You can get a 16 GB upgrade for the Mac Mini from the company called OWC headquartered in illinois.

There is a long (and current) discussion of using the Mac Mini i7 quad server and Logic 9 in the logicprohelp website forum.  Search "MMS" to find it.  There are about 70 posts in the thread.

Finally, on that same forum somewhere I found the link to this file:  EvanLogicMultiCoreBenchmark.logic.  All you do is download the .zip file for this, then load it into logic as a new "song."  Unmute tracks one at a time to discover the capacity of your current computer set up before Logic crashes.  The fellow with the Mac Mini set up who started the thread above says he got 65 tracks out of his combo of iMac and MMS.  He says the MMS is just an an ordinary quad Mac with Lion OS preloaded; to turn it into a server you need to run a special set up program that comes with the MMS -- so no special computer knowledge required, and you can run it as a regular Lion computer if you don't run the server set up program.

If you are handy with a screwdriver, the OWC people offer SSD upgrades, to 6 GB transfer rate at 480 GB size, and two can be installed in the MMS.  I don't know if there are any issues with installing the OS on an SSD as the boot drive.  I also am NOT looking forward (I have ordered an MMS as you may have guessed, to use as a slave for VSL and VE Pro) to anticipated problems with the VSL software under Apple's new OS X Lion.  I have no relationship with OWC, but have had good experience so far -- just passing along information folks.

Cheers.

Steve

FWIW, almost all mac development at VSL is done with MMS Quad-i7 on Lion.

I looks like a great answer.  You just add addition Mac Minis as your needs grow.  Interesting to hear you folks use one.

S

I am currently building a system along the lines of what is described here.

Mac mini servers as slaves, macbook pro as DAW.  All with 16GB ram in each (it has come down to very reasonable prices the last few weeks.)  SSD's all round.

So far, testing on the mac mini has shown it to be a very capable system - especially considering is weight.  (I travel for some of my composing work, and want to be able to do EVERYTHING with my portable system! I have 2 mac pros in the studio currently...)

I will test the current mac mini server to breaking point, work out what part of the tech the breaking point is, and then order further mac minis with specs that "balance" the machines as much as possible.  Thus, is it RAM, CPU or drive space on the SSD's that limits the system first?  I'm still testing, but I'm getting remarkable results.

From Mac Rumors yesterday (March 1, 2012):

"An update to the Mac Pro is of course also contingent upon Apple deciding that it is worth keeping the line alive. The company late last year was reportedly "questioning" the future of the Mac Pro line, examining whether it should continue offering the professional-level workstation as sales have declined amid a continued shift toward notebook machines and specs that had gone stale while waiting for Intel to release updated processors."

In this same article, MacRumors discusses the soon-to-premiere Xeon E5 as a possible reason why a refresh to the Mac Pro line is coming.

So...

The new Mac Pro comes out, and Thunderbolt isn't even on it. We are left with obtuse comments on an even newer Mac Pro which may come out sometime next year. 

@plowman said:

So...

The new Mac Pro comes out, and Thunderbolt isn't even on it. We are left with obtuse comments on an even newer Mac Pro which may come out sometime next year. 

@plowman said:

So...

The new Mac Pro comes out, and Thunderbolt isn't even on it. We are left with obtuse comments on an even newer Mac Pro which may come out sometime next year. 

The "new" Mac Pros weren't exactly new either. Just a slight updating of the chips to those that the rest of us have been using for ages, and a drop in price.

The comments about the supposed new Mac Pro next year did not even specify that there was a new Mac Pro next year. All Tim Cook said was that there would be something very exciting  for the Pro users. That could mean anything. I think that all those people waiting for a new Mac should just get one now, and stop worrying about what's coming up. After all, I doubt that most people would even get close to maxing out the current offerings. [;)]

DG

@DG said:

The comments about the supposed new Mac Pro next year did not even specify that there was a new Mac Pro next year. All Tim Cook said was that there would be something very exciting  for the Pro users. 

DG

Have you seen this : 

This could be part of  NEW MACPRO !!!! ??????? [;)]

50 procs in the box !