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Mac Mini as Web Server

S

Slovig

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 28, 2007
69
0
Hey. I bought my first mac, the Black MacBook, in June. Love it. I'm looking into getting a computer to run as a personal web server. I was looking into buying a mac mini, upgrading a few parts, and installing OS X Server on it. Has anyone tried this? Does the mini have what it takes to run as a small server?

Thanks,

Jesse
 
Slovig said:
Hey. I bought my first mac, the Black MacBook, in June. Love it. I'm looking into getting a computer to run as a personal web server. I was looking into buying a mac mini, upgrading a few parts, and installing OS X Server on it. Has anyone tried this? Does the mini have what it takes to run as a small server?

Thanks,

Jesse
Click to expand...
i run this as my mail server and a testing web server
it has what it takes, but if you get the digg effect, then it will not be able to handle it.
 
i run my g4 mini as a web server as well, no need to run os x server though, MAMP will be good enough for what you need and it's free.
 
seconded, os x server is overkill. i run two xservers and powermac g4 server in my lab. os x server is good for open directory and other stuff to run my 40 stations, but overkill for the Web. osx has all server functionality built in, it is *nix after all. and what it doesn't have you can d/l. os x sever would be a HUGE waste for a personal or even small business Web server.
 
How much RAM can the Mini's hold? Do all models have the same max capacity?
 
Mac minis are great web servers. As the others said, you wouldn't need to buy Leopard Server just for web. You can just enable the built-in Apache and PHP. If you have more then one site, vhosts make it easy.

The Mac mini can handle up to 3GB of RAM, though you'll have to install that yourself since Apple only sells it with up to 2GB.
 
stukdog said:
The Mac mini can handle up to 3GB of RAM, though you'll have to install that yourself since Apple only sells it with up to 2GB.
Click to expand...

Hold on, even the older Mac Mini's, the ones with only 2 USB ports, can support up to 3GB? I've been reading that they can only support 1GB.

deriko100 said:
How do you run it as your mail server, whats the digg effect, why would you make a mac mini a server?
Click to expand...

The digg effect, is when your site gets on Digg's front page, and thousands of people go to you page. And mac mini's would be a perfect server, because its small, and reliable.
 
Personal server? Yes, its fine.

Will OSX Server work? Yes, I use it at work all the time.

Do you need OSX Server? 500 bucks for the OS when OSX Client can do the same (turn on Web Sharing in the sharing preferences pain), makes this a no no for the average user.

Do you need a lot of ram for this? No, an old G3/G4 with 256 would work. Apache (the webserver) doesn't require much unless your handling a large load (which you shouldn't be).

Digg effect? Used to be called the Slashdot effect, I guess times are changing. But it wouldn't be an issue if its just your Grandma and friends looking at it.

Good luck!
 
i have a P4 that my family wants to throw away that i want to set up as a server,, thing is,, i have no idea what to do and how to do it...
 
deriko100 said:
How do you run it as your mail server, whats the digg effect, why would you make a mac mini a server?
Click to expand...
how i run it as a mail server, is that i have developed my own mail server.

digg effect is many people going to your site t once

mac mini is a very small computer and i can hide it easily that is what makes it a great personal server
 
Slovig said:
Hold on, even the older Mac Mini's, the ones with only 2 USB ports, can support up to 3GB? I've been reading that they can only support 1GB.
Click to expand...

No, the G4 minis can only handle 1GB. The 1.66 early Intel ones can handle 2GB. But the most current 1.83 and 2.0 can handle 3GB.
 
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