Xserve g5 or mac mini c2d for home server.

[iphong]

Hi, yesterday apple has officially ended support for Powerpc. It made my decision even harder now. I was going to get a used xserve G5 for 399 off ebay, and put more hard drive to make a home file server and website hosting. Im currently having leopard server on my Mac Pro, but im thinking of having a delicated server to run 24/7 just to serve all the macs in my household. My Mac pro is doing great now, but sometimes i load up bootcamp to play some game then nobody is able to naccess files anymore.

My plan is use the xserve as an uplink connect direct to the internet and then share its internet connection to a gigabit switch and draft n router. It will host several of my web services and most importantly, store all of my movies, music and documents so they can be accessible throughout the house.

My alternative solution is to get a mac mini (i want this for snow leopard support) but the down side is that.

It has only 1 ethernet port (no big deal)
I cant use my existing hard drives without buying external enclosures
Limit amount of ram
Ability to run 24/7

And the xserve look a lot better next to my macpro too..!


So, what do you guys think?

I just spent more then 2K on my new macbook pro, and i really dont want to spend another 2K for a Xeon Xserve. No definitely not. Im out of budget now.

 

[Andrew Henry]

Just because the G5 server wont beable to run SL, what exactly is it you cant do with Leopard Server that you need SL for?

Also heres your list of complaints with the Mini:

It has only 1 ethernet port (no big deal) - who cares?
I cant use my existing hard drives without buying external enclosures - this is probably the biggest limitation for you

Limit amount of ram - This would only be a big deal if you are planning on hosting high traffic websites and such, thats based on personal need, I cant really tell you

Ability to run 24/7 - My 1.66 CD Mac Mini has been on for just over 35 days, only stopping to restart for updates periodically, it is my home server for all of my Macs, plus has 4 external drives 2 x 500gb, 2 x 1tb serving my AppleTV, and I also run internal websites on it for beta testing, and it only has 2gb of ram, and it hasnt let me down yet

So in my opinion both are going to be good choices, basically its up to what you want, obviously as a 'server' the G5 is a good choice, but if you cant possibly live without SL, then you should go with the Mini both will serve you well.

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

That is something I have been thinking for a while. I have found some very good prices for the G5 server.

However, I am going for the mini and the drobo firewire 800. It has been an expensive but absolutely excellent system. I have upgraded the RAM on the mini. I am also thinking of getting an SSD for the mini. A small one that is very fast so that I can use it just for the system etc.

 

[GreatDrok]

We used to run Xserve G5s at my old job. Great machines, really nicely made. HELLISHLY NOISY. You really really don't want to be in the same room as one of these things. They're designed to be rack mounted in an A/C'd environment, not parked next to your Mac Pro in a domestic environment.

Personally I use a cheap Compaq box running CentOS Linux as my home server and that works very well indeed.

 

[Umbongo]

We used to run Xserve G5s at my old job. Great machines, really nicely made. HELLISHLY NOISY. You really really don't want to be in the same room as one of these things. They're designed to be rack mounted in an A/C'd environment, not parked next to your Mac Pro in a domestic environment.

Personally I use a cheap Compaq box running CentOS Linux as my home server and that works very well indeed.

This can't be emphasised enough.