I am thinking of picking one one of the new Mac Mini's and using it as a home server, i basically have 3 major uses in mind for it and want to make sure it will work the way i want it to before i go ahead and spend 600-1000$ for a new mini.
I have quite a few movies/TV shows on iTunes and would like to be able to stream them to my Apple TV without it being a pain in the ass, currently my iTunes library is on my PC but the thing has a 1200w power supply and even idle it uses tons of juice.
I want to use a Mac Mini to replace it, will i need to wake the computer from sleep mode manually? Or will it wake up when i try to access the library from my Apple TV? I don't want to have to wake up/boot the computer to watch a movie, i want the mini to be asleep until i try and access it through the Apple TV, is that possible? Can i use a Time Capsule to do this instead?
Can i use one of the drives in a mini has a time machine destination drive for my MacBook Air? Do i need OS X server for it?
With the wireless syncing feature of iTunes coming in iOS 5 would it be possible to setup the mini so that all apps and podcasts auto download, i want for playlists, podcasts, progress in audiobooks and apps get updated automatically without needing to have to do it manually, i am assuming except app downloads is probably possible?
The nice people at Apple did not seem to sure when i called them and asked, so hoping you guys/gals can help me out.
Was going to just get a Time Capsule for backups but something that would be able to handle all 3 would be great.
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Using the new Apple Mac Mini as a iTunes server/time machine destination drive disk
You'll need OS X Server to use it as a Time Machine backup device, and no, a Time Capsule will not work for media streaming.
I believe if you enable wake on LAN in the power settings, you won't have to wake it up manually.
The podcast thing will totally work with iTunes WiFi sync, and you're right about apps. Unfortunately you can't have them automatically update... You can update them on your device and it will push the update to the Mac Mini though.
Are you planning on running it headless in a closet? Or will you have it hooked up to a display with a keyboard and mouse?
I believe if you enable wake on LAN in the power settings, you won't have to wake it up manually.
The podcast thing will totally work with iTunes WiFi sync, and you're right about apps. Unfortunately you can't have them automatically update... You can update them on your device and it will push the update to the Mac Mini though.
Are you planning on running it headless in a closet? Or will you have it hooked up to a display with a keyboard and mouse?
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I just picked up the Mac mini server, but do not have answers for your questions. Honestly I am wondering the same thing.
I'll do some tests when I get a chance (but if some one else knows, I want to be notified, thus this response).
I'll do some tests when I get a chance (but if some one else knows, I want to be notified, thus this response).
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Hi there,
I'm also thinking about picking a Mac mini server for the same usages - sharing my iTunes library and backups through Time Machine. I have also looked into other ways of doing this (basically FreeBSD/FreeNAS + Netatalk + Bonjour), but I'm not so sure the costs involved are worth it (hardware + time spent setting it up).
Did any of you guys have success setting up the mini?
Thanks =)
I'm also thinking about picking a Mac mini server for the same usages - sharing my iTunes library and backups through Time Machine. I have also looked into other ways of doing this (basically FreeBSD/FreeNAS + Netatalk + Bonjour), but I'm not so sure the costs involved are worth it (hardware + time spent setting it up).
Did any of you guys have success setting up the mini?
Thanks =)
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