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Ifti

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 14, 2010
3,922
2,432
UK
I swear by SSDs - been using them for years on my notebooks and had ordered one way before my current notebook was even ordered!

However, I'm looking to buy a Mac Mini Server, considering its difficult finding the damn second HDD cable here in the UK, and considering I just want it up and running asap now!

I will be using the server headless most of the time, always on, although it will be connected to my main HDTV to use for multimedia etc.
It will run Plex, and a few other similar tools.
It will also be used to encode video etc - I'll be using my laptop to create projects in Final Cut or iMovie, and then use the mini to render and create the project etc.

Bearing in mind the server comes with 2x 1TB drives (I have more RAM ordered already) the plan is to have one as the system disk and one for storage of media (I dont have a huge library anyway).
Will I see any benefit to sticking a SSD in? I like to keep things neat so avoidng an external HDD constantly connected if possible!
Was about to order a Samsung 830 256GB to use as the system disk in place of one of the HDDs (which would then be used in an external caddy for backup etc), but for my uses would I see a benefit?
 

Kryptik.Kode

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2012
79
0
Ontario, Canada
Anyone using an SSD for the OS will see a benefit. Overall "snapiness" of opening applications and files stored on the SSD will be far and away faster than if you had an HDD.

So there is always a benefit with SSD in regards to performance. Some heavier users will benefit more from it but it's still a huge benefit.

Standard HDD have more storage for a smaller cost-per-gigabyte which is the advantage of HDD. It depends what you value more, speed or storage space.
 

Ifti

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 14, 2010
3,922
2,432
UK
Im not really to keen on the fusion drive until its been reviewed and proven to actually do what its intended to do - poor experiences with other hybrid drives I guess.
I would rather have 2 seperate drives, one of them being a 1TB for storage of my multimedia etc.

The more I think about it, the more I feel a SSD will not benefit me in a server, since its not going to be reboot a whole lot, its not going to be launching tons of applications etc, it'll sit and run its services headless most of the time. The only intensive use it may get for now is encoding and rendering video from FCPX to be honest, and thats more CPU intensive rather then relying on the drive.

The only time I'd need the SSD I guess is for capturing HD via a Blackmagic Intensity Extreme unit (which I'll pick up at some point). Although I could always use my laptop for this anyway if need be.....
 

teohyc

macrumors 6502
May 24, 2007
484
388
Im not really to keen on the fusion drive until its been reviewed and proven to actually do what its intended to do - poor experiences with other hybrid drives I guess.
I would rather have 2 seperate drives, one of them being a 1TB for storage of my multimedia etc.

The more I think about it, the more I feel a SSD will not benefit me in a server, since its not going to be reboot a whole lot, its not going to be launching tons of applications etc, it'll sit and run its services headless most of the time. The only intensive use it may get for now is encoding and rendering video from FCPX to be honest, and thats more CPU intensive rather then relying on the drive.

The only time I'd need the SSD I guess is for capturing HD via a Blackmagic Intensity Extreme unit (which I'll pick up at some point). Although I could always use my laptop for this anyway if need be.....

If you're running it headless, then there's not much point.
 
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