Lost ethernet on Mac Mini ? Redundant SS Server ?

QFive
QFive
in SecuritySpy

1) The ethernet port on the mac mini that we run SS on (2018, 3.2GHz 6-Core Core i7 w/ 10gb ethernet) appears to have failed sometime in the past couple of days. Same cable & switch port works on a Sonnet 10Gb Thunderbolt adapter connected to the same Mac Mini - thus my assumption that it is indeed the port on the Mac Mini itself.

Has anyone seen an ethernet port on a mac fail like this? First for us across maybe 200 macs over the years.

I was planning to replace this one with a Mac Studio anyway since we're adding 18 more cameras and move this one to my photo studio to run SS there so this just moves those plans up a few months.

2) This raised another question about redundancy. Have others setup a redundant SS server to cover instances like this? If we were away we'd have lost all surveillance capability until we returned which could be weeks or months.

I think in our case I'd not want to pay for 2 Mac Studio's but a less capable and more affordable used mac mini might be a good investment for this purpose.

Thanks

Comments

  • Ben
    Ben
    edited June 2022

    This is definitely a low-probability event, but hardware failure like this can happen from time to time.

    You can protect yourself against this particular failure in the future using link aggregation across multiple Ethernet interfaces.

    A redundant SecuritySpy server is certainly a possibility to guard against hardware failure of the main system, but Macs are so reliable that you can typically expect 99% uptime from a regular system, so it's just a question of whether the extra cost/admin involved in adding the backup system is worth guarding against this potential 1%.

    Maybe you could repurpose your current Mac mini for this task when you move to your new Mac Studio? But the other issue is that the Mac Studio will be able to handle much great capacity, so you will probably want to add cameras and increase resolutions and/or frame rates, which the mini may not be able to cope with.

  • pcgaasbeek
    pcgaasbeek

    i have an redundant system which I can activate with a Wifi Power Adapter. And I use "Uptime robot" to monitor the availability of the main computer with SecuritySpy. This redundant computer is a hackintosh which has a lower investment

    Also for a client, I have installed a redundant installation with SecuritySpy on a remote location. Works perfect, but needs a good internet connection with enough bandwidth. Most cameras can handle multiple streams easily.

Categories