Windows 2008 r2 (x64) on a 2010 Mac Mini Server

[tekkierich]

I am trying to load Windows 2008 R2 on a brand new mac mini server. I have a USB DVD burner hooked up with the 2008 DVD inserted. I hold down option(alt) and then choose the CD to boot off of. It then said hit any key to boot from CD, I do, then I get a black bar across the bottom that says loading windows files. That bar take a minute or so to completely go to the right, and then the process does not continue any further.

I don't really feel like I should need to use BootCamp to complete this as I only want to use this as a 2008 server, and I want 100% of the hard drive capacity dedicated as so.

What am I doing wrong?

Secondly, does anyone know if I will have the opportunity to set things up to use the two internal drives in a striped RAID 0, and still boot from them?

Many thanks

 

[walshlink]

I think you will need to use Boot Camp to emulate BIOS otherwise you cannot boot into Windows (as you are seeing).

Furthermore, Boot Camp does not support Windows Server 2003/8.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_(software)

 

[DannySmurf]

Furthermore, Boot Camp does not support Windows Server 2003/8.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_(software)

That shouldn't actually be a problem. Those systems will run fine on a Mac mini.

 

[dawsonj]

How do you do it?

That shouldn't actually be a problem. Those systems will run fine on a Mac mini.

Hey danny, since they both run fine can you point to a guide on how to do it?

thanks I want to install SQL server, analysis services, windows server etc etc all 2008R2

will any mac mini brand new work (assuming upgrade memory to 8G) or is the quad core server a better idea?

 

[DannySmurf]

Hey danny, since they both run fine can you point to a guide on how to do it?

thanks I want to install SQL server, analysis services, windows server etc etc all 2008R2

will any mac mini brand new work (assuming upgrade memory to 8G) or is the quad core server a better idea?

I don't think I used a guide (that's going back a while ago now). IIRC, I installed each driver package manually, as the main Boot Camp driver install would not run on a server OS. I also had to go find the Mac Pro boot camp package, as x64 versions of Windows were not supported on mini hardware are the time. That shouldn't be a problem now. For the install itself, just run it as if you were installing a consumer version of Windows. The differences in setup are just cosmetic.

When I did this, the machine I used was a white Core 2 Duo model with 3GB of RAM, so yes, any configuration will work. Obviously, it will be smoother if you have better hardware. Adjust your expectations to the system you're using.