Mac Mini hard drive

[David Arnold]

I ran a G4 mini as a server for a while and currently running a Duo  
as a media server (wife uses it daily!!). I simply got one of the  
NewerTech miniStack external FireWire cases from OWC and put a full  
size hard drive (with 5 year warranty) in there. The only thing on  
the mini's internal hard drive is the OS and a couple of applications  
- the video streaming comes off the external.

David


On Mar 30, 2006, at 2:56 PM, xtensionlist at hutchfx.com wrote:

> Hey List!
>
> I'm about to pull the trigger on purchasing a refurbished Mac Mini  
> to become my X4X server, tucked happily away in a closet. I'm  
> looking at the 1.25, 512 with a combo drive and no airport for $430  
> from the Apple Store. They're going for a little less than that on  
> ebay, but I'd prefer to spend a little more and get an Apple  
> Certified Refurb. X4X is currently running just fine on my G4 450,  
> so I don't think I need the additional speed of the 1.42.
>
> I've been reading about the Mini in the Macintouch archives (http:// 
> www.macintouch.com/macmini.html) and there is a lot of discussion  
> there about dangers of using the Mini in a server application  
> (though lots of people seem to be doing it). They say that the  
> notebook hard drives in the Mini are designed to handle spinning up  
> and down frequntly, but NOT to run constantly.
>
> X4X on my current desktop machine was subject to delays when I had  
> it on an external drive that didn't spin all the time. After moving  
> it to the internal drive that always spins I don't get those  
> delays... so I think I would want the drive in the Mini to always  
> spin, but I would worry about early drive failure.
>
> Does anyone have experience with, or input about this?
>
> OWC currently has a stackable Mini sized 3.5" HD enclosure at a  
> bargain price (http://tinyurl.com/hcu8h), so I could use an  
> external boot drive. Is anyone doing this?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Hutch