The Mac mini was released eight years ago today, just two days before Macminicolo was started on 13 January 2005. It's been eight years of hosting thousands of Mac minis. Impressively, we still have nine of the original G4 Mac minis that were connected the very first day and they're still going strong. (I still curse this post from AI confirming the Mac mini as dead six years ago. I still have to answer "what if" questions.)

Even after all these years, the biggest hurdle we have is getting the word out about how good a Mac mini performs as a server. They are deceptively powerful. If I told someone they could have a Quad core server with an SSD boot drive and 16GB of RAM for just $35/mo, they wouldn't believe me. (Try to price out a 16GB server anywhere else. Gets very pricey and you don't even get to keep the hardware when you're done.) 

The servers here are used for a number of things. Popular uses include websites, VPN server for travelers, remote backup to a very secure facility, mail server, and a number of small business uses. Of course, we use Mac minis for our labeled services like DayliteHosting.com and Fireballed.org. For our eighth birthday, I thought I'd shine a spotlight on some customers and what they're doing. 

The servers here are very popular with iOS developers. As I look through the list of presenters at Renaissance conference this year, more than half of these good folks are or have been customers here.  I suppose these customers prefer to work with OS X tools so it fits right in. There are great educational tools like Elemints and Agendas. Bjango delivers hall of fame utilities like iStat and Skala Preview.

Episodes is a nice companion to watching TV. Delicious Library for cataloging all kinds of media. And of course, king of the podcast networks 5by5.

If you are into games, Semi Secret Software makes my favorite game of all time (Wurdle) and recently released a very original Hundreds game. Lumicon is nice word game. Ironfell is a multiplayer strategy game that runs completely on Mac minis. 

We're proud to work with learning opportunities like Cocoaconf and Try iOS from Code School. (Watch this awesome video on how they use their 25 Mac mini servers. Very neat.) You can also learn from great hackers like Brett Terpstra and Charles Edge.  

There are a number of photographers that backup their photos to a Mac mini here so they have quick access to a large collection of photos. We also work with nice photography projects like Venice Arts and Canon's Photography in the Parks. 

People ask all the time "What are some common uses of the Mac minis there?" We plug in the minis and don't touch them again unless asked so we don't know what is running on most of them. This is just a small number of customer examples. (If you're a MMC customer and would like to be added to the list, send us a tweet @macminicolo and we'll get some updates.)

We're looking forward to the ninth year of hosting minis. Hope you can join us soon. (Keep an eye on our twitter account for upcoming promos.)

About Macminicolo.net

 Macminicolo.net, a Las Vegas colocation company, has been hosting Mac minis since their introduction in January 2005. Low cost. High performance. They are the leaders in this niche market and are known for their personal service. They currently host hundreds of Mac minis for satisfied customers located in 47 different countries around the world. Get more info on our frequently asked questions page.