2011 MacMini Server is Compelling

[Barry Johns]

I'm shocked at the benchmark for this. It out performs many 8 core MacPro's!

Yea I get the expansion, but Thunderbolt is likely to change that.

Too bad there doesn't seem to be any CPU's in the immediate pipeline to give substantial performance improvements to the MacPro.

Even if there is, the MacMini Server is compelling unless there is something I'm missing?

Is there any reason you can't install the regular OS on the machine after you buy it?

Also, it comes with 2 hard drives which makes it great for Audio!

Tell me what I'm missing?

[c-tone]

The first reports are that Snow Leopard will not run on the new Mac Minis, which means that you won't be able to run Pro Tools on them until Avid updates PT to be compatible with Lion.

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by Barry Johns

I'm shocked at the benchmark for this. It out performs many 8 core MacPro's!

Yea I get the expansion, but Thunderbolt is likely to change that.

Too bad there doesn't seem to be any CPU's in the immediate pipeline to give substantial performance improvements to the MacPro.

Even if there is, the MacMini Server is compelling unless there is something I'm missing?

Is there any reason you can't install the regular OS on the machine after you buy it?

Also, it comes with 2 hard drives which makes it great for Audio!

Tell me what I'm missing?

Your not missing a thing. I thought the same thing yesterday morning while reading the announcement on Anandtech. I'm suprised no one else picked up on it. It would also be great as a VSL server or audio slave machine, Logic node etc.

Downsides. The drives are not readily accessable and the storage capacity is small compared to a "real" server. You may not be able to install the regular version of Lion easily.

[theom]

What about the i7 upgrade on the non server mini?
With the ssd and 750g internal?

Seems very interesting.

[mjdrums]

I'm about to order one... it took me awhile to get over the "consumer-ness" of the old Mac Minis to see that this is just a smokin machine, but now I've seen the light :) Quad-core i7 on the server model (which means 8 cores in PT), 8gb of RAM, FW800 for my current gear and Thunderbolt for future expansion - right around $1000.

I can't see any reason to NOT get this... anyone else?

[Electrox]

I've written before about how Avid seems to be in development of a Thunderbolt solution. When that is ready you will be able to do more with these minis than almost anything previously released. AES and NAMM should reveal some surprises, hopefully by Avid!

[John_Toolbox]

One of these with 2 SSDs would make an awesome portable slave machine for VI's.I'm going to wait for more thunderbolt products before any upgrades, but in a year or so this might be a nice replacement for my big ugly slave pc.

[whitecat]

Originally Posted by sunburst79

Downsides. The drives are not readily accessable and the storage capacity is small compared to a "real" server. You may not be able to install the regular version of Lion easily.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe with Lion the server features are an "add-on" rather than an integral part of the OS, so I would imagine it will be less problematic than Snow Leopard was in this respect. Will have to be proven yet though, once PT is cleared for Lion at all...

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by whitecat

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe with Lion the server features are an "add-on" rather than an integral part of the OS, so I would imagine it will be less problematic than Snow Leopard was in this respect. Will have to be proven yet though, once PT is cleared for Lion at all...

Can't say. Apple marketed a version of OSX Server as a specific product. There is know telling what system changes they made under the hood or if any of the add ons would conflict with Pro Tools. I would wait until PT is supported and do a clean install of the non server version of OSX.

[sunburst79]

Something to keep in mind. Traditionally the Mini's could be thought of as laptop based units. Theres no telling how loud these would be running flat out and how much heat that i7 is going to try to transfer into the cooling system. While I doubt they will burst into flames or anything I would not be surprised if they get kinda noisy. The target market for these machines dictates that they are running slightly faster than an idle most of the time.