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PowerMac G5 as home server

P

peppz

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 13, 2004
36
0
Sweden /Luleå
Hey.

Last fall i bought a Imac i5 27" to replace my good old G5. A very nice machine if i may say so :)
Anyway, since then my G5 has only been collecting dust.
And that's a shame since i need a homeserver!

So, what OS would you macexperts recommend?
I would like to use it as nas/fileserver to store backups from my other macs, as a media server for movies, a small webserver for me and my friends.

It's a Dual 2.0 with 3GB ram.

Thanks in advance.
 
From the perspective of power use, are you sure just using external drives on your iMac wouldn't be a better choice? The heat output alone is tremendous on G5s, and the fact that they have only 2 internal drive bays mean that there are lots of more efficient options.
Keep in mind you can sell your G5 and probably get a few hundred dollars for it.
 
chrfr said:
From the perspective of power use, are you sure just using external drives on your iMac wouldn't be a better choice? The heat output alone is tremendous on G5s, and the fact that they have only 2 internal drive bays mean that there are lots of more efficient options.
Keep in mind you can sell your G5 and probably get a few hundred dollars for it.
Click to expand...

Hi. Thanks for your fast reply.
Yes, I know that it uses a lot of power and gets hot but thats not a problem where im gonna place it. I cant use external drives because i got different units that needs access to it almost 24/7 (win mediacenter, samsung tv mediaplayer. Blu-ray etc.) in different rooms. I thought about just using external drives and share them from the imac but its not possible since the imac almost once daily runs windows in bootcamp. I actually dont need more theb two drives. 2x2tb wd av-gp or maybe one 1tb for system and web and a 3tb drive for storage
I like "ma old pal G5" i dont want to sell it :)
 
i use an old Mac Mini G4 running Leopard as my home server.
all it does is act as a media server to my appletv's and run torrents (as well file sharing).

i use it without any monitor, keyboard and mouse and just control it using Screen Sharing.

runs perfect.
 
the PowerMac G5 makes a great server and it takes more then two drives , ok apple has thought about 2 drives to install , but there are third party option

here these optional things to fit more drives in the different G5's (PCI, PCIx and PCIe )and then it justifies the higher power consumption
http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=306
http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=307

and as a server you dont need newest apps installing abilities or such things or syncing phones , its only a server and you do not work on it ...for that purpose you got the iMac, so ideally i would go for OS X Server 10.4 , as its made for just that purpose
and i would install as many drives as possible in a raid setup as then the you get a significant speed increase of up to 500MB/s...you dont want to wait ages for data to come over the network
 
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MacHamster68 said:
the PowerMac G5 makes a great server and it takes more then two drives , ok apple has thought about 2 drives to install , but there are third party option to install 7 more Hdd's inside makes a total of 9 !!! on the PowerMac G5 with PCIexpress

so in theory if you fit 1 TB drives it can take 9 TB inside , easy to double if you take 2 Tb drives to 18 TB and then it makes real sense and justifies even a higher power consumption

here these optional things to fit more drives
http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=307

and as a server you dont need newest apps installing abilities or such things or syncing phones , its only a server and you do not work on it ...for that purpose you got the iMac, so ideally i would go for OS X Server 10.4 , as its made for just that purpose
Click to expand...

Ok. Maybe i should go with 10.4 server then. Just dont know where to get a 5 year old os :)
 
peppz said:
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Ok. Maybe i should go with 10.4 server then. Just dont know where to get a 5 year old os :)
Click to expand...

ebay? craiglist ? or maybe look even here in the marketplace , or even ask in the marketplace ?
 
MacHamster68 said:
ebay? craiglist ? or maybe look even here in the marketplace , or even ask in the marketplace ?
Click to expand...

U dont think i already had a look there? :)
Not to many sellers are keen on shipping to Sweden..
250bucks is the cheapest i can find inc. customs and stuff.

Well anyway, thanks for the help!
I will go with 10.4 server!
 
Personally, I wouldn't use a PM G5 as a home server based solely on power consumption (to a lesser extent, heat).
 
DesmoPilot said:
Personally, I wouldn't use a PM G5 as a home server based solely on power consumption (to a lesser extent, heat).
Click to expand...
Back when I still had a G5, leaving it on for probably 5 or so hours a day added about $25 per month to my electric bill. The Mac Pro I have now draws a bit less power, but it's not what I'd consider efficient.
 
DesmoPilot said:
Personally, I wouldn't use a PM G5 as a home server based solely on power consumption (to a lesser extent, heat).
Click to expand...

Not to be rude but i stated earlier that it isnt an issue.

chrfr said:
Back when I still had a G5, leaving it on for probably 5 or so hours a day added about $25 per month to my electric bill. The Mac Pro I have now draws a bit less power, but it's not what I'd consider efficient.
Click to expand...

Electricity in Sweden is cheap. Much cheaper compared to a lot other countries.
A G5 running 24/7 costs about $18-20 a month at the current currency.I know, because i have measured it and calculated it
It doesnt matter. All other interests i got consumes a lot more power.
Just one of my coralreef aquariums(i got two) consume alot more power.
Terrariums, stuff like that. Not to mention the home theater.
 
i agree there , if powerconsumption would be a issue i would possibly sit in front of a netbook with a intel atom instead of a iMac core duo just now ,
sure the G5 is using more power , but we dont talk about hundreds of £or $ per week , but as a server it will most times just idle along using less power , and the ability to still use the G5 as a fully functional computer has its advantages too ,
i have a G5 too in bits as i refurbish it and ordered already the sata controller and HDD mounts for cpu bay and optical bay from maxupgrades and as i will mainly use it for storage , but still will have the ability to let it work as a backup computer , despite the use as mainly as a server it is still a fully functional computer so it can do things you just cant do with a NAS for example which is draining power too
 
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Running the G5 as a server would be inconsequential for electricity.

The average home HVAC system dwarfs it in wattage.
 
peppz said:
Hey.

Last fall i bought a Imac i5 27" to replace my good old G5. A very nice machine if i may say so :)
Anyway, since then my G5 has only been collecting dust.
And that's a shame since i need a homeserver!

So, what OS would you macexperts recommend?
I would like to use it as nas/fileserver to store backups from my other macs, as a media server for movies, a small webserver for me and my friends.

It's a Dual 2.0 with 3GB ram.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Mac OS 10 is just fine. I used an iMac G3 266 Mhz running Jaguar with only 96 Mb's of Ram. It ran superbly, I would store Movies on it and connect to it via Connect to Server. BTW i was able to accomplish this with SharePoints.
 
deantonibrito said:
Can i use old G5 to be a server for High Sierra / Mojave macs?
whats the best solution? a PC?
Click to expand...
What are you trying to do as a "server"?

The reason I ask is because if your idea of a server is simply to set this G5 up and share a few folders then you will probably run into some compatibility and permissions issues. On top of that, G5s draw a lot of power so if the plan is to have this thing on 24/7 then you are going to take a hit on your electric bill. I know because I have a Quad and a 2.3 DC G5 that run 24/7 and never sleep.

Out of the box, a G5 is a client machine. It's designed to protect the files of the user account it's logged in to. So, unless you designate a particular disk (non-boot disk) to ignore permissions, than any time you have read/write operations on open files you'll probably be hit with a dialogue box telling you that you can't do that (unless you login under the credentials of that G5's local account). But if you are simply storing files and not opening them and saving them then you should have an easier time of it.

If you intend to run server software and then have sharepoints then this should be just fine. You'll just be concerned with the overal power draw.
 
eyoungren said:
What are you trying to do as a "server"?

The reason I ask is because if your idea of a server is simply to set this G5 up and share a few folders then you will probably run into some compatibility and permissions issues. On top of that, G5s draw a lot of power so if the plan is to have this thing on 24/7 then you are going to take a hit on your electric bill. I know because I have a Quad and a 2.3 DC G5 that run 24/7 and never sleep.

Out of the box, a G5 is a client machine. It's designed to protect the files of the user account it's logged in to. So, unless you designate a particular disk (non-boot disk) to ignore permissions, than any time you have read/write operations on open files you'll probably be hit with a dialogue box telling you that you can't do that (unless you login under the credentials of that G5's local account). But if you are simply storing files and not opening them and saving them then you should have an easier time of it.

If you intend to run server software and then have sharepoints then this should be just fine. You'll just be concerned with the overat
Click to expand...
 
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