. Even the top CPU option doesn't seem to offer a huge advantage over my current MacBook (Intel Core i7 2Ghz 4 core). But I don't know how the Mini's graphics hardware (Intel HD 4000) would compare to the MacBook (AMD Radeon HD 6490M / Intel HD 3000).
Question: Would a fully loaded Mini offer more than a modest performance output to the 2011 MacBook? Is the Mini even compatible with 30" cinema display? (remains the monitor of choice within its lifespan)
The mini comes a a pricepoint that is workable as an interim solution until new Mac Pros arrive. The current Mac Pros and iMacs are priced beyond what I would want to invest as placeholders for the (long overdue) Mac Pro update.
Thanks for your informed opinions. Apologies for the wordy question.

Get yourself a 2010 Special, it comes $1819.
Throw in W3680 yourself.
Throw in 4x8GB RAM, GTX 570 2.5GB and hard drives, scratch, SSD, PCIe SATA
They are still solid and excellent and don't have to worry about heat or return value, they hold value.
The Xeon Westmere hasn't been replaced. Would have req'd totally new motherboard if they were to do it right (SATA3, firmware, maybe some others) and Intel and Nvidia and lagging economy and more complex socket and firmware just were not there and not in time.
It could be early 2014 before you see where PC motherboards are - and SATA3 was rough launch there and on MacBook line.
Maybe sell the 2011 MBP for a 2012 tricked out instead. More RAM, large and better SATA3 SSDs for one, Thunderbolt external array for another. 2011 was not a good year in the end for MBP with 5 chipset revisions and trouble with SATA3 connector.
www.macperformanceguide.com
I don't know if the new iMac that just came out and isn't yet shipping is or is not doable.

Similar Messages

Mac Mini + PC Workstation + Plasma TV

In my living room, I have a 1.83GHz Intel Mac Mini hooked up to my plasma TV and I'm using it as a media server. I use an Apple wireless keyboard and a wireless Mighty Mouse to control the Mini.
In a room across my house (everything is networked with wi-fi) I have a quad core PC Workstation with 8GB of RAM and a 1GB video card running Windows XP. I use the PC to work in Autodesk 3ds max, which is a Windows-only application.
I'd like a to have some sexy way to work on my PC workstation from my couch. I'd like to somehow access it through the Mini so I can do my 3ds max work on my plasma TV.
I considered using Synergy (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/) but that is only a keyboard and mouse sharing solution. I also want to share the display (my plasma TV). Also, I don't want to physically move the PC into the living room if I can avoid it. I considered physically hooking both machines up to the TV using DVI>HDMI and just between switching TV inputs depending on what computer I want to use, but I don't like that...it's too limiting. Maybe I want to listen to iTunes on the Mini while I'm working on the PC.
So now I'm thinking that Remote Desktop or VNC might be the best way to go. Something that is absolutely critical is that I make HEAVY use keyboard shortcuts in 3ds max on my Windows XP machine. So I'm concerned that no matter what solution I end up using, I may have problems using the Apple wireless keyboard and wireless mighty mouse to do professional, hot key-intensive work in the Windows XP environment.
Given the situation, what would you recommend?

I'd like a to have some sexy way to work on my PC workstation from my couch. I'd like to somehow access it through the Mini so I can do my 3ds max work on my plasma TV.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-desktop/default.mspx

No response when running Query from client

Hey.
I have a problem, I have installed Oracle9i on a Red Hat 9 Professional server, I have made my database, and have also put in some data, now here is the problem.
When i connect and run a query from my server, then it runs fine and fast, If i run the same query from min Winxp workstation, then my SQLPlus just hangs.
I can from my workstation ping and tnsping my server without any problems. and as far as i can see my tnsnames og listener is working fine.
hope u can help
/regards
Jonas Skjoldan

We did have a bug in older versions of smartview where it was not possible to deinstall it. Smartview was removed but any attempt to install a new version failed. This was because Smartview creates a Registry entry in:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Installer
and adds the key
C:\DOCUME~1\USERNAME\LOCALS~1\Temp\_is3EA\
which then prevents any newer version of SmartView to be installed
I looked on my machine and the is3EA file does not exist, however there is an installer file called isA.exe
The registry entries for smartview are found under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hyperion Solutions\Hyperion Smartview - maybe you could try deleting these entries? --> solution works.
Edited by: user9378541 on 27-sep-2010 2:45

Error 1477: Failed to write to eDirectory. Verify ...

Hi!
NW 5.1 (master) SP8, NW 6.0 SP5, ZFD 4.0.1 (iR6). Windows XPp WS. C1
1.3.6d.
Strange. yesterday I could from mine admin-workstation remotely manage
WS's, but today I got error: "Error 1477: Failed to write to eDirectory.
Verify that the Remote Operator has rights to perform the operation.". I
see no error or abends from server side nor any (beside this one)
strange "behavior" etc. No changes made.
I tried on second admin-machine (this is running for backup-admin) and
same result. Overnight!
Any ideas?
More thanks, Alar from Tartu Uni, Estonia.

I also have the problem. Any lead to how to fix this?
Kind regards,
Rob
> Hi again!
> Further investigation lead me to Error -659 Time synch issue.
> So, something with daylight saving etc.
> More thanks, Alar.
>
> > Hi!
> > NW 5.1 (master) SP8, NW 6.0 SP5, ZFD 4.0.1 (iR6). Windows XPp WS. C1
> > 1.3.6d.
> > Strange. yesterday I could from mine admin-workstation remotely manage
> > WS's, but today I got error: "Error 1477: Failed to write to eDirectory.
> > Verify that the Remote Operator has rights to perform the operation.". I
> > see no error or abends from server side nor any (beside this one)
> > strange "behavior" etc. No changes made.
> > I tried on second admin-machine (this is running for backup-admin) and
> > same result. Overnight!
> > Any ideas?
> > More thanks, Alar from Tartu Uni, Estonia.
> >
>

Top spec mac Mini as a workstation?

Hi,
My studio needs to replace two old G5's and i would like to know how a couple of maxed out mac Minis would perform. I'm thinking of these owing to the massive price of two Mac Pros and also because we already have monitors. The spec i am thinking of is 2.66ghz, 500gb and 8gb ram. We can't have iMacs as due to already having screens and our designers don't like the glossy screens. Also what would we need to run two monitors of each Mac mini? We would be using Photoshop, AVA (like Photoshop), printing large images to 24" printers, occasional illustrator work and general Office 2008 work.
Question is i can buy one Mac Pro now and wait till, next year for the second but this would leave our studio a quarter Power PC and three quarters intel. All our other Macs are intel with the exception of the two G5's.
What is my best option and will the Minis be up to the task?

I think you would be more than happy with the minis. I really do.
I have been using a C2D 2.4 ghz macbook pro I bought in late 2007. It replaced my 2.66 Mac Pro back at the time. I run the full Creative Suite CS4 on this. There has really never been a moment that I wished it had more power.
I recently bought a new mini, put 4 gigs of ram in it and have been using it as a music workstation. Same 2.4 processor, but some slightly newer bits inside (but actually, a slower 5400 drive than my macbook pro). It feels very fast.
Now, 2 weeks ago I bought a dual 2.3ghz G5 tower from a local source. Got a deal. I bought it to use for my music workstation, and was going to move the new mini somewhere else.
However, as powerful as a dual G5 was, when I opened the same Logic Audio songs on the Mini and G5, the mini used WAY less cpu meters than the G5. It wasn't even close. It really blew me away. The C2D 2.4ghz may not be the current state of the art, but seriously, with 8 gigs of ram and a proper 7200 RPM internal drive, it will run circles around the G5.
For $1K (700 for mini, $120 for 8 gigs ram at OWC, and if your brave, $100 for a 7200 internal) you will have a very capable machine for what you do.
If you can buy a few years with them, then sell them you'll be ahead of the game. The resell on mini's is extremely high, even older G4 minis get a few hundred bucks.
So, I'm with you 100%. I would love another MacPro. But after ram, tax, etc, $3K for a low end one new is crazy. Refurbs are great, but they aren't that much cheaper.
Grab two mini's, load them up, and run.
Oh, I'm totally with you on the iMacs. Perfect compromise on cost/performance, but no way am I going back to a glossy screen like that. Just not going to happen.

I want Mac Mini Workstation

*Mac Mini Workstation*
- Intel Core i5
- 4GB DDR3
- ATi Radeon HD 4670
- 320 GB + 320 GB 7200 RPM HDD With RAID-0
- No Optical drive (Like Mac Mini Server)
- Mac OS X Snow Leopard + iLife 09
Or How I order Mac Mini Server with Mac OS X Snow Leopard + iLife 09, RAID 0 installed?
Please help me and Thank you.

You cannot order the Mac mini without the optical drive unless you order the Server version.
And you can't order the Server version with iLife included, and Apple will not pre-set it with a RAID configuration. If you want things that way, you'll have to order iLife separately and install it yourself, and will have to set up the RAID configuration yourself as well.
Finally, Apple does not offer any Mac mini configuration with the Core i5 processor; not yet, anyway. The only option is the Core 2 Duo. And the only option for graphics processor is the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. When, or indeed if, Apple will ever offer a Mac mini model with either of the options you're looking for no one here knows or can say.
Regards.
Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

How to make a mini mac server work on multiple workstations

I would like to purchase the mini mac server for my 3 boys and set up 3 different workstations (monitor, keyboard, mouse) for each kids.
Can you do this? If so how???

What you are describing is how mini-computers were setup forty or so years ago, and what users were gleefully glad to get rid of when true micro-computers came on the market in the 1970s. In those days the processor and RAM memory were, by far, the most expensive parts of the system costing literally thousands of times more than the keyboards and monitors.
Today the cost of the processor/RAM/Storage have fallen to the point the monitor may be the biggest contributor to total system cost. For example a typical $800 Mac mini coupled to a $1,000 27" Thunderbolt display. The class of system you describe is still around and in use, but generally at a total system cost in the $100,000 range. To make what you are describing work you would need, at a minimum...
A wired or wireless network
One dedicated Mac mini server with installed server application (no mouse, keyboard, or monitor needed)
Three work stations each consisting of an iMac or a Powerbook, or...
one Mac mini
one keyboards
one mouse or trackpad
one monitor
arguably substantial understanding and/or knowledge of the Server application
A recommended alternative would be just the network and three work stations, each operating as a stand alone work station. There isn't room here and I don't have the time to go into all the various combinations and the pros and cons of each, but the recommended alternative would end up costing roughly $1,000 less simply be eliminating the server. It would also be a bit more straightforward to administer.

I'm unable to connect to my mac mini server remotely since the upgrade to OSX 10.8.5. I was able to connect without problem (from an Ipad and a Mac Pro workstation)before the upgrade which I applied last week.

I installed an update to OSX 10.8.5 last week. I've been unable to use Remote Desktop VNC from my Mac Pro working station or use Mocha Vnc Lite from my Ipad to gain access to my mac mini server since I applied the update. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi David,
thank you. I tried all the steps and the thing different is that now with my usual user the CC app crashes silently, but Photoshop and Illustrator generate a crash report with this message:
/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC/Adobe Photoshop CC.app/Contents/MacOS/../Frameworks/amtlib.framework/Versions/A/amtlib
abort() called
terminate called throwing an exception
With the Adobe user it runs with no problems, I even tried to do a "diff" of running user processes between the two users and remove all launchers and extensions but it's still the same.
I am a developer so I use XCode and other "dotfiles" and dirs within my home directory, I'm also using Ruby/RVM, NodeJS and some other. Can some of this stuff cause conflicts?
Thank you
Vito

Can a mac mini be set up to run two separate users at the same time?

I work for a middle school and we need to purchase 20 computers that will just be used to run internet apps. Though we have all Macs, we don't have a big budget and for this one use only, we are condsidering purchasing inexpensive HP all-in-ones for about $450 each. However, I was wondering if a Mac Mini can be first set up with 2 partitions, install the OS on both partitions, then run two different users, with two separate monitors and keyboards, at the same time? This way, instead of purchasing 20 Windows computers, we could purchase 10 Mac Mini's (and displays) and save money, and still be supporting just one OS throughout the campus.

If you setup a server, as in the Mac OS X Server Installation, pages 23ff show configurations, you can have multiple users, but they must all have computers. Some installations can be done with dumb terminals but that is not what you seem to want. Unix machines do have a multiple simultaneous user capability but you still have to have a computer for each user, again, not what you seem to want to do. Right now there are two other users logged in on my Sun workstation on the desk behind me...they are logged in because I permit them to do so.
And last night for an experiment I connected my iMac and MBP by ethernet wire, logged in on the iMac, then logged in on the MBP and from there on the iMac...but I set up the network to permit that and then disabled it again. You can create security holes doing things like this.
As dwb points out switching from Apple to PC equipment is a false economy that lures in administrators. In our county school system we had a superintendent who hired a good friend...who had PC-industry ties. Decided to remove all Apple equipment from the elementary schools and switch to PCs. It wasn't long before they ended up going on a 4-year cycle of "refreshing" the equipment, i.e., completely replacing all hardware in every school on a four year cycle. Since my wife was a Media Specialist, aka librarian, and responsible for technology in her school, every four years she had to develop a complete school map of where each teacher wanted the computers in their classrooms, complicated by where the technicians predetermined the locations of the network wire drops, of course. then teachers get shuffled over the summer and all the plans are for naught.
Anyway, there really isn't a solution to your problem except to buy a large number of computers and let each student use one and have them networked to a server, print server, printers, etc. This is not inexpensive and cutting corners will only cause headaches for you.

Is the mac mini server the same hardware as the other mac minis (except for the quad core i7 and dual hard drives) with different software or is it configured differently?

I have a mac mini with an i7 dual core processor. It is perceptably slower than my macbook pro with a quad core i7. Does the mac mini server have the same hardware configuation as the regular mac mini with server software or is the hardware different (aside from the i7 quad core and dual hard drives)? I want a mini with a quad core i7...

Your assumption is correct. The server does however only
have the Intel HD3000 graphics like the base model with
no option, at this time, for the discrete graphics chip. So,
depending on what you are using it for, that could be a deal
breaker. Remember that your MBP does have a discrete
graphics chip.
I have a 2011 Mini Server connected to a Thunderbolt display
that gets used as an engineering workstation and general
personal use (some photo editing, LP restoraton, general
internet browsing). You simply just not enable any of the
server services. I find the combination to work quite well
for my purposes. I also have a 13" 2.7 GHz i7 Macbook Pro
which is pretty much strictly for work. As far as CPU
power it is pretty much equivelent to your Mini. For the most
part I find the Mini does outperfom my MBP. I heavily use
Parallels and Windows7 virtual machines, so the more cores
the better.
So, If you do a lot of CPU intensive stuff that is multithreaded,
the Server may help. If it is graphics intensive and your software
heavily leaverages the GPU, you may actually take a hit on
performance.

Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter problems

I connected my Apple Pro to my HD TV to watch streamed movies on my computer using the TV as a monitor. I was advised to purchase a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter and all the connections fit. The first time I connected it was no problem. I watched the movie and the audio was fine. Then the 2nd time I connected I had no screen. It was a blue wavy screen on the TV, even though the computer screen was showing the show. I believe it may have been showing me some sort of screensaver application from what i've read on the forums but I have no idea why or how. Then the next day I tried again. The screen was fine but the audio quality was terrible. It was like listening through a cheap radio. Why am I having so many problems and the quality is not consistent. Are there settings I should change when I do this?

I have some good news.
Regarding the broken lines on the output of the Mini DisplayPort, it seems as though it "fixed" itself. My theory is, I recently installed Windows 7. Updated all the drivers on the windows side and got it to project properly with the new Intel 4000 graphic cards. Once that happened, it kind of "popped the cherry" on the port and now both Mac and Windows output properly through the Mini DisplayPort.
I've tested it with numerous adapters and once it outputed properly for the first time ever, all subsequent times work.
I now have tested in on LCD and DLP projectors, Philips monitors, Skyworth TVs, Sanyo TVs.
It's working with the Mini DisplayPort - VGA adapter.
It's also working with the Mini DisplayPort - DVI adapter as well.
Before I "popped the cherry" on the output port, nothing else worked. 1440x900 didn't work, neither did mirroring the displays. It just had to work once with whatever OS and after that it outputs fine all the time.
If you ahve the same problem as above, i'd recommend dual booting another OS, load the proper graphix drivers, get it to output properly once and hopefully it'll fix the problem like it did for my unit.
Thanks for everyone's input with the whole ordeal!
PS. after the initial output, it didn't matter which adapter I used. I kept the generic since it's cheaper, returned the apple one cuz it's exactly the same, and now bought a generic MiniDP - DVI for my at home workstation.
PPS. One final picture of it working....

Problem with Matrox Mini, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, Premiere 5.5.2 and After Effects CS5.5

Hello,
We have a couple video workstation PC's in our office.
Premiere and After Effects have been crashing lately with increasing frequency - about every two minutes now.
Here is the setup:
Hardware
Matrox Mini - Matrox Utility release 5.5.1
Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 - Driver release 275.33
Intel Xeon X5660 2.8 GHz processors
24 GB Ram
Software
Adobe CS5.5, specifically...
After Effects 10.5.0.253
Premiere 5.5.2
Windows 7 64-bit
We have two 21" LCD monitors in dual display running from the computer, and the Matrox Mini outputs a preview signal to a 15" CRT.
The crashes occur when I have After Effects and Premiere open at the same time. I am editing in a Matrox 720p29.97 timeline in Premiere. I imported several compositions from AE into Premiere through Dynamic Link and am matching audio with the animations in comps. When I switch back to AE to make an edit in the comp, After Effects generates a crash warning and then gives me the opportunity to save the project under a new name. After saving, it closes down completely. The Matrox WYSIWYG Control Panel in the system tray crashes during AE's crash, disabling the preview to the CRT from Premiere and AE. Since the Premiere sequence is a Matrox preset - in order to have output to the CRT - this freezes the timeline; the video and audio no longer play. When I save and then try to close Premiere, Premiere freezes and will not close without a force quit via the Task Manager.
In order to deal with this temporarily, I am editing in an AVCHD 720p30 sequence preset in Premiere, which doesn't send a preview feed to the CRT, obviously, since it's not a Matrox preset and the CRT is connected via the Matrox Mini. It's more than a minor inconvenience, since I use the CRT for color accuracy.
It is frustrating, since we did not have this problem until the recent CS5.5.2 update. We have tried changing drivers for the GTX 570 and changing the Matrox utility software to other versions, but no luck.
Is there a combination of GTX 570 drivers, Matrox software releases, and AE/Premiere settings that will make this work? I know there are "Known Issue" posts with Nvidia cards on Matrox's website, which include the GTX 570, but, again, this problem started with the Adobe CS5.5.2 update.
Any help here would be great, and I am willing to provide more information about the system and our crashes if it helps find a solution for the community, as I know this is not an isolated problem after reading Nvidia's, Matrox's, and Adobe's forums. I just can't find a hollistic solution on any of the individual manufacturer's forums.
Thank You.
Jordan

I've been running with Matrox for years, starting with the Axio LE. I do 75% broadcast work and find that the Matrox works very well with my kind of workflow. Monitoring is critical and since we have to deal with 3rd. party solutions, Matrox was my pick dating way back to 2006. Sure I've had frustrations with it, but I've made far more money off Matrox than frustration.
   Here's my nearly crash-free setup:
Gigabyte GZ-X58A-OC moboard
Intel 990X (only overclocking to 4.0)
24Gb of Kingston HyperX Ram
GTX580 Graphics Card
Matrox MXO2-LE w/Max
Crucial 240Gb Sata III drive (the one that has a nearly perfect score on Newegg's site)
2 x 2Tb WD Blacks Raid 0
2 x 1Tb WD Blacks Raid 0
Win 7 Ultimatte (it's a high-end version of Windows that's great for keying!)
CS5.5 Suite
Boris Red 5
Boris Continuum Complete 8
Trapcode Shine, Form, 3d Stroke, Starglow, and Particular
Optical Flares by Video CoPilot
   The reason I list all of that software, is that it all seems to get along together, including with Matrox! So, I can't say I highly endorse Matrox because I've never tried Black Magic or running an external monitor off of my video card.
    I use After Effects with all sorts of plug ins and rarely have crashes. If I put in a long day I'll have the usual crashes here and there (mainly with PremierePro), but nothing that has required evan a soft reboot of the computer.
   My frustration with Matrox is mainly the delay that often comes with Adobe coming out with a new release and Matrox taking 2 or 3 months to catch up, though when Adobe went from 5 to 5.5, there was no delay at all.
   I think that a lot of the people who trash Matrox probably haven't used a Matrox product in years. But before you listen to me, I must confess that I was an early adopter (and advocate) of SSDs and even today, many people on this forum think they're still a waste of money!
   I'll close by simply saying that I've not left Matrox after 5+ years, but keep in mind I haven't had the bad experiences that so many others seem to have had, but again, perhaps they had those bad experiences long ago.

Why can't I connect to my Mac Mini via Finder (but I CAN via screen sharing)?

My problem concerns a quad-core 2.0 GHz Mac Mini Server (mid 2011, I think) with SSD and 3 external hard drives. It's (a) my desktop workstation (b) our Time Machine backup repository (c) iTunes server and (d) Printopia server for our iDevices. That's it. The only thing I use the server app for, really, is Time Machine.
So recently we lost power a couple of times. As always, I ran Disk Utility, repaired permissions and verified the main disk. All appeared well.
But all is assuredly not well. Now, none of my other Macs can (a) find the Time Machine backup volume or (b) connect to the server at all. Whenever I try either thing, I receive the message below:
The network is in flawless shape otherwise. My router is the latest generation Airport Extreme Base Station. The server has a static IP, and I CAN connect to it from my other Macs by clicking Finder, then Go, then entering the IP address -- but ONLY if I use an smb:// prefix!
Moreover, even when I'm connected in this way, I STILL get the message whenever I try to connect by merely clicking the name on the finder sidebar -- or whenever I try to access the machine using Time Machine preferences. Weirder still, I CANNOT connect to the ip address via afp.
Final piece of weirdness: I can also connect to this machine from any other Mac via screen sharing. So please....
WHAT'S MY PROBLEM AND HOW CAN I FIX IT? I've wracked my brains, combed through forums and can find nobody else with this problem, let alone a solution.The problem persists when I shut down the server app.
I'm assuming that either something is corrupted or some setting is afoul, but can't figure out what it might me,
I'm just about at the point of reformatting my main drive and reinstalling Mountain Lion, but am hoping someone can spare me that pain.
THANK YOU so much!
Arthur P. Johnson
P.S. I have no problem at all with outbound connections from this bewitched Mini. Just inbound.
P.P.S I will, of course, be happy to provide shots of any other settings you may desire,

For some reason, the error box photo didn't appear in my post. Here it is:

HT2513 how do I get the mini calendar flap on iCal 5.0.3

how do I get the mini calendar flap on iCal 5.0.3. Lion 10.7.5

I finally did get the issues resolved by going here: http://blogs.adobe.com/cssdk/2011/10/fix-for-extension-signature-bug-on-mac-os-10-7.html and using that fix.
It took several tires but I finally got it to work correctly.
I tried using the update I downloaded from the Adobe updates page and that was what giving the error in my original post. Also, if I tried using the "get Updates" directly out of Extensions Manager, because i have several version of CS running on my workstation, it would invariably either tell me there were no updates or get the wrong version of the update. (The version I was looking to update was 5.0.289)
The botom line being, I did finally get the Extensions Manager working correctly.
Appreciate your response though. Thanks.

Mini Server OS 10.7.2 degrades, locks permissions, fails to boot

New current model Mac Mini Server 5,3 i7 Quad with OS X Lion 10.7.2. Twin drives formatted HFS-journaled, everything stock. Using primarily as a personal and imaging computer using Adobe CS5 apps, not as a server. Originally attempted to set up twin drives as RAID 0, reformatting, but system was unstable and I reformatted drives back to stock HFS-journaled configuration, then did a clean OS install from recovery partition. System ran OK except would not allow me to move items to trash, save screen snapshots, etc. as I did not have privileges (?). Run Disk Utility from recovery partition and repair permissions. No help. Did "Get Info" and changed HD privileges to read & write, all enclosed items, for everyone. Got series of "Missing KEXT" hundreds. Reboot and reinstall system. Repeats behavior. Do a reformat and clean install. System runs fine for several hours, seems stable, so I install Java Runtime, then Adobe CS5, Spyder 3 Elite 4 calibration, ICC profiles, Epson printer and scanner, VueScan, all proven, Lion-friendly apps. System now requires permissions to move or save items, then I get "Missing KEXT" and OS will not reboot.
Awaiting Apple service call where undoubtedly the tech will have me do another reformat and clean OS install over the course of several hours. Will tell me to disconnect everything and not use my apps. Will dick me around for another lost day and then get me further frustrated.
I have been using Macs since 1989 and am ready to throw this one out. FWIW my 2007 Dual MBP is running Lion, installed from the USB stick, just fine, knock on wood. But I could spit nails over this stupid Mini Server and the bone-headed way this OS installs and breaks on what should be a very straight-forward set-up!
How about it Apple, if the KEXT extensions are messed up, a fresh install should fix it. But it isn't. Even if there is some voodoo left, I pity the next poor user who gets trapped in this circle.

Try booting into safe mode and see if the issues continue.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455
this will disable all but a minimum of Apple components
at boot time. Therefor no attempt will be made to load
any kexts that are not Apple.
If booting is successful in this mode, it indicates that one
of your third party products is starting something at boot
time that is either calling or not providing a proper driver.
If things boot without issue, then remove items from the
StartupItems folder at the root /Library folder and also
in your user preferences remove disable any startup items
present there, then reboot normally. If all is well, then put
back startup items one at a time until the boot fails, then
you have found the culprit.
First need to get it to boot properly then can deal with
other issues.
As for the reliability of using the Mini Server as a workstation,
At this point I have been using one for about 4 months now
without issue. I think you may have a 3rd party item that
is causing an issue. It is also possible that even though,
as you claim, your apps are Lion freindly, they may have
a corrupt file in their installers or a previously unknown bug.

Mini As Workstation?

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