We don’t often see offers in the LowEnd community for Mac hosting.  The hardware is a lot more expensive and it doesn’t virtualize.  It can be virtualized, but not in a license-compliant way, and even if you do it, you don’t have any support.

There are providers out there that offer Mac hosting, but it’s usually very expensive.  Sometimes to cut cost, they offer you an account on a larger system that is shared by many users.  This is cheaper but you’re competing with other users for resources.  However, MacOS doesn’t have all the options that Linux has for ensuring resource limits, like cgroups.  You can use quotas for disk space, but there isn’t anything for CPU or RAM, so you’re always at risk of another user stomping on your workflow.

Enter Alexhost

That’s why I was intrigued by Alexhost’s recent offer on LowEndTalk.  You can get a dedicated Mac mini with:

• Apple M1 processor
• 8 core CPU, 8 core GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB SSD
• 50% off with no setup fee!

Why Would You Want a Mac Mini?

There’s a lot of reasons why you might want a MacOS system:

• iOS development.  If you’re developing for iPhone, iPad, watchOS, etc., the only way to do it is with a Mac-based development environment.
• Mac development. Obviously, if you’re developing Mac apps, you need a Mac.
• iMessage.  Every Mac has support for this messaging app. You might even use Mac’s included Applescript to do some workflow automation.
• Creative apps.  Applications like Final Cut Pro, Logic, and some Adobe apps can take a while to render their output, so you may prefer to offload that to a dedicated Mac.

Whatever your need, Alexhost has you covered.  Check out their offer!

raindog308

Raindog308 is a longtime LowEndTalk community administrator, technical writer, and self-described techno polymath. With deep roots in the *nix world, he has a passion for systems both modern and vintage, ranging from Unix, Perl, Python, and Golang to shell scripting and mainframe-era operating systems like MVS. He’s equally comfortable with relational database systems, having spent years working with Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

As an avid user of LowEndBox providers, Raindog runs an empire of LEBs, from tiny boxes for VPNs, to mid-sized instances for application hosting, and heavyweight servers for data storage and complex databases. He brings both technical rigor and real-world experience to every piece he writes.

Beyond the command line, Raindog is a lover of German Shepherds, high-quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop RPGs, and hiking in deep, quiet forests.

His goal with every article is to help users, from beginners to seasoned sysadmins, get more value, performance, and enjoyment out of their infrastructure.

You can find him daily in the forums at LowEndTalk under the handle @raindog308.