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Mac Mini boxes
5 years ago I hooked up two Mac Mini boxes, to act as "Server",
and the other one as "Router" for the local Internet Exchange (in Bucharest),
a /24 x PI from RIPE, 16-bit ASN, S/FTP Cat7 cables, GPU dongles, etc ..
For achieve 10GbE connectivity and carry all the traffic of our participants
I had to get some SONNET Twin10G SFP+. The other Mac was able to handles
a few customers (15 or so). Mainly it was a homelab but it does
it jobs pretty well. Funny things (behind the scene) with VMware Fusion
I was able to kept the same uptime even if the "Server" itself it had to do
upgrades (of the OS), rebooting -- or a longer power outage.
We choose Mac Mini's because of their light power draw/consumption,
a premium hardware in my opinion, the costs of those to own are
a bit huge than a bargain server, it can goes up to a $70 bucks
per month just for renting with lower specs.
"A server is a server, you cannot beat the beast" - Facts. I had plenty
of them, I am still remembering that day when @Andreix bought one
from me. :-) I still remember that day when I found an article when
LINX (London Internet Exchange) was able to handles 95% of total UK internet traffic
on those little beasts. I also like complicated things, (who don't really?)
and the noise of an Mac Mini's. (naughty)
Recently we have been re-designing our own Datacenter (in Bacau) a land property
of 700 m2, core, network, and IP connectivity, and as part of this overhaul
I decided to spread around our love (idea) for Mac Mini's.
-- "Don't hate the hacker, hate the code."
Comments
YABS
@emgh
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0b46E4mp_V8
Like your enthusiasm and so. But I think you're confusing me with some other dude... I never bought mac boxes from anyone tbh.
But again, thumbs up for your enthusiasm.
@Andreix - it was an HP DL Server
I think you confused me with someone else really. Or if you sold that server via ebay... could be possible.
As @emgh azked... YABS?
Shit! I just remembered... If you done this deal in Bucharest it may have been Marius, the other co-founder of LayerBridge.
I remember he said something about a G8 HP Server he bought for his garage NAS with some improvised holes for screws in the chassis.
Mac mini (Late 2020)
https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/mac-mini-late-2020
It was modified to support any HDD
yap
Mac Mjni is one of the best option for “dedicated servers”
And yes, it can run Windows Server OS as well
@zmeu
What did you use for 10G @ RJ45 Switch wise?
whats in teh safe under teh macs?
Gets even better with the M3 and its variations
https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/macbook-pro-16-inch-nov-2023-12c-cpu-18c-gpu
Single-Core Score - 3107
Multi-Core Score - 15275
A good q is, can the MBP consistently perform or throttles to maintain stability?
Mac Mini price (for late 2020) is around $400-450 range and can run 24x7 as server in a smaller space with lower power consumption
hmmm, I had an M1 laying around somewhere....
Here is my mini pc hidden in a basket under stand up desk.
I have my daily laptop hidden in a similar way
It’s a MacBook Air with the M3 chip, I bought a laptop holder that’s mounted underneath the desk
Really nice
I basically use it as a hidden desktop but it’s easy to take out for meetings etc
i don't think i've heard my M3 Max Macbook Pro's fan before, or it's just so quiet i don't notice it turning on
Can you, for troubleshooting purposes, play a YouTube video and see if you hear that?
for shits i tried on my ipad, but i couldn't hear any fans either
@mw
Nice score, I feel bad for your coolers, they might have died.
Now, jokes aside.
@zmeu
You are using these in PROD? did not have any issues? like weird stalls, crashes, you know, the usual OS error stuff.
i wanna know if anyone on LET is using Mac Mini with Asahi Linux for anything interesting! Windows runs but Windows on Arm sucks compared to Mac Rosetta emulation
pets optiplex cluster
It is not about the Love for them, we do
those little boxes for the punch they can do, I/we have only one problem, since we rent out rack space - BMC/ILO/IDRAC.
500 or 5000 KM away, it would be challenging to deploy / debug them / reinstall and so on.
If you own your DC, yes, I would definitely do MAC's and other stuff, even desktop CPU products, but remotely, trusting the hands on of the DC, I remain reluctant.
If you manage to find a good solution for remote access to them, I am all ears.
Storage wise, I am sure there is a way to do ISCSI to them....
i do know there are KVM and rack kits for Mac Mini if you'd ever consider hosting them
@host_c - those Macs can do almost anything if you use OS X but as I said (naughty) you cannot compare with an regular Server but if you still want to do so you should take a look into Mac Pro Cube (those with Xenon). If you have in plan to use Linux then you have to “bypass” some things - otherwise are getting hot. “5 years ago” - had no issues at all and i kept them online for 3 years. I moved them in a Rack with fans, etc. Kind reminder - stay away from AMD units. Yes - you can re-install any OS remotely, I posted there an YouTube video from MacStadium.
TOS: if you have in plan to use in prod for other things than doing some fancy stuff, you’ll need a programmer. 🤣
For Remote Access, you could get a big KVM switch and one Raritan / Spider duo as main I/O kvm controller. Then just switch the targets from your kvm switch.
a Xeon in the age of ARM? for shame!