[FX.php List] Economical Mac Server setup

[Dale Bengston]

Used equipment is a pretty good way to go, in my opinion. Very often,  
dollar value does not keep pace with capability. Most companies  
selling off high-end hardware like G5s are doing so because they've  
moved on to Intel. The market for these machines is people doing  
graphics, print and video production. The difference between a new Mac  
and a two-year-old Mac is huge for people on the front lines of such  
production. So, it may be yesterday's technology for them, but for the  
rest of us, a G5 is still a wicked server platform.

My dad worked in electronics manufacturing for around about 100 years,  
and he taught me the 48-hour rule: if you run a new piece of  
electronics for 48 hours and it's still running, it'll probably run  
forever. Most failures occur within that length of time. (Disclaimers  
of course for mistreatment/abuse, and of course components with moving  
parts like hard drives and power supplies.) So, a used G5 is probably  
good for another 3-5 years.

For the type of web-based work we're doing, and as Bob P has pointed  
out, hard drive RPM and RAM are more important than raw processor  
speed. In both of these categories, the expansion options are better  
for a G5 than they are for a mini. My rule of thumb is, a server  
should be a server, and run on server-class hardware. A mini is not  
server class. We're talking a laptop hard drive here.

That said, I have two more comments:

1. I absolutely love Mac minis. I wish I had five of them in a stack.  
I have used one as an internal testing/dev server for years. I would  
not put one out facing clients (or their customers) though. I now have  
a Mac mini in my living room, hooked up to my TV and stereo, as well  
as the Internet. Pretty cool.

2. One could make the case for buying used Mac Pros instead of G5s  
now, as Apple will soon start dropping pre-Intel hardware off the  
supported lists for OS X. If you want to take used hardware into the  
future, and keep up to date on OS X, go Intel.

My 2¢.

Dale

On Feb 10, 2009, at 7:30 PM, Troy Meyers wrote:

> Bob,
>
> Since I started this mess, I ought to point out that I was  
> suggesting getting a NEW Mini, not a used one. I personally have  
> less faith in a used machine (why did they get rid of it?) than a  
> new one.
>
> We've got 5 here, they are in a business situation (wise or not),  
> with various forms of FileMaker on all, and none have failed in  
> constant use.
>
> Unless I misunderstood, what John originally asked about was an  
> economical way to fix up his client for an in-house machine, with  
> just a "handful" of users, and one or two web clients. It didn't  
> sound like a taxing situation. Here, I'm not too concerned about a  
> machine failure because we have the backups on external drives, and  
> it's so easy to plop in a new Mini if it should happen.
>
> I know this isn't an argument, just a difference of opinion, a  
> different approach. Thought I should put in my 3rd cent.
>
> -Troy
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