Cluster Mac… or what would you do with ten computers?

[leapp]

Hello. I recently bought 10 Mac minis from an education liquidation sale. They are the 2014 models and they run macOS well- but there is a lot of the beachball on Monterey. They run opensuse like a brand new computer. I actually bought them to sell…. But then I started thinking about what else I could do with them. Any suggestions appreciated.

What I am specifically wondering is, is there any benefit to creating a cluster computer for the home user? Or is that only beneficial for specific applications? Will macOS or Linux work for clustering them?

If I can do something with them, I’d keep them. But also that could be a neat way to sell them, as well.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts you might have!

 

[ILoveCalvinCool]

Watching since I've been wondering the same thing.

 

[bearda]

Pretty much any application has to be build to take advantage of clustering. You could probably set up a Kubernetes cluster or something, but that's not going to be useful to most home users.

 

[ILoveCalvinCool]

I found this earlier today since I've been looking for a way to do AI clustering with my Macs. Haven't tried it myself yet, but I've heard it works:

GitHub - exo-explore/exo: Run your own AI cluster at home with everyday devices 📱💻 🖥️⌚

Run your own AI cluster at home with everyday devices 📱💻 🖥️⌚ - exo-explore/exo

github.com

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hello. I recently bought 10 Mac minis from an education liquidation sale. They are the 2014 models and they run macOS well- but there is a lot of the beachball on Monterey. They run opensuse like a brand new computer. I actually bought them to sell…. But then I started thinking about what else I could do with them. Any suggestions appreciated.

What I am specifically wondering is, is there any benefit to creating a cluster computer for the home user? Or is that only beneficial for specific applications? Will macOS or Linux work for clustering them?

If I can do something with them, I’d keep them. But also that could be a neat way to sell them, as well.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts you might have!

I'd replace any spinning HDDs with SSD and toss on either Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 or Windows Server 2019 (both of which are still supported with security updates until 2029). They'll make really powerful servers, let alone really decent plex servers. I wouldn't bother with macOS seeing as you're capped at macOS Monterey which is imminently losing security update support. Linux might not be a bad idea, depending on the distro!

ChromeOS Flex also runs fairly well on them!

 

[benwiggy]

They are the 2014 models and they run macOS well- but there is a lot of the beachball on Monterey.

The 2014 models are massively underpowered, with only a 2-core CPU (even the i7 model). The i7 scores 969/1911 on Geekbench; the base i5 738/1387: so you'd need around 6 of them to match a single base-model M2 Mini (2636/9762).

Don't forget the power consumption, and the cost of outfitting with SSDs.

If you can't think of anything that you need cluster processing for, then I'd suggest selling them.

 

[speedynix]

Hello. I recently bought 10 Mac minis from an education liquidation sale. They are the 2014 models and they run macOS well- but there is a lot of the beachball on Monterey. They run opensuse like a brand new computer. I actually bought them to sell…. But then I started thinking about what else I could do with them. Any suggestions appreciated.

What I am specifically wondering is, is there any benefit to creating a cluster computer for the home user? Or is that only beneficial for specific applications? Will macOS or Linux work for clustering them?

If I can do something with them, I’d keep them. But also that could be a neat way to sell them, as well.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts you might have!

May I ask how did you install OpenSuse on them as I am struggling to get OpenSuse to run in combination with OpenCore Legacy Patcher. Thanks..

 

[redheeler]

They'd make fine servers on a Linux distro of your choice. If my 2009 mini can do it then the 2014 can. Only the 4 GB RAM models would be too limiting (in my case, GitLab loves RAM).

With more than one I'd keep a couple backups around in case one fails, or you can even try some load balancing (though this is more likely to get bottlenecked by your network connection).