Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
I was fairly positive in myreviewof the 2010 version of Apple ’s smallest server , and fortunately , I can say that it ’s very easy to be happy with the 2011Mac mini with Lion Server .
The Mac mini server is not a big enterprisingness host . It ’s target at the small office / house office ( SOHO ) market and small and intermediate business ( SMB ) . As such , it does not have redundant power supply , hot - swappable components , and other features establish in endeavour servers . ( Then again , for the same price as Apple ’s discontinuedXserveenterprise server with the proper specifications , you could purchase several Mac mini host to get redundance . Apple does put up aMac Pro with Lion Serverif you want the heavy - duty computer hardware . )
Apple upgraded the Mac mini server ’s processor to an 2GHz Intel quadriceps femoris - core Core i7 , which is a major upgrade in processor exponent from the 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo in the 2010 model . Apple also increased the overall memory bandwidth ; the Mac mini host utilise 1333MHz DDR3 RAM , an improvement on the 1066MHz DDR3 RAM in the 2010 model . The new C.P.U. and faster organisation bus tally up to a corner that can cover rather serious data - transfer stop number when configure properly .
I tested the $ 999 received constellation model of the Mac mini host with 4 GB of RAM and a twain of 7200 - rpm 500 GB strong drives . Let ’s liken this unit to a work up - to - order ( BTO ) 2011 Mac mini with Lion Server equipped with 8 GB of RAM and a pair of 256 GB solid - Department of State driving force ( SSDs ) for $ 2199 . In my limited examination , I do Indian file transference of a 2.4 GB magnetic disk image over a Gbit ethernet connection , using a 17 - column inch 2.2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro with a 5400 - rpm concentrated drive .
The internet results are n’t a surprise , since all tests are done on the same electronic internet . It ’s easy to see that connection bandwidth is more of a limit point on a Mac miniskirt server than internal memory / bus bandwidth or the storage devices .
The BTO Mac miniskirt server ’s internal transport speed indicate a significant jump in operation — almost forked — for just over twice the cost of the standard configuration mannikin . Reboots during updates happened so fast that at first I was n’t sure they ’d actually happen . Just for sport , I started ping the server , and then I rebooted it . At most , I ’d drop two packets . SSDs are fast but not cheap , and many folks may not need to make up the $ 1000 for them , though the performance gain is large enough to make the overall value fairly darned in effect .
Benchmarks: Mac mini with Lion Server
Thunderbolt
The other major change with the Mac mini server is the unexampled Thunderbolt embrasure that interchange the Mini DisplayPort . ( The Mac mini still has a FireWire 800 port , four USB 2.0 ports , an HDMI port wine , and an SDXC slot . ) Not only is Thunderboltmuch fasterthan FireWire 800 , it ’s an adaptable bus , even outdoors of using it for a display . For example , you may apply aSANLinkThunderbolt to Fibre Channel adapter fromPromise , and plug the Mac mini server into a Fibre Channel internet that you ’d use for , say , Xsan and StorNext , or to expend the Mac mini waiter with be Fibre Channel reposition . So now , you may have a Mac mini server hook up to eminent - amphetamine depot either straight through Thunderbolt or through a Thunderbolt adapter like the SANLink , and still have the Gbit ethernet port wine gratis , which means that waiter and storage communication is n’t affected by other meshing traffic . It ’s a prissy step in the correct focal point .
As public utility servers , Mac mini servers are quite awesome . In the yesteryear , I ’ve used them for Open Directory servers , security system television camera software servers , removed access servers — anything where I want a consecrate host for some labor , but do n’t want to spend a lot of money and need it to correspond into my be infrastructure . With the latest model , I ’ve add a file server and a meshing domicile directory server to that lean , and the intellect is dewy-eyed : Thunderbolt . One of the past problems of the Mac mini host was that you had only one high - speeding interface for storage — the Gbit ethernet port . Yes , there ’s FireWire , but there ’s not a quite a little of managed storage twist with FireWire ports . If you do have a memory board equipment on FireWire , you have to have a consecrate software on the server to carry off the storage . And FireWire is not vulgar on distant storage with SNMP direction . ( That ’s not a technical limit . Nothing about FireWire preclude its consumption for cope storage . )
Minor weaknesses
It ’s not all peaches and pick with the Mac miniskirt waiter . I ’d really care to see Apple set forth usingECC memoryor offer it as an option — it ply real peace of mind for a server , without a Brobdingnagian increase in price . I also would n’t be awful upset if Apple were to add more hardware monitoring to the Mac mini waiter ’s SNMP implementation , such as temperature , potential drop , and so forth . These are pocket-sized thing , but authoritative . ( Yes , I get laid , the Mac mini host has no optical drive . I ca n’t really see that as good or bad , and it ’s scarcely a raw developing . )
Can you put back a high - oddment server with Mac mini server ? No ; if you absolutely have to have a rack - mounted server in the Xserve vein , you ’re not going to be happy with a Mac mini host . ( TheH - Squared Minimount does permit you to fit 18 Mac mini servers in 5U of blank . So there ’s that . )
But these are not showstoppers . In fact , presently , the only major impuissance of the Mac miniskirt with Lion Server is , well , Lion Server ( ) , which , as I noted in my review of that product , is a expert beginning on a major revamp , but has some serious issuing . alas , because of the hardware modification , you ’re stuck with Lion Server on the Mac miniskirt . I have seen folks get the new Mac mini server to lead Snow Leopard Server , but it ’s pretty involved , and not something I ’d ever urge . From my point in time of sight , the excellence of the Mac mini server is deserving it .
Macworld’s buying advice
The Mac mini with Lion Server is a genuine melioration on an already solid performing artist . In its target grocery store ( companies with up to 200 substance abuser ) , it is an outstanding performer and is also a equal to utility server in a wide kitchen range of usage demand . The Mac mini server is not a good option if you need hot - swappable components or redundant major power supplies in a single box , but the Mac miniskirt waiter ’s price allows you to achieve redundancy in other fashion . While the stock configuration is an attractive setup , reckon paying the extra money for SSDs , since they add considerable public presentation for the toll .
The increase of Thunderbolt to the Mac miniskirt host , as well as some timely third - company products has increase the capableness of the Mac mini server far beyond that of the premature version . The want of ECC RAM and a pretty circumscribed power to remotely monitor computer hardware conditions are notable , but they should not block anyone from implementing a Mac mini server . Lion Server has some issues , but as they ’re fix , the Mac mini will become an even more excellent host .
[ John C. Welchis the IT Director for The Zimmerman Agency , and is a longtime Mac IT learned person . ]
