(First a comment: Why is this thread not in the tech category? That's always been a head-scratcher)
Onward to the actual message!
I use a
2009 Mac Mini as a server in my basement, because...well, it's a tiny little computer that I can have doing all the stuff I want to keep running all the time that only draws ~30W (on average). Minecraft, DNS, download caching, VPN access while I'm away from home, whatever I want to set up and/or try out. But it's from 2009, which means it maxes out at 8GB RAM, has only
a dual-core 2.26GHz CPU, is limited to just SATA2 internally, only has 1 Ethernet port, etc. And while I
did acquire some actual server-class hardware (relatively) recently, I'm not so sure I want dual 6-core processors and a ~1000W PSU churning away in my basement 24/7 at only 2-5% utilization, either.
So when Apple
finally got around to updating the Mini this year to something "more pro-like" with more than 2 cores again, I was stoked.
...for about 30 minutes. Yes, mainly because of the price. But also cuz there's this:
Sure, there are a lot of asterisks in that video, but the message is pretty clear. I know Apple said they wanted to bring
a more pro-focused Mini to market, and they arguably
did do just that (within the confines of its tiny form factor), BUT there are so many inherent
drawbacks to using it as a serious "pro" machine, while simultaneously there is no more US$400 "Oh I guess you don't need all the pro features" model for those of us who don't want to spend all that extra money and just basically want CPU+RAM+LAN in a box, especially since once you move up to the 6-core option, you're essentially spending just as much as you would to buy a quad-core iMac that is comparable in performance BUT with the iMac you would also get a 4k screen, a mouse/trackpad, and a keyboard.
Ah well. I'm already in the process of building a
PFSense overkill routing box* to give me more flexibility with routing (basically because I want to be able to have MUCH more fine-grained control over our network,
especially when it comes to restricting my son's machine(s)...), perhaps I will start looking into bare-metal virtualization and have it take on more responsibilities OR maybe I'll just buy a NUC or decommissioned 2015 SFF POS/desktop machine to replace it. We'll see.
--Patrick
*It's going to be based on
Xeon E3-1275L V3** +
Supermicro X10SLM+-LN4F for the curious.
**Ok this is weird, the 1275
L is no longer listed
anywhere on Intel's website. It's apparently been scrubbed for some reason and I could only find the link in
Google's cache or on
the Wayback Machine. INN
NNnnnteresting...