My new Mac mini server! (Late 2012)

[@patrick6580]

Tom, great video really enjoyed it. That Samsung SSD isn’t a msata one, it’s a full size Samsung 830 drive. It’s actually the first ssd I ever had too. Glad to see the mini has gone to a good home.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Thanks for the clarification on the drive! Big coincidence that we both went with the 830 as our first SSD 😀 Huge thanks again, Pat. Loving the upgrade and looking forward to covering it even more in the future on the channel.

[@KylesTechChannel01]

It's been pretty awesome seeing my old 2009 Mac Mini live on as "Venus" but its time has totally come, I'm glad its served you so well for all this time :)

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

It was emotional to retire it from daily service!!! It's been tremendous! I'll think up something groovy to do with it for another fun video down the line 😀

[@HometownUnicorn]

I think you missed an easy joke there, about the box being upside down and it being from Australia

[@TalesOfWar]

Until he carried on I genuinely thought he was making a joke because of that lol

[@loganbull6351]

me too lol

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Damn!

[@doggoli]

An hour long IMNC video full of server goodness? Thanks Tom, this is an awesome birthday present! :D

[@BigRhys02]

Happy birthday my guy I hope Tom sees this

[@caleblastname6969]

Happy Birthday, man

[@BenCos2018]

happy birthday

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope you're having an awesome day!

[@doggoli]

Awe!! Thank you guys so much!!! It means a lot to me knowing this community is so friendly, oh and thanks Tom for taking the time to reply! Your content has gotten me through some very tough times in life and I will always be greatful for it :DDDD

[@wrightsublette1701]

I absolutely **LOVE** your channel. Today I recommended your channel to my friends James and John at the RetroMac Cast pod cast and they gave your a shot out! :) You have helped me fall back in love with all my Macs. Cheers! - Wright

[@snoopee110]

Looks like you mastered the art of "Maneuvering your hand to plug stuff in behind your rack". Very cool

[@TheOriginalCollectorA1303]

These are awesome machines! My main Mac is a 2012 Mini and with the 16gb RAM and the 2TB SSD I upgraded it with, it feels like a new machine! It isn’t even an i7 model, it’s an i5 but still has excellent performance. Also FireWire!

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

That's awesome to hear! These 2012-2013 machines really do hold their own even to this day. My MacBook Pro from late 2013 is still wonderful, and like yourself, I'm finding that the Mac mini 2012 is still totally capable.

[@TheOriginalCollectorA1303]

Definitely, I don’t plan on upgrading anytime soon, solid machines!

[@ashleycox432]

Great video and a really nice donation to the channel. My first Mac (besides dabbling with an early Powermac G4) was a 2007 Mac mini and I really loved it. It handled everything I threw at it. I considered one of these 2012 server machines for ages as a studio machine, and the temptation to buy another 2007 mini for nostalgia is strong.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Thanks man! Really cool to hear your first machine was a 2007 mini. I have such a soft spot for the 2007 era Mac lineup, simply due to the amount of time I used to spend lusting after them until I finally got my 2007 MacBook after what felt like an eternity of waiting! Special machines.

[@M1GarandNut]

Thank you again! I just watched and commented on your 2009 mini server setup but came across this one for the 2012 which is what I have. So I am so grateful for this video even more. I had a question on the 2009 one which would stand still even for this on. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to future videos.

[@PhilipAnthonyTV]

This video popped up in my recommended. The fact that this guy sounds like a kid on Christmas morning absolutely made my day! 😂 Keep up the great work, man!

[@plexnbrown760]

I have a fleet of ivy bridge machines for hobby projects. Love it because it has sata3 for boot and nvme can be everything else due to it having pci express 3.0.

[@itsmesb4399]

I’m still using a 2009 Mac mini as my server, I got it for a great price and it has been great so far however I do have a 2011 Mac mini for whenever the 2009 gets too old.

[@hardies1]

Tom, I noticed that Trim support was not enabled for the SSD drives in your new Mac Mini. You need to open Terminal on that Mini and type "Sudo Trimforce Enable" to enable Trim support. You need to do this on any Mac with non Apple SSD drives.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Jeff, the reminder is much appreciated. I forget to enable TRIM far too regularly. I shouldn't have any excuse, because I've recently had a sharp reminder as I had an incident involving this exact situation when upgrading a machine for a client. Oops.

[@GothicKittyMadness]

I bought a Mac Mini 2012 as a Media Server a few months ago from Music Magpie. I got the i7 model and it already came with an SSD, so i just added a 2TB HDD.(I struggled a lot with that lol). I also have a TerraMaster 5 Bay External Enclosure which has a 2 bay raid in it. I followed your server setup video, it was really helpful! So far it's been running like a beast. :D Not run into any problems yet.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Absolutely fantastic, sounds like a great setup! Really glad you found the server setup video useful. I'm sure you've discovered just how capable and convenient a network attached Mac mini can be for all sorts of things. The 2012 was a great choice, too. Loads of horsepower for the money. Thanks for watching!

[@GothicKittyMadness]

@@ItsMyNaturalColour I could have got one cheaper from places like Gumtree or eBay but Music Magpie was a safe option and came with a warranty. I did some research on this model before getting it and decided against going with the i5 base model as the performance wasn't as good. Plus the i7 dramatically raises the benchmark score. I went with the 2.3 as there didn't seem to be much difference between the 2.3 and 2.6. I also saved a bit of money by stealing a cheeky extra 4gb of Ram from my 2012 iMac that wasn't really using it. So i got 8gb of ram in it now. :) (Bit of a random reply, just wanted to add an update on what specs my machine was and why i chose to get it from Music Magpie).

[@BigRhys02]

Gets such a buzz when you upload Tom, keep it coming my dude 😆

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Will do!! Thanks! 😄

[@jameo3606]

I just got one of these to replace my late 2009 server mac mini too! I went for the i5 model but that’s still more than enough horsepower for what I need! Great video!! 😁

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Good choice!

[@DesktopChronicles]

Great video Tom. A few upgrade suggestions: HDMI accelerator for better screen sharing performance, Ethernet bond between the thunderbolt to eth adapter and the built in Ethernet adapter, fusion drive with the two internal drives and maybe a cleaning of the fan and a ram upgrade.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Definitely noted! Thanks for the suggestions 😀

[@jorgemtds]

So, it came from "down unda" mate 😁.

[@DiscoR53]

Amazing I have a similar Mini (quad core i7), I guess that machine might have had a fusion drive. I had it in my machine but with HDD the drive failed and I took the Apple ssd and added a 500 gb Samsung. Nice

[@GeneralTech58]

You could use the Ethernet adapter with the Mac mini to link aggregate to the switch. Wouldn’t make it any faster for one device but you’d be able to transfer to or from 2 devices at full gigabit simultaneously

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Noted. Stay tuned!

[@thanatos5176]

I built a RAID0 with two internal samsung each 500GB SSD‘s and installed Catalina on it. 960mb read and 920mb write speed wit the core i7 quadcore 2,3GHZ and it just flys 😃

[@ab.3800]

Glad to see your still making videos, been subbed since your powermac videos

[@JRcash226]

Absolutly love your geeky Videos, Tom😍

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Thank you!!

[@bobfromsoireegames4309]

Great video. I wish I had one of these. I have a 2011 baseline model Mac Mini as a secondary computer which only supports macOS up to High Sierra.

[@derekfoulk4692]

This would have been better had it been the new M1 Mac mini due to the curious nature everyone has for it at the moment. Still a good video as always, keep up the good work!

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Stay tuned!

[@stevebiggins]

Great video Tom

[@geekbitzone]

Thanks for the video! Classic IMNC at its best! 🤓

[@KR1275]

I think the 2012 was also the last mini with optical audio in/out.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Ah interesting, I didn't know that!

[@iphonepunker]

I picked up the i5 model basic and upgraded it to have 16GB RAM and installed a 60GB OCZ SSD and turned it into a fusion drive. I got quite a few games running well on Bootcamp with the Intel Driver OCed - ish and Loved bringing it to Lan party's first time I did this guy started giving me shit telling me the Dawn of War II wouldn't even boot and Battle field 3 would never run on it well I proved him wrong XD.

[@SimpleGunner]

"well use the these random scissors from the top of the rack" -the scissors "i dont think so mate"

[@KylesVideos]

I can't believe you updated your main machine to Big Sur without doing a video about it. Great video though!

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

I recorded a video, but it was not worthy. I've decided to reserve my Big Sur comments for an upcoming M1 video instead.

[@vicp7738]

Been using the Mac Mini 2012 quad core i7 for years now. Bought it second hand as well. I upgraded memory to 16gb RAM and I upgraded the boot drive to SSD. Other drive is still using a SATA. Can't upgrade it to Big Sur unfortunately as per Apple. Works great though. Also bought one of these to Rack Mount it. Not sure if I can put links in the comments but this is the Rack Mount I am using for it: www.sonnettech.com/product/rackmacmini.html (bit pricy so I'm sure there are cheaper solutions to make it look nice)

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

I'm hoping to come across one of these in the wild. The RRP is a little scary!

[@ivo4357]

my M2 Pro arrived today, and I'm looking at a 13 year old Mac that looks just like the one I bought. It looks as modern today as it did back then. It's my first Mac and I'd be overjoyed if it serves me 13+ years. None of my PC's did. I bought mine for music production mainly, but I'm wondering whether to use it as a server also. For server use, mine is overkill, and I'm hesitant of letting it run 24/7 just because it's a server too. Wouldn't I be better off buying a cheap second hand to use as a server (2014 or so), instead of putting wear and tear (having it on all the time) on my expensive machine?

[@arthurdardalis]

I have a late 2012 mini with 16 GBRAM and I5. Not using it at the moment, was thinking of making it a network for all my Mac’s and Apple TV 3rd gen. I’m no really sure what is the best way to do this as I currently use a 3rd generation Apple Time Capsule connected to my router as network storage. All my Mac’s connect via Wi-Fi. Can I please have your opinion on what I,should do with the mini? Should I use it again and if so how, or should I stay with the Time Capsule? I appreciate your help.

[@Fatblokeonamoped]

Nowt wrong with using FW800, I use it all the time with not only my legacy Macs but in my MacPro too. USB3 is great for single user access but really chokes when a 2nd device uses it at the same time and on my network, that's quite frequent.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Glad I'm not the only one left still rocking FireWire around here!

[@Fatblokeonamoped]

@@ItsMyNaturalColour I only just recently purchased a FW PCI card for my Quicksilver so I can use some recently purchase enclosures.

[@welshtony1]

Tom, great to see you at it again. Lovely upgrade you have done here. Just wondering what you have done with the old 2009 Mac Mini?

Finally, 10 years later i got one.

[@Marshallpuppy]

Good job buddy

[@junyadrin1957]

I bought one of these just a week ago for the thunderbolt port to use with my persons quantum audio interface. I feel like I got a steal...I7 8gig ram and ssd drive for 250$ including tax and delivery

[@Jean-lr4hv]

I don’t know why when I read 2012 Mac mini I instantly thought he must be upgrading a 2009

[@markdavid_21]

You should think about ditching Keychain and switch to 1Password, like I did. Money well spent.

[@NoobixCube]

49:00 seems like a perfect lesson in making sure your power distribution is easy to access. Still, a damn fine looking rack when it comes to all of the cable management. Just a shame reaching for the power distribution seems like only a slightly smarter idea than reaching down a garbage disposal! (No, but seriously, I’m crap at all forms of cable management, so really I can’t criticize in any serious sense)

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. My rack is definitely form over function. It looks pretty but when it comes to maintenance, it's a royal pain in the backside.

[@NoobixCube]

@@ItsMyNaturalColour Every time I see beautifully managed racks, with Ethernet leads cut to the precise length they need to be, you know, all the stuff that gets listed as “cable management porn”, I look at it and say “that’s going to really suck when you have to change just one thing in there”. Racks I’ve done in the past have been at least neat, but never visually appealing in any way. Any rack is better than my current approach at home, a small pile of network devices, huddled between my partner’s art supplies.

[@martiin.ferreroo_]

Hey Tom! Amazing video by the way. I would like to tell you that I have reconfigured my home server an I’ve named mine in the same way that you name your servers, Hyperspace. Greetings from Spain.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

That's awesome to hear!

[@plexnbrown760]

Lol, watching that usb hard drive living on edge. I have two similar units I was like no that’s data man and it’s about to drop :)

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Can't believe it stayed put! I had lots of good luck that day. Minimal arm injury, no broken hard drives or lost data.... somebody was definitely on my side.

[@plexnbrown760]

Yeah, the suspense kept me at the edge on my seat :). I totally understand the situation of the rack and been there myself. Minor changes become tricky at times.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

@@plexnbrown760 If I had the opportunity to do the whole thing again, I'd definitely consider putting the whole lot in the cupboard under my stairs and potentially using a smaller open rack mounted to the wall for the network gear, and a smaller but deeper rack for the servers, towards the back of the cupboard on the floor. No major regrets though as I love the rack.

[@plexnbrown760]

@@ItsMyNaturalColour our nerdy stacks evolve overtime. No regrets, we did with what we had at the time of creation. But not saying I would enjoy watching 1-7 part series of you making the move to under the stairs. But then you have the Harry Potter complex to deal with :)

[@sergioflores3118]

Good evening Tom. I have a 2012 mac mini that I would like to setup as a server. I dont have a previous server on my network so this will be my first one. My question is if I need to manually setup the IP address for this Mini or can I keep the DHCP IP the way it is already. Thank you

[@aarron1234567]

as some one who uses a 2002 dell pc i got for free from school i would kill for this

[@Walterz930]

Really nice video I was just talking today about wanting to get a Mac mini but then looking online at them I just can not afford anything yet

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Some of the older models are coming down quite nicely in price (finally). If you want an older one to tinker with, you can grab a 2007 Core 2 Duo for as little as £50 these days.

[@Walterz930]

Yah that’s true I will have to look into getting one just after the new year because of everything going on at the moment with c19 and having to stop working cos of having a scare it after doing all the work in different shops as a guard I can not put my two step daughter’s though it and with Christmas

[@json868]

The box is from the 1st Gen AppleTV I believe. At least it looks like the box for mine.

[@sgg00dchild]

I have a MAC Mini (late 2012) but my usb ports are still v2.0 and not 3, interesting that there are different flavours of the 2012, but then again mine is not a mini server.

[@andrewdupuis1151]

i just got Mac mini 2010 yes day I have upgrade my ram from 2 gb to 6 gb and install latest mac os supports i get ssd put in when I get hold of another one

[@shadow.banned]

A $5 USB wireless bluetooth adapter might help you print wirelessly even if it's not a wireless printer.

[@skymyerspa]

When you look at the mail :Patrick Star

[@Subgunman]

Now that’s the best hour I have spent in a long time! I love the rack you have chosen for your home network. What are you using for a UPS in this system? We have been slowly transitioning to APPLE for a few years now and the only issue have been printer functions. It seems Apple drivers for the HP LaserJet200 does not support two sided printing natively. Have to print one page at a time and set printing to do eithe one or two pages at a time. Have you done any videos showing how to convert VHS to digital with Handbrake? Looking at the coming year to set up a home network here as well if my brother makes it back to this side of the world next year. He is my Apple guru and has set up his home system for about everything under the sun. Looking forward to checking out all of your vids as the season draws to a close on this busy part of the Med. Cheers!

[@MacCrafter707]

I really should find a purpose for my 2010 Mac Mini

[@itsmesb4399]

Oh and now your 2009 is not essential to be in service you should try using the Catalina patcher on it just for fun

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Good suggestion! Stay tuned.

[@juanvera9246]

I would like to convert my Knight Rider DVD series onto my computer. I know how to do movies, but don't know how to do it for series as there are multiple episodes on one disc. Could you kindly do a video using Hand Brake showing how to do this? Many thanks in advance if you are able to do it. If not, thanks for this current video.

[@soer7022]

Great video! Im wondering which rack you’re using as it might have a high wife-approval factor 😃

[@shadow.banned]

Wish Media Sharing in System Preferences shared Movie files/folders to Apple TV. Something tells me it won't be that easy as an iTunes library...

[@VikingDudee]

I know this is a old video, But last year I had my Threadripper machine stolen out of my pickup truck at work, I was moving and packed the back seat with my computer stuff, travelled the 2 hours to work and after work was going to take it to my new place that was only 40min in the other direction, someone busted out my back window took the computer and 1 of my monitors and a few other bits and things like change I had in the ash tray and some tools I had under the front seat, I had cloths and other stuff on top of it to hide it all. Never seen it again, that thing cost me a lot to build then, but im on something faster now so hope the thief has a good time with it, I can't stand a thief.

[@iFixJapan]

Can we put linux server to this machine?

[@superdario2425]

Hi, just discovered the channel and love it. Ive just bought an M1 Air as my first Mac but wanting to setup a Mac Mini as a server. Whats the real difference between a server and a regular model? Should I seek out one or the other or just best value I can find? Will continue watching and going through the old stuff as its right up my street! Thanks.

[@neob9017]

Nice!

[@KieronWray]

Hi Tom, im curious.. did you hear the maxim "the fastest apple is an amiga" - all about comparing the mac native against a vm running on the amiga? RMC did a recent vid about it - im not experienced with the mac but did grow up with the amiga and i would love to hear your view on the comparison as you love mac's but i think you'd be able to give a really balanced opinion. great narration on the arm in the deadly jaws of death box too (very dune)

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

I haven't seen that video but will definitely check it out! I have never heard that before so interested to have a look. I purchased an Amiga 500 at a car boot sale years and years ago. It was boxed and came with loads of games! I tested it briefly then sold it on eBay, presumably to fund something else I was doing on the channel at the time. We're talking around 2012 probably. That's my only experience with Amiga but I would definitely love the opportunity to do some sort of 'I'm an Amiga Noob' coverage in the future. I'm sure none will cross my path again one day. Thanks for the comment and sharing this!

[@FustinaOrazu]

how do you keep it on and connect it remotely?

[@johnstouchpad6437]

Tom, did you enable TRIM on the SSD drives?

[@patrick6580]

Catalina does that automatically. The drives just show up as enabled in disk utility I believe.

[@patrick6580]

Actually rewatching the video you’re right it’s not on. I’m sure he’ll get it sorted.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

I notoriously forget to enable TRIM..... it's now enabled 😀

[@johnstouchpad6437]

@@patrick6580 it might get turned one IF itS an Apple approve SSD.

[@FSR-v9c]

whatg is the Mac Mini doing today?

[@shadow.banned]

I can't believe you're still using that old keyboard. I used to love my wireless version but it stopped connecting. It's also quite hard to type on versus today's standard, ie. the Cherry keys.

[@Marshallpuppy]

Cool

[@robertmoorejr2976]

Hello just wanted to know how you and you're family is doing

[@desmondjulien]

hey tom are you making more video ?

[@H-RutherfordHill]

"Whhhaaaaaat is up everyone"

[@Time4Technology]

Hey, what's the track at 54:00? Edit: Throughout the video I should say.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Kreuzberg Nights - Futuremono

[@ackx.kristof]

how many U is your server rack?

[@andrewdupuis1151]

i finely able login to apple i had lot troubles befor say i need to reset my password i never held from them so i disided login to itunes my pc it worked share it with mac then i was able login on my mac. i thought it so strange i thing something to with security making sure its me

[@kira64xyz]

very nice :D

[@delboy7039]

Tom, I'm sure your ice cube tray, would be better in your freezer...!!

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Comes in handy for screws 😀

[@ORIOLESFan02]

I had a 2009 Mac Mini as a file server but then I broke it trying to change the thermal paste and upgrading it to an ssd :(

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Really sorry to hear that. I can imagine the frustration you must have felt with yourself. We've all been there unfortunately. I've made several mistakes when upgrading / repairing machines.

[@gigagames21]

41:23 Why the heck is there a Toothbrush by your pens, next to your Server Rack ?

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Handy for cleaning things, getting into small vents to clear dust etc. As for why the pens in general are by the rack, I've got a big clutter issue in my office at the moment so everything is everywhere unfortunately. Hoping to get some time soon to properly declutter and put up some new shelves etc.

[@Wasmachineman]

Stralya 'm8!

[@kamertonaudiophileplayer847]

I wish my servers do not require Java, otherwise I went in your route.

[@GJoseeph]

How fast is this for Handbrake/Compressor?

[@plexnbrown760]

I get 20 FPS on preset hq 1080 30fps 2 pass encoding on average using command line handbarake.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

I'm hoping to do some proper testing with Handbrake in the new year. I plan on making a further in depth video about this machine. Stay tuned.

[@plexnbrown760]

@@ItsMyNaturalColour I would recommend having a source disk and destination disk. The difference is minimal on ssd maybe 1 to 2 FPS but huge when you throw spinning disks or network drives in the mix.

[@shadow.banned]

Assange did nothing wrong.

[@fusion7156]

I'm Doing A Rack In Late 2022

[@SuperGeorge2112]

sent you a message ages ago I was trying to send you memory for your mac pro but you never replied.

[@TalesOfWar]

I imagine he gets quite a lot of emails and doesn't always manage to reply to them all. Plus he has young kids running about to contend with! lol

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Huge apologies, George. I have a fairly haphazard approach to managing my inboxes. Feel free to fire me an email [e-mail]

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

@@TalesOfWar 🤯 hitting the nail on the head 😆

[@Spacelord09]

MAC != server

[@hkc2003]

Too little non essential information. I like videos where people ramble a bit.

[@vuk1419]

Annoyingly unnecessary talk

[@piwex69]

What a horrible design for the rack hardware this mac is. No wonder.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Indeed. There are very limited rack mount options, and the ones that are out there are expensive.

[@piwex69]

@@ItsMyNaturalColour yes, I recall the "special" drawer with a metal finger, lined up with angled on/off switch of the mac. Strange contraption, very non "datacenter" quality.

[@dennisfrancisco5686]

You talk too much

[@articeddie5494]

Not much of a server with less than 1TB of storage

[@GJoseeph]

Maybe a Task Server (CPU support) and not Storage Servert.

[@ItsMyNaturalColour]

Not every server is a storage server. I have a couple of nice Synology NAS for that.

[@articeddie5494]

Are you not using any of the MacOS server edition software ?

[@GJoseeph]

@@articeddie5494 IDK. You can download it if u need it. But it’s not necessary, most of the advantages of MacOS server app are already in the Sharing window inside Pref Pane.

[@articeddie5494]

@@GJoseeph you don’t need to download it if it’s a server edition Mac mini