I was just given a Late 2012 Mac Mini and I want to use it as a server where I can stream movies off of and use as a backup drive. Any good guides for this? Thanks.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best Guide for Setting up Server?
- Thread starter legaleye3000
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I have not installed High Sierra yet, but read that it now includes a time machine and update server as part of the operating system. In the past you had to purchase this separately.
I use a Mini as an iTunes server and it is really simple. It just runs iTunes 24/7 with homesharing turned on. This lets me access my large library of movies and music from two AppleTV's and two other Macs. I also turned on file sharing and it's actually very fast for this over gigabit ethernet - about 100MBytes/sec.
So unless you are trying to do something more complex, this is dead simple and I'm not sure that you need to read any articles.
I use a Mini as an iTunes server and it is really simple. It just runs iTunes 24/7 with homesharing turned on. This lets me access my large library of movies and music from two AppleTV's and two other Macs. I also turned on file sharing and it's actually very fast for this over gigabit ethernet - about 100MBytes/sec.
So unless you are trying to do something more complex, this is dead simple and I'm not sure that you need to read any articles.
So, with High Sierra Time Machine and Caching is included as boyd01 said.
iTunes is still iTunes and great for Home Sharing to Apple TV.
To enable Time Machine Server just head into System Preferences - Sharing and enable Time Machine Backups (don’t forget to select the drive you want to store backups on).
Whilst you’re there, if you have several Apple devices in your home enable Caching Service too.
For what you’ve said you need you shouldn’t need to buy macOS Server; it’s a great App for adding more server services but High Sierra has moved several of these into the OS.
iTunes is still iTunes and great for Home Sharing to Apple TV.
To enable Time Machine Server just head into System Preferences - Sharing and enable Time Machine Backups (don’t forget to select the drive you want to store backups on).
Whilst you’re there, if you have several Apple devices in your home enable Caching Service too.
For what you’ve said you need you shouldn’t need to buy macOS Server; it’s a great App for adding more server services but High Sierra has moved several of these into the OS.
Thanks for the replies! How about using plex? I would just install plex on the Mac mini, set the settings in plex, and that’s it?
If I want to access files remotely on the Mac (outside of the WiFi network), I assume Back to my Mac would handle this? Thanks.
If I want to access files remotely on the Mac (outside of the WiFi network), I assume Back to my Mac would handle this? Thanks.
I love plex however the mini is just too weak for it. I bought one, tested and returned it.
What format is your stuff in? Mine is all MKV, H.265 and HD audio passthrough. It would barely play one 1080p stream and the fan would crank to max and it would get super hot. This is the 2014 model.
I am NOT encoding for one specific device. Rather I encode for best possible and let plex make it available on many devices.
However I also need to run multiple streams. A couple local simultaneously and I also use plex to share to friends and family outside the home. So it's not unusual to have 5 simultaneous streams going at once on my plex.
Last edited:
If it’s a quad 2012 and you’re not transcoding 4K a couple of streams should be possible. Rip to .MP4 in a compatible format and it should stream plenty.
My FreeNAS/Plex server has a lot more grunt though (dual 6-core with 48GB RAM).
My FreeNAS/Plex server has a lot more grunt though (dual 6-core with 48GB RAM).
Mostly MKV, mix of h264 and h265. I've played two 1080p streams simultaneously, and the cpu wasn't even at 50%. I have the 2012 QC, 8GB RAM.
I have an old MacBook Air connected to Time Capsule as Plex Server and it works perfectly. It streams all my movies to AppleTv and iPad. Very happy with it.