Mac Mini as server: Core Solo vs. Core Duo?

[xochi]

Does anyone have real-world experience comparing a single vs dual processor chip (either PPC or Intel) for running filemaker server 8? I'm thinking of setting up a cheap server using an Intel Mac Mini, and wondering if the $200 or so price jump for the Duo is going to show much real-world performance gains. Am I better off spending $200 on 2 gigs of ram instead and getting the Core Solo?

[Vaughan]

From what I have gathererd from around the web, the Mac Mini's hard disk is it's weakest link. For server use, plan on replacing the disk with a better, faster, more reliable drive.

Yes to 2 gigs of RAM. Yes to Dual core. Get both, you won't regret it.

[xochi]

Done -- upgrading was a major PITA, mainly because the Intel macs require the boot drive to be partitioned differently, and I also had some sort of KEXT which was causing the Intel Mini to KP. I think it was part of the Stuffit package.

In the end, I just rebuilt the server drive from scratch, which was not entirely wasted effort as it gave me a chance to update the disaster documentation.

It's all working now, seems to have teh snappy (though I can't do serious testing as I'm stuck on 8.0v3 clients running under rosetta).

[Bob White]

The mini has the smaller 2.5 inch drive like the PowerBook laptops. A member of our Mac user group set up a mini as a server for his home system of several Macs. The hard drive failed after about 8 months. For servers, it is better to stick with the standard 3.5 inch drives. (Note: This was a G5 mini.)

Edited August 19, 2006 by Guest

[xochi]

The mini has the smaller 2.5 inch drive like the PowerBook laptops. A member of our Mac user group set up a mini as a server for his home system of several Macs. The hard drive failed after about 8 months. For servers, it is better to stick with the standard 3.5 inch drives. (Note: This was a G5 mini.)

G5 mini, huh? Never saw that one :-)

I agree about the mini drives. I tend to set mine up to boot and run from high performance 2.5" external drives connected via firewire. I know that a 3.5" external would be better, but I find that performance is fine, and the 2.5" ones use so little power that I feel better about the increased runtime from my UPS if the power goes out. I use a 2nd 2.5" external firewire drive as a backup, in case the first one goes out. Then I use the internal drive as a third backup location. (then, to be sure, I mail encrypted DMGs on DVDs to an offsite location).

As you might guess, I've been burnt by failing drives before...

Another idea I've had would be to get an external firewire RAID-1, 3 or 5 system and boot from that. Those, however, are not low power devices.