Is anyone using a Mac mini live, and if so how do you carry/protect it? I can see a few rack mount options online but always wonder what the access to the sockets on the back is like and how that is managed in a live situation in terms of setting up etc? Any experiences would be great!
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I’ve used Mac Minis live for over 10 years. The first were mounted in Sonnet Industries Rack Mac Mini. It’s a single rack space unit that will house two Minis side by side. You can probably use the other side for an external drive or hub that has the Mini footprint. OWC miniStack - The External Drive with a Mac mini Footprint
OWC miniStack STX Stackable Storage Enclosure with... at MacSales.com
My latest Mac Mini is mounted in a Mac Mini M2 mount in the bottom of a 4-space rack. There are quite a few different models to choose from.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6VVVHTY?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
My newest Mac Mini is a 2023 M2 Pro 10-core with 32GB RAM and a 2TB drive. I’m running the buffer at 96 with 2.1 ms latency. There are more details to follow in an upcoming post in stories from the trenches.
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Nice - thanks - looking forward to that post!
I’m wondering if you have seen any ‘smaller’ solutions - seems to me the 19" format is both twice as wide and deeper than it needs to be (unless a 1U box of course) if there’s nothing else for the box. Maybe some height for extra drives and space to stow cables etc, although my external drives are the tiny portable type. But the depth also - be good to see how you manage your cables out of the back of the Mac, unless you have a breakout box of some kind? I’m thinking easy access to the back of the Mini would be useful/necessary unless cables are left plugged in permanently and fished out for connection when required? Any thoughts welcome 
I had a half width rack from Gator, but I find that the 4U full width (shallow length) rack has a smaller footprint with my setup. It still gives plenty of space for airflow and cable management. I have all the wires in place to the Mac mini and use a USB hub mounted at the back of the rack to allow me to quickly connect my 2 keyboard controllers and 2 iPads when powering everything up. By the time the Mac is running and GP is loaded, I have my iPads and controllers powered up and ready to run.
When I’m done, I shut down the Mac, iPads and unplug the 4 USB cables and can be ready to close up the rack in about 5-10 mins
Thanks - good info - great that you have gig tested the setup as well. I’ll check out some options. Thanks all
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