My wife’s main home computer for the last couple of years has been a 1.66Ghz Intel Core Duo Apple Mac Mini connected to a 19″ monitor. The Mini has been and still is a good little computer but it’s been hard put providing the speed and abilities that’s sometimes required.
A couple of weeks ago her patience was rewarded with a new 2.4Ghz Intel Core Duo 24″ Apple iMac. The new iMac is a great computer and should have a long useful life. It’s a huge step up in raw speed from the Mini.
This made the Mac Mini available for “other duties.”
Five or six years ago I’d built a 3Ghz Intel P4 computer from scratch. At the time it was state of the art, but most recently it’s been used to run Internet related scripting functions on a 24/7 basis. Unfortunately these scripts were originally written for Windows and IE and I’ve never taken the time to try and rewrite them.
So my most recent project is to replace this older P4 machine with the Mac Mini, adding some new bonus functionality. The Mini runs 24/7 and is accessed/controlled using Apples Remote Desktop application (no separate monitor, keyboard and mouse required.)
Functions for the Mini now include:
- executing the original Internet scripts using a VMware Fusion virtual machine and Windows XP;
- automatic downloading and analyzing Meandering Passage logs using Summary (site statistics are available via a web interface from other computers on the local network);
- up-status monitoring of Meandering Passage and other key network components using Simon with email and text message alert notifications; and
- local area network web server using the MAMP package.
A real advantage of replacing the P4 with the Mac Mini is that the power consumption of the P4 averages at least 60 Watts whereas the Mini barely averages 35 Watts.