I am going with a mac mini, maxed at 16gb, and with four cores, either the current or the new ones, which I expect to have pci ssds (which is no big deal if you'll be running your db from ram anyway), for a 50 strong company with 1-6 concurrent connections, for the time being.

 

I ‘ll have for starters about 2-3 go clients, 5 desktop clients, and the rest will be webdirect. On average I would expect 3 people to be inputting at any time and about another 3 browsing the db.

 

Are there any red flags that I should be aware of?

From the description you're underestimating the impact of fast disk i/o.  The databases are not run from RAM: FMS loads up the RAM cache as much as possible but continiously reads & writes changes to the hard disk.  Also backups (regular and progressive) use the disks.

 

There are 4 possible bottlenecks:

- disk i/o

- network bandwidth / latency

- processing power

- available memory

 

Not knowing the nature of your solution, its design, and what activities the users will do in the solution, the desired frequency of the backups (how much data are you willing to lose?), the overall size of the solution,... it's nearly impossible to tell you whether you are making a good decision or not.

 

With WebDirect, the potential for Perform Script on Server and other features, MacMinis become less and less viable as robust servers in my opinion.  But again: there are so many variables in the mix that it is hard to make blanket statements.

If the solution is business critical then skimping on deployment hardware is a false savings.

From the description you're underestimating the impact of fast disk i/o.  The databases are not run from RAM: FMS loads up the RAM cache as much as possible but continiously reads & writes changes to the hard disk.  Also backups (regular and progressive) use the disks.

 

I wasn't aware of that, I was under the impression you could max the cash on the server and have it run almost exclusively from RAM

 

There are 4 possible bottlenecks:

- disk i/o

- network bandwidth / latency

- processing power

- available memory

 

 

So, I guess the new minis pci ssds will be a considerable boost then (and maybe apple will go with 32gb max ram). My worry is mostly to do with network bandwidth and latency in terms of the ethernet hardware mac mini uses. Processing power is also a consideration, but to a much less of an extent.

 

 

Not knowing the nature of your solution, its design, and what activities the users will do in the solution, the desired frequency of the backups (how much data are you willing to lose?), the overall size of the solution,... it's nearly impossible to tell you whether you are making a good decision or not.

I understand, it's hard to quantify my solution without going into detail. 

 

 

With WebDirect, the potential for Perform Script on Server and other features, MacMinis become less and less viable as robust servers in my opinion.  But again: there are so many variables in the mix that it is hard to make blanket statements.

If the solution is business critical then skimping on deployment hardware is a false savings.

Sure, but at this stage I can't ask for a mac pro really. So I am cutting corners and keeping things small and manageable. 

 

Many thanks for your help!

 I guess the new minis pci ssds will be a considerable boost then 

 

Maybe, maybe not.  Almost certainly they will at the onset, but consumer-grade SSDs are showing signs of falling of a performance cliff relatively quickly when used for database operations (lots of reads and writes).

Again: depends heavily on the nature and use of your solution.

I am actually listening to your vtc course on the server Vim. I guess I 'd misconstrued the memory bit, and that I need to play a bit with trial an error to get an appreciation of performance issues. 

You may consider configuring your mac mini to backup to an external drive vs a network attached storage to minimize use of use of network bandwidth for backups.  You can go with an external thunderbolt or usb 3.0 drive.  Upgrade your network to cat6 if it's not already.  I'd also recommend an active cooling solution like a laptop stand/fan cooler for your mac mini to sit on top of.  Keeping your Mac Mini's base elevated and cooled will help it continue to run more efficiently.