Just won an auction on a mac Mini G4, and my plan is to use it as a file and backup server, should I expect any complications in doing so?
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Mac Mini G4
- Thread starter LordeOurMother
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It might be slightly slower than an Intel Mac mini due to the 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet port, but otherwise as a file server it should work fine.
Use external drives (if that's the route you go) that are FireWire, much faster than USB
FireWire 400 is only a few megabytes per second faster than USB 2. You'd be limited by the T-100 Ethernet before the USB 2 bus.
The mini has two USB ports if I recall
doesn't do much good if you are using a keyboard/mouse that aren't the apple set, and a hub is just more crap to own.
The mini has two USB ports if I recall
for the most part i doubt ill have a keyboard and mouse plugged into it,
The mini has two USB ports if I recall
While the Mini does have two USB ports, the bandwidth is indeed limited by the network interface. If it is a simple file server then OP may just run it headless without a keyboard, mouse, or monitor and simply use SSH and other remote protocols for administration.
That being said, for all file transfers across drives locally, FireWire would indeed be faster!
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Indeed. It is quite a shame that the G4 era of Mini's were crippled by limited USB ports, 10/100 Ethernet, and a single G4 processor.
I wouldn't think a GPU would matter for a file server, quickly glancing at it to see if it's running fine. For using it as a main or something of the sort, then definitely it would be a contributing factor.
The gpu on these is a shame, sad to say. However for basic computing or a small file server that shouldn't be an issue is presume.
Oh ok... That makes more sense. I don't own one, so I'm not sure just how bad they are inside these computers. After all, they were supposed to be the cheap Mac.
That being said, for a file server (or almost any task) a first-gen Intel Mac mini would be better due to the 1000 BASE-T Ethernet port and superior CPU/GPU. However, as a file server the G4 mini should work fine as long as you're fine with the speeds being limited by the Ethernet port.
Yeah but i can't justify the price jump for what amounts to something I use as a back up-back up (the "plan c/3rd back up") to my g5, as well as extra storage for files i don't use anymore.
Heh... A Raspberry Pi would be so much better than a G4 Mini for this task... for around the same price
So???
I was comparing a Pi to a Mini G4. I'm not pushing the Pi, i'm saying that the Pi beats the mini and it's so much smaller.
So???
I was comparing a Pi to a Mini G4. I'm not pushing the Pi, i'm saying that the Pi beats the mini and it's so much smaller.
It doesn't. Also 10/100 and it does not run any form of OSX.
The Pi has a 10/100 port just like the Mini?
Huh...
It does not matter what OS it runs; any OS will work as a file server.
But if the Pi has the same 100Mbit/s ethernet port like the mini then... It isn't better.
For an Apple file server you will want Time Machine support as a minimum. Good luck with getting that to work smoothly. If you don't mind recompiling and debugging constantly then you CAN get AFP shares to work, otherwise the slower SMB is your lot.
Not better than a Mac Mini, in other words.
Not better than a Mac Mini, in other words.
To add to that, I'll just say that Leopard Server makes remote time machine backups a piece of cake.
I have a designated 1TB time machine drive in my Xserve. The first time I power on a computer with Leopard with the server on line, "the magic happens" and it sets everything up automatically.
As I said, the $90 I paid for a copy of Leopard Server was worth every penny of it.