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What exactly are you referring to? I mean, I've used Macs for quite a while, and in terms of stuff I can't run, it boils down to

Stuff I don't need - like CAD, animation, or other professional programs. Not used by 99% of the population.

Actually CAD does exist for Macs. Though I don't know if Autodesk offers a current version the first tyme I saw Autocad it was running on a Mac. Architosh is a forum for Mac users of CAD.

Architosh has a forum thread on this very topic which you might find interesting. Start here.

Aside from that, will IMSI TurboCAD 3D or Ashlar-Vellum meet your needs?

I think, the form-factor is great. However, that said they would make a lousy server. It has a very slow, laptop HDD not at all optimized for use 7/24. They are not equipped with an adequate fan for cooling the unit if packed densely (like the photoshoped up "condo" on the Pure Static website.) If packed that tight, I bet the MBTF of the drive (and other components) drops to under two months or something insanely short like that.

Google "IBM Deskstar drive failure" to find out when non-server spec drives are used in a 7/24/365 environment

The final remaining issue with the mini-as-server idea is the external power brick. Wall-warts are the bane of any server installation. Very tough to work around. Potential fire hazard if not handled properly.

...

All that said, I expect we will see some clients who send us Minis to colo. We will probably treat them like we did iMacs & G4 Cubes - Put them on well ventilated shelves, in open racks. NOT pack them tight in a cabinet.

And with the Mini, just like the companies that popped up claiming to be "the place" to colo your [G4, Cube, Xserve, insert Apple product here] in the end, digital.forest will still have more of them colocated. Why? We have been doing it longer, have a better facility, and better support. We have knowledgeable systems administrators ON SITE 7/24, who understand MacOS, MacOS X, as well as other UNIX flavors and Win32. We are in our 11th year, opening our third facility. We are a known quantity, with a reputation for quality. Not just some guy who registered a domain name on January 12th.

However... all this interest in using them as servers should be a big honkin' clue to Apple!
They need to make "Xserve Lite" 1U - 18" X 18" X 1.75"
one or two drives
one 64-bit pci slot (for an FC card)
1 usb port front and one in back
ditto firewire
built-in video
(low-end admins need video... lame I know, but check the lists and forums about how many people freak when their G5 Xserve arrives sans video card)
Ideal would be video front and back, ala the Dell servers
No need for the goofy split case of the Xserve (I have seen two fall apart in a rack)
No need for those gawd-awful "whack a paddle/kill the server" drive sleds. (I want to find the engineer in Cupertino who designed this and beat them senseless - with one of these lame drive sleds! Sure, they look nice, but they are functionally worthless. Except perhaps as a blunt object to beat people with.)
$1000 price point.
"workgroup server" or "lightweight web server"
No need even for OS X Server, just MacOS
An option to buy Server if you need filesharing for more than X users.
If there really is a market for people to shoehorn an low-end DESKTOP machine into a server role... then Apple should address it. Especially something as ill-suited to server work as the Mac Mini.

--chuck goolsbee
vp tech ops
digital.forest
seattle, wa

I actually manage a small datacenter. One thing I have learned after 10 years in the Internet Server hosting and colocation game is SERVICE is what sets you apart from competitors. The big .com era hosting superstars (exodus, colo.com, etc) all built their datacenters with the concept of "lights out" and "reboot button monkeys" for (skeleton) staff. Where are they now?

So long as software is wriiten by flawed humans and small business clients need to have smart people on-call to assist them when they delete files, or bork their server again... datacenters will require support staff.

If you ever call our support number and get some guy in Bangalore answering the phone, you will know that I'm dead... 'cause until then, I'm hiring geeks - right here. Thank you.

Indeed. I got to the picture labeled as "great" by the submitter before the server melted, though.

The original was 1600x1200 weighing in at 769kb. I reduced it to 800x600 and 128kb.

Click here to view it.

I love to see pictures of racked macs!

-- I use MacOS and Unix for work, and Windows for drink coasters and little frisbees.

I love to see pictures of racked macs!

-- I use MacOS and Unix for work, and Windows for drink coasters and little frisbees.

BTW: we are the largest Mac (but not exclusively so) hosting & colo facility on the planet. Here are some pics on my server.... and yes, it is an old Mac too. =)

I'll probably post an MRTG graph there later today of their traffic volume.

BTW: we are the largest Mac (but not exclusively so) hosting & colo facility on the planet. Here are some pics on my server.... and yes, it is an old Mac too. =)

I'll probably post an MRTG graph there later today of their traffic volume.

In fact I agree with the 'keeps them off the streets' idea, though I feel that in reality it is more about teaching them to be comfortable with technology. My two boys go to a local Boys and Girls Club after school. They have a nice computer lab and I know my kids play game there (AoE, *Tychoon, etc.) Strategy gaming is a good thing for developing minds. I played my share of "Risk", "Pente", "Battleship" and the like in my youth, I see nothing different about Age of Empires or Civ. My sons also play chess & Risk (both analog!) on occasion too, so it is not all about technology. These "games" are really just a training ground on how to use strategy and tactics to solve an artificial problem... once the problems get real those mental muscles will have been trained. Such skills come in handy in every profession, not just the military.

--chuck goolsbee, VP, digital.forest

Have a look here. It's not running AppleSeed, but it is the largest collection of racked Macs.

I was commuting between the U.S. & the U.K. and switched to a Newton 2000 as my primary computer. Under two pounds in weight, that cool 'indiglow' backlit screen, and as fully fuctional as a laptop... at less than half the price ('96 laptop prices)... and of course more than enough battery life for the 9+ hour flight 'tween Seattle and London! (unlike any laptop then or since.) I had Eudora for my mail, and the excellent PT100 for my telnet client, and the NewtScape browser... along with my Ricochet radio modem for use in Seattle and SF, and a Nokia GSM modem card for use in the UK... I had it all. I would use it constantly on the train between Swindon and London... and it drove the uptight Brits crazy. They *really* wanted to ask about it, but their reserve would never let them.

It was truly an amazing little computer.

I still have it, ...enshrined it into my personal museum of dead-end technology, along with an eMate, an A/UX machine, some NeXT slabs, a BeBox, and some never-shipped prototype servers I can't talk about. Since I work at a large hosting provider I should grab that ATA driver and my 1.3 gig laptop drive with a PCMCIA interface and fire up the Newt as a webserver. Of course I have lost my pen! Anyone have one for me?

I won a Palm V a few months back, and I have given up on it after being endlessly frustrated at the horrible interface and the totally stupid Graffiti input. Writing one letter at a time in a box is insane. It is bad enough that I type vi commands while not in vi... I don't need another brain dead technology transforming my personal habits. At least the Newt let me use my own handwriting... and it even recognized it about 97% of the time.

As for Steve Jobs, I have decided what I would say to him if I ever met him in an elevator:

"Mr. Jobs, I just wanted to congratulate you on the new 'desktop computer as hub for the digital lifestyle' initiative you announced at MacWorld Expo. Because in doing so, you are finally transforming Apple into a Consumer Electronics corporation and fulfilled the VISION OF JOHN SCULLEY!'

heh.