Wouldn't these questions be better asked in a Mac mailing list?

SteveT

On Sun, 12 Apr 2020 07:41:26 +0000 (UTC)
David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss <plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:

> I’ve got a 2014 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and 2TB of SSD.
> 
> I’m thinking of getting a newer one with more RAM, which can be
> upgraded by uers. But the SSD is soldered to the board, so it’s not
> expandable. (My 2014 unit has space for a couple of 2.5” drives I
> guess, and it can be upgraded in the field as well, although I bought
> this from an outfit that did the upgrade.)
> 
> I have some VMs that take up 80-120 GB of disk space, and they eat up
> nearly 700 GB of SSD.
> 
> At work, we have a bunch of VMs on servers somewhere that we can
> access via VNC connections. Of course, we have to be logged in to our
> company domain using VPN. So there’s a lot of overhead in
> communicating with those VMs.
> 
> As an aside, I think one of the coolest things about MacOS is it’s
> multiple desktops — I think they call them “Spaces” these days. I
> have 10 of them set up that I can access via <Ctrl-1> .. <Ctrl-0>. I
> use different desktops for different things, and usually keep apps
> and browser windows open for related stuff on the same desktop. 
> 
> Now suppose I were to get a new faster Mac Mini with more RAM and
> literally stack it on top of my existing one. I’m curious about a
> couple of things. 
> 
> First, what’s the best way to set things up so I could use one the
> way I currently am (eg, as my “desktop” machine), and then set up a
> VNC window (or ?) on one or more of the desktops so when I switch to
> them, it looks like I’m working on the other machine?
> 
> The other thing I’m wondering is how to go about using the “desktop”
> machine (assume it’s the newer one) to run VMs or apps that reside on
> the other (headless) machine with minimal delays in data access.
> 
> Like … would I stick a short ethernet cable between the two e-net
> ports? (Would it need to be wired as a null-modem / cross-over
> cable?) Or maybe a short Thunderbolt or USB3 cable between them?
> Would a hardwire connection be faster than using WiFi through my
> router? I do realize that if I got a 3rd machine, I’d probably need a
> switch. But with just two?
> 
> As I said, my VMs are 80-120 GB, and since I only have 16 GB of RAM,
> clearly it’s not necessary to have the entire VM loaded to run it.
> Copying them in their entirey can take a while, so is it even
> possible to run one on my “desktop” machine even if it’s residing on
> the other machine — without copying it?
> 
> (I’ve read where people used to use Apple’s OSX Server for things
> like this, but it has apparently been so dumbed-down that people say
> it’s useless today.)
> 
> -David Schwartz
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