So this server should be accessible only from within the same network.įor better connection speed, I have disabled WiFi and connected this mac to my network via LAN cable (yes it has LAN Port, no need for an adapter, how cool is that). The mac did not become a server yet, I need to connect to this machine remotely from other devices (in the same network only), currently am not planning to expose this server to the outside world. With this and a power source plugged in, this mac should be running forever. Plus I have turned off Bluetooth and other unnecessary services & notifications.

So even after an unexpected restart, the system will continue running. Also, I have enabled this application to start at the system launch. We can create a session with an indefinite time period, meaning the system will not go to sleep indefinitely, which is exactly what I want. But I kept the existing macOS because this is still an experiment, am not sure if I will be using this setup for a long time (if so then I will switch OS) plus I use another Mac for work, so the compatibility for connections and Screen sharing is built-in.Ĭurrently its running macOS High Sierra (that's the last supported OS for this mac)

Softwareįor the OS the best practice would be to replace macOS with some Linux distribution which is perfect for a server (you don't need any GUI). Overall this machine is packed with some hardware to handle some load. For more storage, I can always make use of the External Hard drives connected via the USB. So I have removed the optical drive and replaced it with a 1TB HDD (2.5 inches) with the help of an HDD Caddy (it's cheap).

I have already replaced the default HDD with 250GB SSD as the boot volumeĪlso, this mac has an optical drive (yea remember it?) which has no use nowadays.

it has already been upgraded to 16GB DDR3 RAM.

2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, which should be more than enough for my use case.

Let's look at what this mac has, Hardware

How to change dns servers mac mini