Is A Mac Mini Server For You?
There are many people and organizations that could benefit from having a server to help glue their computers and data together. Three things keep them from making the move to a server:
- Lack of knowledge about the advantages of having a server
- the idea that setting up a server will be expensive
- the idea that setting up a server will require a systems administrator and a lot of server skills to set up a server
Apple has created (Mac OS X) Leopard Server, which, for the most part, takes a lot of the steep learning curve out of setting up a server. Putting Leopard Server on a Mac Mini
makes the start-up costs of setting up a server much more affordable.So, all that's left is understanding the benefits of the a server. That's where this lens comes in!
Understanding The Benefits of A Server
How much is your time and money worth?
I'll try to explain the main features that may make setting up a server for your family, organization, or business worth your while.
- Time Machine: The security blanket
- File Sharing: Nevermore a missing file!
- iCal Server: Get Everybody in Sync!
- Wiki Server: Share and Collaborate with Ease!
Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) comes with a nice feature called Time Machine. If you don't already know what it is, then check out Apple's Time Machine Page.
What makes Time Machine so great is that it backs up your computer automatically over the network once you get it set up! Should you need to recover a file, you just go into Time Machine at a time in which you had the file, and voila! there it is.
What Leopard Server will allow you to do is set up your server as the single backup point for all the computers in your family, organization, or business.
Imagine having a backup system for all of the computers in your family, organization, or business in one location. No imagine having that convenience and security, all without having to have an administrator do it! That's the beauty of using your server as a Time Machine server.
(Real World Proof: This one feature alone saves me about five hours a month while giving me the same assurance of my older system)
It's hard to express how convenient it is to have networked data. By activating the File Sharing service on Leopard Server, you can start to share data over the network immediately. When a file becomes a network asset, you don't have to worry about the latest copy being on some individual user's computer - any changes to that file appear for everyone! No longer will you have to merge three or four documents into one to have all of the correct information!
It gets better, though. If any of your users ever need access to those files when their not at home, work, or wherever your server is set up, they can remote in and manipulate the files as if they were there. Never be without a file, anywhere in the world, as long as you have access to the Internet.
Coordinating multiple people and resources is one of the biggest struggles for families, organizations, and businesses. iCal Server allows the sharing and delegation of calendars to others, and all updates happen in real time.
So, your administrative assistant can make appointments for you, or other members of your workgroup, and those appointments seamlessly show up for you and the rest of the team. Like file sharing, this works when you live home, your office, or your organization's headquarters.
Leopard's Wiki Server service enables your family, organization, or business to quickly share information and notes on their projects. Rather than sending multiple documents around, start a wiki and allow your users to help create and edit the information relevant to your survival in a dynamic way.
To be honest, I completely underestimated how useful this would be. Once your family, organization, or business "Goes Wiki," there's a quantum leap in information sharing that happens. If you work or live in a dynamic atmosphere where timely information is critical, you absolutely must give a wiki a try.
Leopard Server comes with so much more than these features, but these are the ones I think are the most valuable for almost any type of organization.
The MacMini As A Server
Is the MacMini Capable of Being a Server?
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The Mac Mini makes an ideal server for three reasons:- It's Small
- It's Affordable
- It's Energy Saving and Environmentally Friendly
Sure, you could buy a MacPro or an Xserve, but where are you going to put it? The Mac Mini
is small enough to be hidden away on a printer stand, behind other computers, or almost anywhere out of the way. My MiniServer, with its external hard drive attached, is about 4" tall and a little bit wider than a CD case. (The picture above is where it's located and how it stacks up, sizewise, to other electronics.)The Mac Mini
itself will only set you back about $700 (with memory and shipping). If you choose to have an external hard drive, you'll have to add a few hundred dollars extra depending on what hard drive you get.The Mac Mini
is made from a lot of the same parts that go onto Apple's laptops. These components draw less energy, so the cost of running the server, electricity-wise, will be far less than running a MacPro or an Xserve. You might not think it's that big of a deal, but an MacPro or Xserve can cost an additional $20 a month just in electricity costs!There are, however, some disadvantages to having the Mac Mini
as your server:- Where's my storage, man?
- No configuration options
- Not quite server grade components
The most notable disadvantage to using a Mac Mini
as a server is its pathetically small hard drive and lack of high speed ports to connect other hard drives into. The largest hard drive configuration available is 160GBs, which won't get you very far, and the fastest port is a Firewire400. This is the single biggest drawback, as there are not a lot of workarounds for storage.There are some ways to hack into the Mac Mini
and add larger hard drives, but all of these hacks void your warranty. Rather than do that, I'd suggest you get an external hard drive for file sharing and Time Machine and run everything else off of the MacMini's internal hard drive.I'll give suggestions for hard drives and setups in the next module that discusses what you'll need to buy.
This kind of dove-tails in with the last disadvantage, but if you use a Mac Mini
as a server, you're pretty much stuck with it as is. You'll not be able to load PMCIA cards, video cards, etc. onto it - if you can't route it through it's FW400 port or 4 USB hubs, then you're out of luck.Apple didn't design the Mac Mini
to be a server, so you may find some limitations in longevity and durability. Your Mac Mini will live longer if you let it power-down for a few hours a day (recommended from 1am to 6am when nobody' working), and I recommend you get Applecare with it.You may have noticed that I didn't have processing power as a disadvantage of using a Mac Mini
as a server. For all but the most intense applications, the Mac Mini serves without a hiccup. For example, my server never spikes above 15% computer processing unit utilization, and it gets its fair share of use as a file sharing, web, wiki, and iCal server.In my experience, people overestimate how powerful they'll need their server to be. You could start with a Mac Mini
server and then upgrade as your needs outgrow it's abilities to meet them. What You"ll Need to Buy to Get Started (The Minimum)
Okay, this is the painful part.
Apple Mac mini MB138LL/A (1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Combo Drive)
I recommend you go with the base model as listed here. Get your memory (4GB) from Other World Computing Mac Mini Memory Upgrades Page.
Follow the instructions on this Mac Mini Take Apart Guide) carefully, as you may void your warranty if you break something while in there.
Amazon Price: $585.34 (as of 01/09/2009) 
![Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard Server [10-Client License]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JY1TmyEJL._SL75_.jpg)
Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard Server [10-Client License]
You'll need this version if you have 10 users or less that will be connecting for filesharing simultaneously. If you have more than that, get the unlimited version for $999.
Amazon Price: $349.99 (as of 01/09/2009)
Another Thing You May Need to Buy
Because You'll Need a Better Storage Solution!
You could get away with just the basics above, but I recommend you buy an external hard drive to get the most use out of your Mac Mini server. I use and like this one from Other World Computing:1 TB MiniStack v3 External Hard Drive.
It fits right under the Mac Mini, has similar designs, and has 1TB of storage. Note that you can daisy chain multiples of these, if you need to.
A point to consider: You'll need to partition your Hard Drive if you want your computers to back up to the hard drive using Time Machine. Time Machine saves on the hour, once a day, and once a week until it fills the hard drive, at which point it'll delete the oldest backup. If you don't check it, it'll eat up your entire hard drive with backups!
Partitioning it will set a maximum to the amount that will be used for backups. The standard recommendation is to take the amount of data, in GBs, that you have on your computers and multiply that by 1.5. That's how much space you'll need for your Time Machine Volumes.
Example:
You have two laptops with 120 GB Hard Drives and one iMac with a 320 GB Hard Drive. It's recommended that you allocate 840 GB for the backup volume for those computers.
You can make the requirements for backups far less by using file sharing and not backing up applications. Analyze your user's backup needs to get a more fine-grained estimate, keeping in mind that Time Machine compresses data before transmitting it and it does not backup unused disk space. (In other words, my 320GB iMac with 145 GB used data has a 100 GB Time Capsule file.)
Setting Up Your Mac Mini Server
The hard part is already done!
Here's the best words of advice I can give on this one:Wait until you have all the components before you install Leopard Server and start setting it up!, and wait until you have the server up and running before you add client computers!
In my excitement to get my server going, I set it up before my hard drive came in. That resulted in a lot of headaches, as migrating the data was not as easy as the rest. Give it a few extra days unless you absolutely need it today.
I hate to say Read the Manual, but it really does lay it out pretty well.
Since this is already a really long lens, I'll stop here. I'll add troubleshooting techniques as I compile all the links I had to use to get it up and going after I messed it up the first time. Most of it was user error - but some was just janky-ness.
For instance, iCal Server will give you fits until you change your host name (under Server Admin) to mycomputername.mydomainname.com rather than the default mydomainname.com that iCal Server defaults to. That solution took me days to find, but it corrected the iCal server's bugs immediately.
Additional Reading
Because I've hit just the tip of the Iceberg
Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual
This is the definitive book to get before all others. Seriously, I recommend this book to every new Mac user I know, and I've even recommended it to PC users thinking of switching. Every single one of them has commented on how useful and entertaining it is.
Amazon Price: $23.09 (as of 01/09/2009)
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition
If I've whet your appetite and you need more convincing on why to switch from PC to Mac, you must check this book out. Helps before and after "the Switch."
Amazon Price: $19.79 (as of 01/09/2009)
Mac OS X Leopard: Beyond the Manual (Btm (Beyond the Manual))
This book is for the more advanced user that really does need to dive more into Leopard Server. Do not get this one if you are not familiar with Leopard and aren't interested in the server features. It's simply not what you need.
Amazon Price: $23.09 (as of 01/09/2009)
Foundations of Mac OS X Leopard Security (Books for Professionals by Professionals)
Security becomes a bit scary when you start thinking about allowing your server to be accessed outside of your secure environment. This book is chock-full of information to help ease the worries.
Amazon Price: $26.39 (as of 01/09/2009)
My feedback poll
I know this got long, but I tried to make the case for the Mac Mini as a server. I'd really appreciate any feedback you'd give me on this - especially if you'd like me to continue to add modules for set-up and trouble-shooting the services for the server. I'm here to help!
Reader Feedback
I appreciate you taking the time to read this lens and I sincerely hope it has been helpful. Please drop me a line or ask a question about something I wasn't clear about. If you have any troubleshooting questions, ask away, although I'm still learning a how to administer the really technical parts of the server, too. Thanks for reading!
cappuccino136 wrote...
A good job explaining the advantages of having a server and what it can do. I use computers, but am not tech savy. I understand better now what a server is. The information about the pros and cons of the mac mini are also really helpful.
Posted September 01, 2008
CharlieG wrote...
@SemperFidelis: Thanks so much for the feedback and the blessing! Much appreciated!
@The Party Animal: What's the exchange rate for Geek Stars? Is it on par with Cool Stars?:p
Thanks so much for your feedback!
@Sbucciarel: Going to run and check out the forum. Thanks for the lead and feedback!
Posted September 01, 2008
sbucciarel wrote...
Great lense. The Firestorm Forum is great for promoting your lenses and blogs. There's a very active Squidoo community there. firestormforum.com Hope you check it out. I also have a lense about it at http://www.squidoo.com/firestorm
Posted September 01, 2008
The_Party_Animal wrote...
I am no geek, but this looks good. 5 Geeky stars for u
Posted September 01, 2008
SemperFidelis wrote...
You've done a great job disucssing the pros and cons of this server. A little over my head, but the effort you put into this lens is obvious. Blessed by a Squid Angel today! ~ Colleen :o) Welcome to SquidU, btw!
Posted September 01, 2008
