Mac Mini File Server for 50+ users

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Mac Mini File Server for 50+ users

Hi,

Our current file server is the last of the Xserves, running 10.6.8. It's getting up there and if it's toast, so am I. So I'm getting nervous.

I've been waiting for a HW refresh of MPs and Minis but none have been coming and I don't even see any active rumors on them. If Apple has decided business users can take a flying leap that will suck because I'm already dealing with one HyperV Windows 2012 nightmare and I don't want any more. But I digress...

Has anyone actually used the latest (as old as it is) Mac Mini with a Promise RAID as a file server for more than a dozen users? We have a staff of 50 give or take, plus use it as a file store for our CrushFTP file sharing portal, and web server (each on a separate machine with mounted shares). I'd like to know people's experience in actually using a Mini to serve that many users and if link aggregation of one of the thunderbolt ports with the ethernet port actually works.

Anyone done this? How's the performance?

Thanks,

Jeff

Many-OTHER

Posted on Feb 10, 2016 6:25 AM

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Answer 1

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MrHoffman

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Feb 11, 2016 5:32 AM in response to Jeff at K2

Not many users, but one of my customers is writing four to five DTV full-HD video streams into couple of Promise Pegasus arrays configured RAID-6, and the arrays barely notice the load. This with the previous-generation Mac Mini. The limit you'll likely hit here is how much you can stuff through the Gigabit Ethernet, which probably means using a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter or two — the bottleneck will be on the LAN side. But I suspect you're going to have to prototype your load in any case.

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Answer 2

Mar 8, 2016 12:16 PM in response to Jeff at K2

The Mac Mini makes a great file server for small work groups.

Likewise the Promise Pegasus is a great unit for this application - albeit I prefer the G-Tech G-Speed Studio units over the Pegasus as they come with the more robust Enterprise grade hard drives. For larger installs, we are using Promise Vtrack X30 units connecting via Promise's Thunderbolt2 to Fibre Channel adapter... really good stuff.

However, for a group of 50+ users, the Mac Mini is not up to the task. In terms of processor and network it's *plenty*... but the maximum 16GB of RAM in a Mini is going to be a problem. With that many file server users connecting, and it running any other services... it's going to be doing a ton of page-outs and will perform poorly.

I'd recommend a Mac Pro with a minimum of 32GB of RAM - if not 64...

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