Sonnet Technologies has updated its xMac Mini Server rackmount chassis for Mac Mini computers to support Thunderbolt 3 connectivity.
The 1RU enclosure is built to snugly house a Mac Mini computer along with two PCIe card slots (one full-length, one half-length) that talk to the Mac via the Thunderbolt 3 ports, which were added to the Mini’s feature set with the 2018 line refresh.
With the Mac Mini tucked away inside, the case has a power button and a single USB-A port on the front panel, while the Mac Mini’s additional HDMI, Ethernet and USB-A connections are routed via internal cables to a panel on the back of the xMac Mini Server.
Because the xMac Mini Server has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one of them connects to the computer and a second one is available for daisy-chaining peripherals or connecting a display.
The set-up allows the no-frills Mac Mini to be used with pro audio interfaces such as Avid Pro Tools HDX cards, pro video capture and transcoding cards, and SAS/SATA GBA, fibre channel, high-speed Ethernet and RAID controllers on PCIe. If you’re wondering if your required hardware is supported over Thunderbolt to the Mac Mini, check Sonnet’s compatibility chart to see what works and what doesn’t.
The new xMac Mini Server is just the latest rack-mount system for the Mac Mini from Sonnet. It’s now shipping for an MSRP of $999.
