2014 mini mac

Hardware
1

I got a 2014 mini mac with i5 4260U CPU @ 1.40Ghz with 4GB of onboard memory rams. Currently, it using a 500GB HHD.

I already wiped out the HHD and installed Ubuntu Desktop on it which boots up fine. My goal is to install a docker and run HA off of docker. I also want to install Scrypted docker on the same mini mac.

Should this mini mac handle both HA and Scrypted dockers just fine? I might install Homebridge docker temporary until I get HA all configured and setup to learn it then remove the Homebridge once HA is running.

I do have both Homebridge and Scrypted dockers running on Raspberry PI 3+ but I am feeling that I pushing the PI3+ over to the edge so I wanted to move it all over the 2014 mini mac.

Evenly, the HHD will be replaced with a NVMe drive if I like how mini mac are working out for HA and Scrypted. I read there an adapter online that a NVMe drive can be installed in a 2014 mini mac and use as a bootable drive.

2

I have been pretty happy using old Mac Mini’s for linux and home automation. While, I am not familiar with Scrypted, I think you will be fine running a number of Docker containers on 4GB RAM, I would monitor memory usage of the containers and overall linux as you play around. The only thing I have found a little funky with Mac Mini’s and linux is not having good fan control. I do monitor the temperature of them, but I have two that have been running non-stop for 3+ years. Good hunting.

1 Like
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Thank for sharing your experience! Pretty much all home automation will be done on Hubitat so that should take some load off mini mac for sure.

One thing sucks about the 2014 mini mac is that it’s the year where Apple decided to solder RAM onboard instead of making it removable ugh …

4

You might check the computer section of Craigs List. Folks tend to dump them when MacOS gets behind 2 or so generations. And a number of Mac’s make outstanding Linux machines. I have a 16 GB RAM 21 inch 2013 iMac that I run Ubuntu on, great machine for USD 75 ;-). Watchout for some of the dual graphic card Macs as they may not have good Linux driver support. One of my old work companions, hated Apple, but bought nothing but Mac notebooks to run Windows on because Apple delivered great Windows drivers for all their hardware, better that Lenovo, HP, Dell at the time and the machine had no bloatware on them new from the factory, cause they did not have Windows installed :wink: .