Mac Mini as NAS

Link Aggregation on DS 412+ NAS; HDD Slow Start from Sleep

blueroom said:

The DS413+

Thoughts, I had a DS412+ and sold it (had 4 2TB Seagates in RAID)
1. It's very slow to startup from sleep, seems staggered HDD power up was the reason.
2. The Link Aggregation mode for very fast transfer rates isn't going to work on anything without dual GigE (iMacs or MacBooks). So your transfer speed is limited to 75mbps (the limit of a single GigE port)

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Hi Bill. Hey, thanks for the heads up on link aggregation. So, DS412+ seems to be the only model in that category of NAS that has the Link Aggregation capability and the dual GigE. Any other model you'd recommend then as an alternative? On Link Aggregation, if my understanding of this concept is correct (still new to NAS stuff) it implies I can use 2 Gigabit ethernet ports aggregated together for greater i/o? And, if so, is it difficult to configure or setup? If the slow start up from sleep is the only issue, I would imagine that would be the issue with any NAS device you buy, would it not? Thanks...

I use my macmini with OSX server for time machine, sharing (NAS), and a plex media server. Great device, but obviously not cheap.

ActionableMango said:

Can you recommend one?

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I used the Gefen HDMI Detective. It wasn't cheap, but it was less expensive than buying a dedicated monitor for a machine that sits in a closet.

OmegaRed1723 said:

I used the Gefen HDMI Detective. It wasn't cheap, but it was less expensive than buying a dedicated monitor for a machine that sits in a closet.

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I've done some research into the problem. HW acceleration (specifically Quartz Extreme) is not enabled when no monitor is detected. This lack of acceleration really hurts screen sharing performance. By spoofing a monitor, you are enabling QE.

I've also read you can force QE to be enabled by running Quartz Debug. This information is very old though. I downloaded Xcode last night from the app store and will give it a try tonight to see if that trick still works. If it does, I'll just add Quartz Debug to the startup list.

ActionableMango said:

I've done some research into the problem. HW acceleration (specifically Quartz Extreme) is not enabled when no monitor is detected. This lack of acceleration really hurts screen sharing performance. By spoofing a monitor, you are enabling QE.

I've also read you can force QE to be enabled by running Quartz Debug. This information is very old though. I downloaded Xcode last night from the app store and will give it a try tonight to see if that trick still works. If it does, I'll just add Quartz Debug to the startup list.

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I had mentioned in my original post that QE is disabled when no monitor is present. Running the Debug used to be able to trick the system; however, that no longer works. The only way to enable QE is to either connect a monitor or spoof the EDID.

OmegaRed1723 said:

Running the Debug used to be able to trick the system; however, that no longer works. The only way to enable QE is to either connect a monitor or spoof the EDID.

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I started Quartz Debug, marked the checkbox for "Enable Quartz Extreme" and "Force QuartzGL".

I initially saw no improvement. But I closed the screen sharing window and then reconnected. It's a night and day difference. I'm happy.

Is there any way to get the Enable Quartz Extreme and Force QuartzGL settings to autoenable after a reboot? I have to go in and start them after every reboot (which, admittedly, isn't often)

Cheap Not Necessarily the best.

ReggaeFire said:

Is there any way to get the Enable Quartz Extreme and Force QuartzGL settings to autoenable after a reboot? I have to go in and start them after every reboot (which, admittedly, isn't often)

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Neither is a BMW cheap.