Hello Lew Why do you need that drive specifically? I don't understand why you couldn't boot from another external DVD drive as we do with our SL server machine when we need too.
The new Minis have 2.5-inch drives. We've been looking into ways to chain them, but currently we can't find any way since a RAID array would require 4 drives in order to do it properly. I'm not even sure if the Mini supports hardware RAID, I 'd have to ask Gordon, I'm sure he will know. Yes, we're using Lion server, although it's proving to be a real swine to configure in some ways. Apple has butchered the OS Server tools and that's why we'd like SL Server on there at least to start with, if possible. If you want to take this discussion off list, so as not to bore the other members, feel free. Lynne On 18 Nov 2011, at 18:46, Mr. L. Alexander wrote: booting from DVD is possible. you would need apple's macbook air superdrive to do so. it goes well with the mac minis. I'm trying to remember if the new mac minis use 2.5 or 3.5" drives. I think it's the former of the two. the macbook pro 2009 model which I have here is fairly easy to upgrade. are you still apple care covered? if so, the only problem you will encounter is, if the HDD goes wrong, it's not apple covered, so that pat of the warranty is void. SSD on the mac minis would be a worthwhile consideration as they are going to be used as servers. chain them together as one complete host if you can and then cluster control them. Are you using OS X lion server? oops of course you are lol. hhhhhhmmmmmmm oops oh dear I just had a chime moment lol. go for the upgrades which will make your macs run to their optimum performance. SSD does have speed advantages and easier performance boosting. only problem I have with the SSD cards is they cannot handle RAID. oh well. lol lew On 18 Nov 2011, at 18:29, Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith wrote: > Hello Lew > > On 18 Nov 2011, at 18:16, Mr. L. Alexander wrote: > > • I'd advise that only a certified mac engineer do this work. it's a complex > task to remove all casing screws, then get to the hdd. not like windows > machines where access doors are under the machine. It can however be done but > if your notebook is under warrenty, take it to a warrenty approved apple > service centre or retail store. > > We don't have either of those close to us. We might be able to find a > reseller; I'm not sure. But the closes Apple Store to us is about 45 miles > North of here. I know that PCWorld in the UK sell Apple hardware but I > wouldn't take the thing there if you paid me! i've seen the kind of > workmanship that the so-called engineers at the local branch of that store > turn out, and it's truly appalling if they call themselves professionals. > > • SSD though faster is expensive. you're looking at more money for a 256gb as > an example than a 750gb 7200rpm drive. > > Yes, I realise that. I was thinking from the perspective of speed at least > where our servers are concerned. Our servers process tens of thousands of > messages per day, most of which are spam. But the more speed we can pull out > of these things the better. > > The Quad Core Minis use an Intel® I7 processor, and they all have 8GB of RAM > in them now which is the most they can handle. Buying the RAM from Crucial > saved us a very great deal of money in terms of how much we'd have paid from > Apple. In fact, when you add it all up the cost was only something like 50% > of what Apple would have charged to equip the 4 quad core Mac Minis. > > The problem with the new quad core Minis is that you cannot boot from DVD as > far as I can see. Thus, you have no alternative but to use Lion Server. You > couldn't even use the regular Lion as far as I know, not that we need too. > But for configuration purposes it would be utterly magic if I could have one > of these quad cores running SL Server. > > • If you want extra performance, consider a 7200rpm version of the 2.5in > drive in a maximum 750gb capacity. I use this on my macbook pro. however, the > heatsink on the smaller machines might not support it. let me look into the > technotes and come back to you on that lol > > I'd appreciate that. the new Minis are tiny; about half the thickness of the > old models. But at least you can remove the foot on the bottom of the machine > to get access to memory and the motherboard. The memory upgrade was easy, > even for me. I did all that work myself but there again as you rightly say it > didn't involve any major disassembly. > > If the 750GB drives would work I'd certainly consider that route. > > Lynne > > <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> > > To reply to this post, please address your message to > [email protected] > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at > either the list's own dedicated web archive: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> > or at the public Mail Archive: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. > Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and > worm-free! > > Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting > the list website at: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. 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