With more and more of our lives becoming digital, it is important for people to have access to their data all the time. The Mac mini is a great tool for serving files.
![Mac Mac](https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/field/image/2017/05/macos-server-client-ios-app-access.jpeg?itok=LURoIRq3)
File sharing between Macs and Windows is a little lopsided. Out of the box, Macs can detect any Windows computer connected to the local network. The reverse process—allowing a Mac to share its files—requires a little more attention. The transition from Tiger to Leopard has made it a little bit.
Mac minis come with up to 1TB (1000GB) hard drives now. They also have plenty of ports where you can connect multiple terabytes of data.
To create a file server out of your Mac mini, you just go into System Preferences and click on the “Sharing” pane. There you will see a checkbox next to “File Sharing.” Just click on that box and you’re ready to go as an AFP server. (Connect to it using afp:// followed by your ip address.)
A few things to consider:
- Under the options tab, you can also choose to serve files using FTP and SMB.
- To get the most from your machine, you’ll want to have a static ip so it can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
- The “Sharing Pane” also allows for you to set different folders with different permissions. You can set up each user with their own logins so they can access only their own files.