... Mac Mini 2018 for 10gBe server

Hi,
Did someone tried to setup a mac mini 2018 with 4 thunderbolt 3 10gbe adapter and use it as video server !?
So you attached up to 5 editing station and use internal hi speed ssd ....!?
Any experience !???

You can order the Mac mini 2018 with built in 10GbE port so no need for an adapter.
However, as I understand it, Apple has crippled macOS Server quite a bit in regards as getting it to work as file server etc.

Seems rather useless if you want to use the Mac mini as a file server and use internal SSD as it won't be anywhere near big enough. Or do I misunderstand you?

How is OS X crippled as a file server? And file servers don't serve files from their internal drives, normally, they're working off of RAIDs. The computer acting as the server doesn't need to be mega powerful to be a file server, just fast storage and fast networking.

FCPX.guru wrote: How is OS X crippled as a file server? And file servers don't serve files from their internal drives, normally, they're working off of RAIDs. The computer acting as the server doesn't need to be mega powerful to be a file server, just fast storage and fast networking.

macOS Server Mojave has removed most of the services... including File Sharing... I guess you can use it without the Server App and just share folders, but if you have 5 users working on it, I can see that getting a bit messy.
And the OP mentioned working off the internal SSD... which is what led me to believe I didn't quite understand what he was after. Connecting 5 users to a Mac mini and have all 5 work off the internal SSD seems odd to me!

Internal 10gbe will be connected to a 10gbe switch for jour alist (whi they use 1gbe connection)
Then editor are connected to one 10gbe adapter tb3 on each tb3 port
So I can have 4 editors working on 10gbe connection
2 to interanl soteage is used (speed is around 2000mbs-2500mbs if I well remenber ...)

File sharing is has not been removed.
help.apple.com/serverapp/mac/5.7/?lang=e...14-8ddc-52ab20a6f740

FCPX.guru wrote: File sharing is has not been removed.
help.apple.com/serverapp/mac/5.7/?lang=e...14-8ddc-52ab20a6f740

Ok, good to know!

sacha06 wrote: Internal 10gbe will be connected to a 10gbe switch for jour alist (whi they use 1gbe connection)
Then editor are connected to one 10gbe adapter tb3 on each tb3 port
So I can have 4 editors working on 10gbe connection
2 to interanl soteage is used (speed is around 2000mbs-2500mbs if I well remenber ...)

Still don't really understand what you are trying to achieve?
A Mac mini tops out with 2TB internal storage and costs $2.499. That doesn't seem anywhere neer the storage you would need to have 4 editors work against?
And you want 4 TB3 to 10GbE adapters connected to the Mac mini?

Sorry, but doesn't really sound like a good solution...

RAID vis T'bolt to the Mac Mini, it's a great server.

I'd rather opt for a JellyFish. But if you can't afford it, the Mac Mini.

Don't count on doing in-place editing over that Ethernet, though.

FCPX.guru wrote: RAID vis T'bolt to the Mac Mini, it's a great server.

But the OP is talking about using the internal drive of the mini... which is why I'm confused. Also about connecting an 10GbE adapter to each of the Thunderbolt ports of the mini... (so each editor can have it's own 10GbE connection, I guess)

Internal ssd of the mac mini is faster than my pegasus3 R8
Actually I’m using the old mac mini server with pegasus 2 R8 and 1 promise sanlink2 attached tio a netgear 10gbe switch.
But the bottleneck is the 10gbe connection out from the mac (even if I use aggrega mode using the 2ports of the sanlink2 and doen’t have 20gbe ....) then the speed of the disk ...
First step - solve the network speed THEN the disk access if 1,7to of the mac mini is not enough ...

Jel’yfish mobile solution is too expansive at this time ...

Technically it is faster doing one operation. But pile up all those reads/writes from other connected editors, that internal SSD will crawl. It must be left alone to do work for the OS and the active apps. Same reason we use secondary drives for media and Libraries on a standalone system.

Using the internal SSD is also a bad idea due to limited storage space. That many editors will eat it up very fast.

I've spent over 20 years as an IT engineer/manager and what you're proposing is not anything I'd have ever suggested to anyone. Mac Mini as a file server only makes sense with a T'bolt RAID which is MORE than fast enough for what yo need, and leaves the internal SSD to not get bogged down.

With the setup you propose, you risk slowdowns due to the SSD being over filled and over taxed, and using an external T'bolt RAID will NOT slow you down at all, but actually give you better performance overall.

So I agree, the internal SSD for storing shared files in this situation, very bad idea.

Hi,

So I did the test :

* Mac Mini 2018 with :
* 2x sanlink 2 connected in TB2 with the adapter to TB3
* 1x Lacie Little Big Disk with 2to SSD in Raid 0
* 3x Macbook Pro with :
* 3x Sanlink 3
* 1x MacPro
* Internal Gigabit only

All these 4 devices connected to the 2x2 10gbe ports of the Sanlink2

All projects, caches and medias on the lacie SSD

All machines are running 4 HD videos (in PIP), some Prores LT and some H264.

No lag or bug at this time. and it's pretty reactive !

I did a small video, sorry for the big mess on my desktop !!!!
we.tl/t-Jo7lIuAu8x

I tried from the internal SSD of the macmini ; faster without any problem at this time.

Even if I'm confident, I need to test it in real life with editor working on the station together.

Any suggestions, reactions !? let me know !!

Interesting solution

I was considering a Mac mini as server for a while, but then I misunderstood what they had changed in the macOS Server app... But as my need is lots of space and only one user, a NAS turned out to be the cheapest of all expensive solutions

I'm interested in this setup. I've been using a synology was (DS418play) for archiving and light editing but its not really as consistently fast as I had hoped. I have been looking at a higher end Synology with 10gbe for editing and faster transfers. In this search, I had started to think about a Mac mini with a Raided drive hooked up to it. Any idea how that would compare with a NAS?

Would I be able to connect to direct attached drives via the Mac mini for local video editing?

I use to love Back to Mac, but I know they got rid of that. Via file sharing, can I still access my files remotely? A few things I would ultimately love to do would include: remotely accessing files via phone, laptop, and web on the go, just access / remote download? remote backup so I have a copy of all data amongst two locations in case of a disaster?

Essentially, I would like it to be a NAS but utilizing a Mac mini for interfacing which would allow me to run small exports, transcodes, etc instead of just having a NAS. I was thinking of using Resilio for remote access and remote backup.

I'd love to discuss if anyone has any ideas or insights into this setup! Thanks!

What's' wrong with a good old T'bolt RAID for a single user?

FCPX.guru wrote: What's' wrong with a good old T'bolt RAID for a single user?

In my case: I can't stand the noise from HDDs! A NAS I can put in another room.

How many capacity you need?
Perhaps You can use use SSD !?

sacha06 wrote: How many capacity you need?
Perhaps You can use use SSD !?

Too expensive. Just ordered a NAS with 48TB of hard drives...

I have two sizable Promise RAIDs next to my desk, not much noise at all.