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.

Similar Messages

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

File lock in MAC mini server

Normally when users opening a CAD file from MAC mini server, when other user open the same CAD file it will show “read only” and can’t be save. But one of the computer did not show read only messing when someone using the same CAD file. This computer able to open & save file, however the saved files may be missing in the server. Is there any wrong in the mac mini server ?

Well, I don't know the answer really, if you don't get some good help here, it might pay to repost in the Server area...
https://discussions.apple.com/community/servers_enterprise_software/os_x_server
Or I can ask this one be moved if you like.

Getting AHT to work on Mac mini server

I have a intel core 2 duo Mac mini server (macmini4,1), and I'm having sporadic freezing/locking issues. I am trying to run the apple hardware test but it doesn't work, holding down the 'd' key does nothing. If I try single-user mode startup it works fine so there doesn't seem to be an issue with the keyboard. Since this is the server I also don't have an optical drive to go to to boot from the install disc. Why doesn't this work? Is there an alternative way to get this to run that doesn't involve the install disc?

Actually, this problem is only partially solved. I still get "Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/mysql/mysql.sock..." when I type 'mysql'. I can access mysql by typing 'sudo mysql', but still get the socket error when connecting via php, so I think I still need to get to the point where I can type mysql without sudo.
Also, I went ahead and installed MySQL 5 with the tar package.
Message was edited by: rabbitdog

Mac mini server cannot connect to keyboards

Just took my mac mini server in for degraded raid. Still under warranty. Raid was setup as mirrored for redundent backup. One of the drives failed and they found that one of my ram sticks was bad. Received my mini back with a new drive , ram, and a restored os which defeated the purpose of having a mirrored raid.... Thanks.... Now i have to setup and register the computer as new and it will not find my apple wireless keyboard. I have done all the reset tricks and still doesn't connect. I spent around 2 hours trying to navigate my way through applecare over the phone but my iPhone won't stay connected to a phone call long enough to get anywhere. And when I finally do their suggestion is use a USB keyboard. I don't own a USB keyboard, haven't in a decade. There are no appointments available with the only Apple store in this area and I'm sick of talking in circles to the scripted help over the phone. Does anyone have any answers other than buy more Apple stuff just to use my Apple stuff.
Sorry for the edit. ios is convinced I typed in something else so I had to go through and correct all of siris spell checks.

Have yo tried:
Troubleshooting wireless mouse and keyboard issues
OS X: Bluetooth devices become unresponsive
Mac mini (Mid 2011 and later) and iMac (Late 2012): Bluetooth keyboard may not pair during Setup Assistant - Apple Suppo…
Last get a wired KB. A USB PC KB is fine. If necessary:
Keyboard mappings using a PC keyboard on a Macintosh

Lion OS on Mac Mini Server?

I recieved a Mac mini server from my brother with Snow leapord server installed. I have a copy of regular Lion that I would like to install as I dont need the server capabilities. Every time I try it tells me that I need to buy the lion server part from the app store. Some of the other posts I've found basically say you shouldn't have bought a Mini Server if thats not what you need, but thats not a solution.
Does anyone know how to install a regular copy of Lion on a Mac Mini Server without buying the server app which I would not use anyway? Thanks for the help.
Ben.

Can you wipe it and install Snow Leopard on it? That should give you an easy upgrade path to Lion. That would suck if having Snow Leopard server locked you in to only a Lion server upgrade.
When you say you have a copy of Lion what do you mean? You have it on a flash drive? Its download only but there are ways you can burn it to DVD or install on a flash drive.

Mac mini server 2011 with regular lion - lion freezes all the time!

I have installed a regular OSX lion 10.7.3 on my brand new mac mini server 2011.
I called support today they told me it would not be possible but with a bootable USB im just able to install a regular OSX lion since I dont like the server features and bought the machine for development ( coding ).
When doing an internet recovery OSX lion server will be installed. This is higly unwanted but I guess the installer checks the hardware and installs the server version since that would be the "correct" version.
Now it keeps locking up everytime, even after a time machine backup I did and hoped that clean install would have fix this,
problem still persist.
When it lockups and I reboot on login screen I can:
only move the mouse up and down
when I type 1 keystroke on keyboard the password field is filled with multiple charachters dotted out because of the password field
3 questions
Is running a reguler lion ( not server version ) on a mac mini 2011 really not supported causing my issues? It feels like unlogic since the regular lion installer installed just fine, it should have given a warning that its not possible to install on my mac mini server therefore I see this as a "ok" it can be installed without problems?
Anyone has regular osx lion on mac mini server without any problems?
Is there anything I can do to determine the cause of the freezes? The console does not mention anything
This is higly frustrated, I dont dare to fully spend some hours to restore the system to a workable state for me ( install apps, coding enviroment, xcode etc) since it feels unstable and i dont want to spend time and have to do everything over again :S

1. Go to System Preferences.
2. Select Engery Saver
3. Slide the setting for Computer sleep to never.
4. Slide the setting for Display sleep to never (though I believe the display should be able to sleep without much issue.
5. Make sure the following are not selected:
a. Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible.
b. Allow power button to put the computer to sleep.
6. Make sure the following are selected:
a. Wake for network access
b. Start up automatically after a power failure
c. Restart automatically if the computer freezes.
Good luck!

Want to upgrade to Maverick 10.9 from 10.8.5 Mac Mini Server

I have a 2012 Mac Mini server running 10.8.5 with 2 - 1 TB drives. Sadly I have not really set up my server with anything really important. I was hoping to do a fresh install of 10.9 and then be selectve as to what I re-install including a fresh install of the server app. Then I can take my time getting it set up properly. In the past I remember having an issue with permissions I had set on some external drives from an older MAC. Can't remember all the details but if I remember correctly it kept telling me that I did not have permission to access MY files. A real PIA. What should I do to prevent this from happening unless I am remembering the issue incorrectly? Looks like the update is free but the server app is not, correct?
I just want to start fresh without locking myself out of my external DROBO drives where my pictures, music and videos reside.
Any tips or help would be appreciated.
Thanks
-Zack

Download the Mavericks installer (make a copy now, as installation will delete it), and follow this sequence to make an external bootable installer. Purchase and download Server.app version 3. Get the local DNS server configured and working first. Don't use .local as your top-level domain, and preferably use a real and registered domain that you've registered or have permission to use, or a subdomain of a real and registered domain that you have registered or have permission to use.
As for managing the file ownerships and protections on external devices, that's usually done voa chmod and chown commands (and chmod -R and chown -R) at the command line, or via the Get Info command via the GUI. Usually setting yourself as the owner of the objects is typically enough.

Dual disk Mac mini server - disk issue Disk Utility can't repair

ML Server.
There are two disks: Server OS HD and Server Mac HD. The Server OS HD only contains the OS and the Apple software update catalog. The Users folder is on the Server Mac HD. When the server is started / running, I go to the Disk utility > verify the Server Mac HD and I am told the Journal needs to be replayed but the volume is read only (it can't be!) and some other errors with regards to headers and bitmaps. DU then stops verifying the disk. I start the Mac mini / Server into recovery mode, try to verify the Server Mac HD. There are no problems - the "disk appears to be okay". I did this several times to same effect! How the heck do I repair the disk?

I see what you mean about live verification.
But didn't realize that the common sensical approach of separating the OS data from non-OS (user) data was an unusual config. Figured, it couldn't have any downside to it or atleast the least drawbacks.... had considered striping etc. but coulnd't see THAT much of a benefit in striping given my particular use / scenario. I have the system backed up to an external Time Machine drive (and will be doing an offsite / online backup of mostly user folders in the near future).
It would be interesting to see the results of fsck check though, like John said.
Anyway this whole thing was initiated because one of the users was getting an error of iTunes library being on a read only volume or on a locked volume. After repairing the Mac HD through Disk Utility in recovery mode (evethough no errors were found, I simply repaired it), that issue seemed to have resolved. So eventhough DU reported no errors, there must have been some small error - atleast it seems that way!
Thanks to both for the help!

Mac mini server mid 2011 lion mouse pointer disappears after sleep

Hi,
I bought a mid 2011 mac mini server (quad core) running OSX Lion (10.7.2), and I use it with the magic trackpad. Sometimes (not every time) when I wake the computer from sleep (I let it sleep via the menu at night), the mouse pointer is not visible. I can use the trackpad, and move the mouse and click, only I cannot see where I click because the mouse pointer is not visible.
The batteries in the trackpad are OK.
When I plug in a USB mouse, I can move and click that too, but the mouse pointer is still invivible.
So it seems to be OSX related
The only thing that seems to help is to restart the system. After reboot the mouse is back as normal. Still this is very annoying as it makes sleep quite useless.
Anyone else suffering from this? Any solutions? Thanks.
Thanks,
Gino

I also have this issue intermittantly but fairly often.
But sometimes the cursor comes back but the screen stays black except where the cursor has moved across, revealing the screen, a bit like using the spraycan tool in MacPaint years ago.
And to top it off I have a problem with sleep making all the open apps try to quit, but one is always unable to, and it seems to lock everthing up until I wake up the mac, and then all the apps that were open do resume, but in the meantime any TV programs that should have recorded (by waking up mac to record) using my Elgato EyeTV have been missed ...

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

Cannot Search Mac Mini Server

Setup a small office network for our art dept, but have lost the ability to search for files on the Mini server. I have seen a ton of threads about this, but no definite fixes or reason. Please help! It is very difficult to work with a server that you can't use a search function on!
Imac- OSX Lion 10.7.4
Imac- OSX 10.6.8
Mini Server- OSX Server Lion 10.7.5
Thank you
-Prodigal

This sounds like a simple port forwarding issue, but I don't understand your LAN setup.
The WRT300N has DDNS service set up. NAT and RIP are disabled.
The chances are, you're running NAT somewhere in your network. If not the WRT then what? If it's your cable modem then you must have port forwarding configured on the cable modem, and that's where you need to focus - change the port forwarding to point to your Mac Mini's address rather than the WRT.
HOWEVER, it is far more common to have the wireless router perform NAT and DHCP, which is why I question your setup.
Not directly related, but:
The Mac Mini DHCP is reserved
Nix this. Your server should be configured manually, with a static IP address, not DHCP, even with a reservation in the DHCP server. The only advantage of DHCP is for dynamic hosts (hence the 'D' in 'DHCP') or if you expect to change your entire local subnet on any kind of frequent basis. The reality is that you can't just change the IP address of Mac OS X Server like this - there are too many dependencies, so it's better to set it manually, knowing that there's a cost (and pain) to change the server's address.

Website on Mac Mini Server not accessible. Error 403 index document not available.

Dear all,
I'm trying to host a website on my Mac Mini Server. As far as I can see, my DNS is working correctly. Also my firewall is setup correctly. (I'm hosting another website which works OK). But I setup a new site. Basically a copy of the working site. But this site doesn't reflect an index.htm page. I receive an Error 403 with further information that there is no index document or that the site is secured. There is a contact link on this page directing to my webmaster. So I conclude that something is working, but no index.htm page. Has anyone similar experience? And offcourse a solution?
Many thanks.

Launch Terminal.app and issue the commands:
cd /Library/Webserver/Documents/
ls -al
And see if the files are readable by the web server. Here's an example index file listing that's owned by root and with group access for admin folks, and this file is marked as readable and writable for the owner and the group, and is readable for everybody else:
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 5094 Jul 25 2009 index.html
In this configuration, the web server would be using the other access; the web server can read this file, but not write to it. Here is how to duplicate these ownership and access settings on your own index.html file, assuming that you have that file present in the ls listing above, and assuming that you have issued the cd (change default directory) command shown above:
sudo chown root:admin index.html
sudo chmod ug=rw,o=r index.html
You will need to enter your administrative password for the sudo command.
I would very strongly suggest that you start learning some basics of bash and of Apache, because you're going to be needing those skills very soon.

How to set up my mac mini server to use two drives seamlessly?

I have a mid 2010 mac mini server, with OSX Lion installed. It has dual 500gb hard drives.
I've been moving all my important files to it, and I've always assumed that once I filled one disc, it would seamlessly transfer over to the other and continue backing up. This does not seem to be the case.
I'm at roughly 495gb of data, and when I try to move a 10gb file onto my server, it tells me that I don't have enough disc space to continue the operation.
What can I do to make use of both drives?
-Thanks

It sounds like what you're asking for is to have the two drives in a RAID 0, where the two 500 Gb drives look like a single 1 Tb drive. I'm not sure the exact procedure for installing RAID 0 on a mini's internal drives, but the process would involve backing up, reconfiguring for RAID (which destroys all data,) restoring data from the backup, and more risk than I would personally find acceptable. I'd expect to lose a full day with the backup and restore steps. I can guarantee, there will be pain.
Instead, I'd suggest looking at what's consuming the 500Gb, and seeing if there are particular folders that can be moved. For example, a shared folder is pretty easy. Copy it over. In file sharing setup, edit the share to point to the new location. Make sure remote users disconnect, and reconnect to the "new" share. When you're happy there is no data loss, delete the old location.
User's home directories can also move, but the process has a few more steps, and depends on how the accounts are built (local vs. OD)
If the majority of the data is in a single "your backup files" folder, shared or otherwise, then I would just set up a second folder on the second drive and write to it, leaving the first alone. If it is truly a backup, then you could make the first folder read-only at this point for extra protection. If you go the 2 folder route, keep in mind your boot drive is operating with 1% free space, I like my drives to have at least 15% free, and OS drives more like 25% (you'll find some range in recommended %-free, but most will agree 1% is too little) so move SOME stuff to the new folder, before closing the old.

Using a Mac Mini Server quad Core i7 for FCPX ?

I am a student trying to
configure a final cut pro X edit system with a budget of around $4K.
I have over 400 hours of video (some Hi-8 but mostly mini-DV tapes).
For the Mini-DV tapes I plan on ingesting video into FCPX
directly from the camera via firewire DV. I will be using a Sony GV D800 to ingest
the Hi-8 tapes via firewire DV as well. I already have a 30" Apple Cinema Display.
H.264 will be used to deliver finished content to the web and/or Blu-ray.
I was leaning toward the macbook pro 17" but then I realised that a Mac Mini Server
could be configured with the same number of cores and RAM for less money.
Mac mini Server
2.0 GHz Quad Core Intel i7 -- same number of cores as macbook pro 17"
8 GB RAM
750 GB Serial ATA Drive 7200rpm + 256 GB Solid State Drive
Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter
Apple Magic Mouse + Magic Trackpad
Other Peripherals:
Promise Pegasus 8TB R4 Raid System in RAID 5 configuration or equivalent
Sonnet Echo Express PCIe 2.0 Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis with
Matrox Compress HD MAX encoding card
LaCie d2 Blu-ray 12x
Do the extra cores in the server make up for the difference in GPU?
(2.7 GHz Mini dual-core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR5 memory) VS (2.0 GHz Mini Server quad - core i7 with Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor and 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory)
Am I thinking about this configuration the right way? Is there
any overhead given that the mini will be a server? Anything missing?
thanks for your help,
Tom

Take it back for a replacement while you are within 14 days from purchase.

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

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