I mostly agree however the internal 500MB hard drive is 5400RPM drive which makes it almost unusable on any level. It's less than 45MB/s or a $50 dollar 1TB 2.5" is 500MB/s which is inexpensive.
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Mac mini as Plex server basic question re: media storage
- Thread starter zachiedoo
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Capacity should be the focus, not throughput. You just don't need it for media.
Well, I haven't firmly decided yet, but while it will definitely be a Plex server, I am also seriously looking into using it to house our two music libraries centrally so they are always accessible to both of us, as the mini will be always on.
The mini came with an SSD: I'm just increasing the size of the internal SSD to 1GB. My plan is that the Plex software will reside there, along with the music libraries, and the media library will be housed on the 2GB external SSD
Well it's neither an HDD nor a 2.5". It's an NVMe PCIe with an adapter, in the case of the mini's boot drive, and in an NVMe enclosure, in the case of the external SSD. The 1TB was less than $90 Cdn all in, the 2TB less than $180
I don't recall if you mentioned what resolution screen you will want to use - and if you can match the output and how much RAM do you have?
I have spent lots of time making HTPC type setups and that includes Mac Mini in the mix. I had pretty good luck with old Minis for 1080p using XBMC (Kodi now). I am unsure I would use one for 4k media.
The easiest connection for you would likely be the USB connections which should be fast enough. If you want to future-proof, consider a backward-compatible USB 3.2 enclosure. Nothing really speaks of the value of the type of SSD you want other than future compatibility. Mechanical drives do fine as a store and even better if you back up one to another No need to mirror rather static store drives but just back them up upon changes.
As for me - I still watch lots of media on my Mac but for best movie play I opted for the Nvidia Shield TV. I loaded it with Kodi (you can use PLEX on it easily) and life became very easy. It handles typical files and does rather impressive upscaling. If you have blu-ray level files (1080p) they upscale very well to 4k screens and usually look far better than at 1080p.
If I had your Mini, I would get just two external mechanical drives and call it a day. One would be back up for the other. If you upgrade later, use those drives for backups etc.
My present system Mac with Kodi and 4k monitor
Nvidia Shield TV with Kodi --> TV and same 4K monitor
NAS with extensive DVD, BluRay and UHD 'archived' media of my own purchases (using MakeMKV and previously SlyFox along with ClownBD).
I have spent lots of time making HTPC type setups and that includes Mac Mini in the mix. I had pretty good luck with old Minis for 1080p using XBMC (Kodi now). I am unsure I would use one for 4k media.
The easiest connection for you would likely be the USB connections which should be fast enough. If you want to future-proof, consider a backward-compatible USB 3.2 enclosure. Nothing really speaks of the value of the type of SSD you want other than future compatibility. Mechanical drives do fine as a store and even better if you back up one to another No need to mirror rather static store drives but just back them up upon changes.
As for me - I still watch lots of media on my Mac but for best movie play I opted for the Nvidia Shield TV. I loaded it with Kodi (you can use PLEX on it easily) and life became very easy. It handles typical files and does rather impressive upscaling. If you have blu-ray level files (1080p) they upscale very well to 4k screens and usually look far better than at 1080p.
If I had your Mini, I would get just two external mechanical drives and call it a day. One would be back up for the other. If you upgrade later, use those drives for backups etc.
My present system Mac with Kodi and 4k monitor
Nvidia Shield TV with Kodi --> TV and same 4K monitor
NAS with extensive DVD, BluRay and UHD 'archived' media of my own purchases (using MakeMKV and previously SlyFox along with ClownBD).
Well a lot of that is just plain Greek to me. My plan is to just run the Plex app on our AppleTV HD to our 10+ year-old 55" Samsung LED TV. The AppleTV has an ethernet connection direct to the router, and the mini connects via ethernet to the TimeCapsule gen 3 upstairs, which is itself connected to the router via ethernet also. I'm not into this to max out video quality or anything like that. I just enjoy working with and learning about tech, and this seemed a practical way to put that interest to use. Plus, my spouse gets to avoid one woodworking project: I had conceived a DVD storage unit she was to build for our LR. We also save some space. We have very few Blu-ray and I likely won't bother even putting those into the Plex library, so won't have to buy an external BR optical disk, saving another $200. When we want to watch those, we'll do it the old-fashioned way, on the BR disk player in the LR. I don't plan on having anything I haven't bought the DVD for. I'm not into piracy. Not judging, just not into it.
Agreed on piracy. I archive my discs for my use. Also not a bad idea to register those that come with digital copies. I know that Apple (at least on my computer) will play near all my Vudu / Movies Anywhere/ Amazon purchased streamed movies. I would hope the ATV does as well (set up a few for friends but not much more). Let us know what you finally come up with for your purposes.
Yep, for whatever reason I thought it was the base 2014 which is the slowest HDD the world has ever known (almost lol)
You in fact should keep your media on a separate drive. Speaking specifically to the external drive housing media- Since most of the the time the media will be read, but only written once and especially since external drive would be directly connected you don’t need to spend on an SSD. A mechanical drive for your external is fine but ultimately up to you. The internal must be an SSD though. But yes, keep media separate.
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I have a 2012 mac mini 256ssd 16ram monterrey with 6 8tb ext usb hard drives for media storage, backups and download manager. It works 24/365. I connect to it from other macs to manage it. For now it plays 4k on several apple tv with infuse and music both inside like away from home with plexamp without any problem.
tbh i think you are wasting your money with the 2tb ssd, you will get a 5tb hard drive for much cheaper, much more space, and you wont notice the difference
A 2TB SSD is <$100. It runs cool and quiet, and if he doesn't need 5TB of storage space, why risk a mechanical drive?
My 2014 is my plex and nas server. My mini has a 1tb spinner inside and a 6tb external spinner for my media files. The plex server resides on the internal hdd. This works good. Once Sync’ed and indexed, everything works quickly and efficiently. In my case, no need for an ssd.
he's swapping out his internal SSD for a bigger one (why?) and then adding a 2tb SSD which certainly in Europe is €300 for both. a 2tb hard drive would be €60 or a 5tb would be €90.
My total outlay was less than $300 Cdn. I put in a 1TB SSD internal because I also want to use it as a HomeAssistant machine (with everything on the internal) and a central music library as well (also on the internal SSD) and I wasn't sure the existing 256GB was enough. I wanted SSD's because they are faster than HDD's, and I trust HDD's less and less as the 'everyday use' drive. As an external NAS 'for backups only', used occasionally, I likely would go with an HDD as they are, as many have pointed out, less costly. We currently have 2 Time Capsules, each with their own 2TB drive, so lots of room for now.