So I've just replaced my Mac Mini.

[Greenturtle]

So, I've just replaced my Mac Mini with a beautiful new 13" Top Spec MBP as of yesterday.

But I need a bit of inspiration or a bit of creativity because I don't know what to do with my Mac Mini.

It's an okay rig:

1.86ghz C2D
2gb Memory
80gb HDD

Underneath it, it has one of those 500gb iOmega Mini Max Drives and between that is has a Belkin Hub. 'Epic stacking' as someone my age would probably say.

I have a Wireless Keyboard and I also have a wireless mouse. I once purchased a DVI to HDMI cable to watch a film through my TV. Yesterday I also purchased an Airport Express which is just irrelevant probably.

People always make 'servers' and 'media servers' but I've never really been sure what that means, or why I'd actually want one?

I've also read a little on AppleTV on a Mac Mini which is an interesting concept. Any ideas would grand

Cheers,

 

[Axegrinder]

This is what I've done:

A few weeks ago I gave my 2.0ghz Core Duo iMac to my daughter to use in high school. I got her 1.5ghz Core Solo in return! First thing I did was get on ebay and buy a 2.33ghz Core 2 Duo and upgrade it. It now sits on my desk in the corner with no mouse, keyboard, or monitor, I vnc into it from my Macbook and use it purely for converting DVDs and other acquired movie files to use either on my AppleTV or my iPad. It runs pretty quiet and means my Macbook is no longer tied up and being overstressed.

 

[Paulywauly]

A server really is just a computer that provides some sort of service for another computer or device.

If you've got a number of different Macs or Pcs in your house you could have shared folders setup on the mini so that you dont need to carry all your files around on the other machines. You could use it to simply keep backup copies of all your files too. If you have a printer you could use the mini to "share the printer" with the other computers you have for wireless printing.

to give you a real life example, until a short while ago i had a iMac G4 server setup in my kitchen. It was switched on day and night and i used it for all sorts of things but not as my main machine.
When i was cooking i'd use it to find recipes but i also used it as a kitchen hifi. All of my documents and media were stored on it, backed up by time machine and shared out, the shares mounted on the desktop of my iMac upstairs so the whole thing was seamless. My girlfriend also had a share she could use to backup her windows laptop with. it also shared a printer out over the wireless in the house so anyone can print to it.
I had it set up with a uPnP server (PS3 Media Server) to stream videos to my PS3 too. You can download them or rip them from your own DVD collection so you dont have to bother getting up off the couch to put a film on or risk damaging your discs Your mini would be ideal for this as its got an intel processor and because of the low power consumption you could leave it on all the time without worrying about the electricity bills!

What could also be handy would be some remote access tool (i use LogMeIn) so you can take control of your computer when you are using another machine over the internet. This can be useful when away from the house and need to check something on it, or if you want to surf the internet from your desk at work and not worry about their web filtering

Hope that gives you some ideas!