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It's just sort of overkill is all -- especially since you still need a storage solution (enclosure) or external NAS, etc

Comparison gets expensive when compared with doing a build just for the purpose here, but can be a good setup/value still depending upon needs.

I might switch to a Mac mini M1 once newer models are out and they get even cheaper on secondary market. I'd be doing that to make cloud backups and sharing my iTunes library a bit easier on myself mainly though, not just for Plex.

My FreeNAS (now TrueNAS) continues to chug along and do yeomans work for me for now
You can’t compare FreeNAS to something that can transcode…. What is overkill for you is obviously not for others. If you don’t need to transcode 4K rips. Cool.
 
You can’t compare FreeNAS to something that can transcode…. What is overkill for you is obviously not for others. If you don’t need to transcode 4K rips. Cool.

What do you mean?

FreeNAS can transcode just fine

What it can transcode and how well, specifically, is all about the build components and setup
 
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What do you mean?

FreeNAS can transcode just fine

What it can transcode and how well, specifically, is all about the build components and setup
You are saying to me you can build a computer for less than 600 dollars that runs freenas and can transcode 4K tone mapped movies?
 
You are saying to me you can build a computer for less than 600 dollars that runs freenas and can transcode 4K tone mapped movies?

Just the computer, possibly, yes - but my larger point about the M1 was just that a FreeNAS build will usually incorporate the "NAS" part into the build and same machine/casing.

With an M1, the storage is separate and likely more than doubles the cost still depending upon needs/wants

You're being a touch defensive (at least it feels that way)

The M1's are great!

If you read my posts in this thread, you'll see I'm actually thinking of going that route at some point myself.

We agree!
M1's are powerful and good value... it's just a different way to go about it since massive storage (usually part of a Plex build) still has to be accounted for and figured out.
 
Just the computer, possibly, yes - but my larger point about the M1 was just that a FreeNAS build will usually incorporate the "NAS" part into the build and same machine/casing.

With an M1, the storage is separate and likely more than doubles the cost still depending upon needs/wants

You're being a touch defensive (at least it feels that way)

The M1's are great!

If you read my posts in this thread, you'll see I'm actually thinking of going that route at some point myself.

We agree!
M1's are powerful and good value... it's just a different way to go about it since massive storage (usually part of a Plex build) still has to be accounted for and figured out.
I am not being defensive, I am doubting that what you are saying is true. I think a used M1 Mini is a far cheaper, easier and faster solution than building a full FreeNAS setup/computer.

Plug in a raid enclosure, call it done. I have like 100TB attached to my Mini.

This is coming from someone who has built their own cheap windows plex servers and gave up on their power use, noise, heat and complexity.
 
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I am not being defensive, I am doubting that what you are saying is true. I think an M1 is a far cheaper and faster solution than building a full FreeNAS setup/computer.

Plug in a raid enclosure, call it done.

Well, it's not necessarily cheaper once you factor in the RAID enclosure, especially if doing many drives.

FreeNAS builds are frequently done, as mine is, with a case that holds all the drives and they can directly plug right into the motherboard -- so no potentially expensive external enclosure hardware needed.

That's what I'm getting at.
In any case, let's move on

Both solutions can be great, it's just about how you put it together and what ones needs are.
And yes, TrueNAS/FreeNAS builds can absolutely be done for incredible transcoding performance.
 
Well, it's not necessarily cheaper once you factor in the RAID enclosure, especially if doing many drives.

FreeNAS builds are frequently done, as mine is, with a case that holds all the drives and they can directly plug right into the motherboard -- so no potentially expensive external enclosure hardware needed.

That's what I'm getting at.
In any case, let's move on

Both solutions can be great, it's just about how you put it together and what ones needs are.
And yes, TrueNAS/FreeNAS builds can absolutely be done for incredible transcoding performance.
Of course you can, but not for less than $600 plus cheap enclosures. Those motherboards are extremely expensive.

Which is my entire point. An M1 Mini with cheap enclosures, and just mirroring drives with software. Is significantly cheaper and just as fast for 4K HDR transcodes and tone mapping.
 
Something I don't understand: how would the Mini interact with the NAS as an external drive? Synology appears to load an OS directly, how would macOS deal with that?
As far as I know, the USB ports on the Synology are for it to access external drives, not for connecting to computers. Computers connect to the Synology through network file sharing. Synology also support iSCSI over ethernet, but MacOS does not.
 
Of course you can, but not for less than $600 plus cheap enclosures. Those motherboards are extremely expensive.

Which is my entire point. An M1 Mini with cheap enclosures, and just mirroring drives with software. Is significantly cheaper and just as fast for 4K HDR transcodes and tone mapping.

As in, an m1 mini on sale paired with external drives is potentially a better value proposition than a NAS of comparable power?
 
As in, an m1 mini on sale paired with external drives is potentially a better value proposition than a NAS of comparable power?
What does ‘comparable power’ mean?

For $350 (price has since jumped) I bought a 2GB 1GBe Celeron based 4-bay Synology 423+. I have PlexPass, so the box will HW transcode. It can transcode and stream Plex to the moon and back, runs all the -Arrs flawlessly (I added a $40 16GB chip), and does it all with BRTFS, a very reliable file system, with redundant RAID to boot.

I find that unbeatable, and would never use an expensive Mac for Plex service when this (or X86-64 Windows & iGPU) exists.
 
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