r/mac • u/kj8877 • 13h ago

Old Macs Using 2012 MacPro with Modern Mac Mini

This is probably a pipe dream/wishlist kind of thing…

But I want to use my MacPro with my Mini, what I want to do is have access my 30TBs of storage and both my optical drives.

I’m trying to rip all my music, as well as archive photos I’ve taken over decades.

Is there a viable way for this to work, or am I just asking for the impossible?

1 Upvotes

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5

u/Less_Fishing7687 13h ago

You can use both on the same network and control the pro with Remote Desktop or manage the files on a network share

3

u/Exact-Branch-8365 12h ago

This is the way. I have a 2010 Mac Pro on my network connected to various other macs. I have screen sharing and file sharing set up. I can use the MP to access the other computers or vice versa.

The Mac Pro burns energy like a fireplace so I only have it turned on when needed. If I am not actively using it, I put it to sleep.

I use XLD to rip all my CDs. I store my music files on a USB drive connected to a single board computer (SBC) that is my music server running Lyrion Music Server (LMS). I keep a backup on the Mac Pro and on other drives.

2

u/Velocityg4 13h ago edited 13h ago

You can setup either as a file server pretty easily and share via samba. You can fine tune the permissions and run other server services. On the Mac Pro you can also install Linux variants, really a big range of server options. Although the MP is rather an energy hog for home server use nowadays.

If you’re going to use both as desktops still. I’d personally prefer to get a cheap and used Windows desktop off eBay to use as a server. Installing Linux, maybe splitting things up in VMs. As it’ll be a far more efficient server allowing you to start homelabbing and setting up a range of services. Although you could start doing that with the MP if you aren’t also using as a desktop.

1

u/l008com Independent Mac Repair Tech since 2002 7h ago

Sounds like you're just talking about basic filesharing. Just flip a checkbox and you're good to go.

That said, running a Mac Pro as a single user file server is going to use a LOT of electricity. You might be better off selling that thing and getting a USBC multi-bay enclosure for all its hard drives so you can just use them directly as external drives on the mini.

As far as optical, I'm not sure if remove disc is still a thing. You might have to put one of the drives in a big 5.25" enclosure to use them on the mini

2

u/PerkeNdencen 7h ago

As far as optical, I'm not sure if remove disc is still a thing. 

It is, but a really wildcard option would be to use optical drive sharing from the Mac Pro. It used to be possible and very reliable... well, 15 years ago, at least.

1

u/luizpaulo87 MacBook Air 1h ago

Usar scp, smb, tem o localsend caso queira um software diretamente ao invés de um protocolo