Do I need a home server?

[kellen]

Why a G5 though? Didn't they just have enough room for 2 HDs?

Who cares about processing speed when you are backing up over wi-fi? Get a gigabit (if some backups over LAN) or newer powermac g4 and put in a S-ATA controller. Throw the same drives in and I bet it would be the same speed, especially if you choose to back up all the pc's when asleep or late at night.

But I do love the sexiness of a G5 vs. a G4. That goes unsaid.

 

[EHUnlucky7x9@ao]

I see the 1.6Ghz G5's selling in the $300 range. I figure that would be a better purchase than a G4 mini at the same price and possibly store more HD inside. I just don't know exactly how to create the best productive setup. What I care more about is getting rid of all these USB external drives that I have attached to my AL iMac so that the desk look a bit cleaner. Hence, take all the data from the three 500Gb externals and combine it into one as my Time Machine and iTunes drive. Also, allowing it to sync with my Apple TV and I'll never have to touch the machine. If I did have a G5, I'd connect it via LAN rather than the wireless G.

 

[kellen]

Well at that price it seems good to me.

 

[wizzracer]

At that price its all you need anyways. Strip out all the stuff you don't need sell that stuff. Install your drives and Setup sharing so you don't need a KB, mouse, or Monitor to do maintance and your set.

I just use a 1 year old $200.00 Acer Laptop and it works fine for Videos and Music streaming.

 

[soLoredd]

I use a G4 1.25ghz Mini with 512MB RAM. I have the stock 40GB HDD in there and have a 1TB MyBook connected to it via FW. It has 10.4.11 on it and I use screen sharing with my MBP via Leopard to make changes, add stuff to the library, etc. I would like to get Leopard on the Mini but I'm not sure how much of a hit it will take perfomance wise. Also, I do have only my movies & TV shows being served at the moment but I am considering putting my entire library on there and just using sharing from iTunes as well as Simplify for my iPhone.

That's the biggest issue for me right now. iTunes needs to be updated to somehow allow for syncing of a library on multiple computers. For example, I should be able to sync my MBP with the Mini so I can be on the go and have the same library. The way it is now, it's more efficient for me to keep the music on my MBP so I can sync my iPod/iPhone easily and also purchase from iTunes easily. I don't know, I guess I need to experiment some more.

Bottom line: the G4 Mini does work as needed and over N wireless to my Apple TV it takes 3-5 seconds for a movie to start (this is via streaming).