Mac mini vs. Synology

[dancurry]

I have an older Synology that I store photos and Plex movie and TV content. I'm looking to upgrade. I have fiber internet with ethernet backbone around the house.

Wondering if instead of buying a new Synology, I should just buy a high-end Mac mini with lots of storage and attach a couple more externals off of it. Does anyone else have that kind of set up?

I like Synology but the processors are not as snappy as I'd like.

Would appreciate anyone spelling out the pluses and minuses of these two setups.

 

[roadkill401]

You don't say what sort of Synology that you have. The Synology drives are great for simplicity but can tend to get bogged down with bad network traffic and if your data is fragmented over the drive. Have you tried backing up all the data off the Synology and then re-building the drive?

 

[Chocomonsters]

Stick with Synology for NAS.

My guess is that you want to do hardware-assisted 4k transcoding on the fly. Most Synology NAS are designed for NAS not media server. Some Synology like a dual-bay DS216 has hardware-assisted 4k h.264/h.265 as it is geared towards media server. Since you are using your NAS for photos (which are invaluable data), you want it to be a reliable storage. Ideally you want RAID 6 (think RAID 10 is a overkill for personal use) for Synology NAS and run a Rsync back up to another external storage. Yes, you can make your DIY NAS but Synology has simple elegant solution.

You can recycle any old CPU like mac mini to run Plex in 4K if you need.

 

[dancurry]

I have a 4-bay DS412+. It's not horrible, but on slow side. I gave it trying to use as a media server. I run my Plex Server on a pretty new iMac and store the media on the NAS. It all works fine. The Moments photo app is pretty slick but the speed of loading, etc., is not great. So, one way or another I'm going to upgrade. My network is 1GB up and down hard-wired so that's not the bottleneck.

 

[roadkill401]

That sounds very much like how I use mine. I too have the DS412+ and use it for all my media, music etc. I use an Android FireTV 4k Stick running Kodi to do all the playing. The NAS is just that, a network attached storage device.

 

[Chocomonsters]

Agree. DS412+ is definitely on "long on the tooth" side. It was designed before the advent of 4k. Heck 1080p wasn't even norm back then.

If you are interested in 4k transcoding for media server as its main role, some DS Plus series and most Value series support 4k transcoding. Most business class or rack mounted SA/RS/DS series won't support 4k transcoding as they are not designed for media server.

See below for your options.

Product List | Synology Inc.

Whether for work or play, Synology offers a wide range of network-attached storage (NAS) choices for every occasion. Compare specifications below and find the right model for you.

www.synology.com

You can use your DS412+ as a backup NAS using Rsync.

 

[MacRS4]

It's an interesting conundrum isn't it - I went through something similar, and ended up with....Both. Not really by design, more by accident tbh.

I now have my two Synology DS918+ units that are backed up primary to secondary, and it also runs some apps like DropBox, some cloud stuff, and a VM. This used to be my primary way of working with large stuff - the 1Gb connection was getting a bit frustrating as I often have to move about large-ish virtual machines.

I then also have my i7 6 core Mac Mini with a couple of 2Tb SSD installed, and it also runs Plex with the media coming from the NAS.

The NAS units are connected via dual 1Gbe connections, and the Mini is connected with 10Gbe.

I use the Mac Mini to host some virtual machine stuff that I work on, and also have some file shares that I work with a lot during the day. Being able to do that over 10Gbe is blindingly quick. It's a server for my purposes - I have some folders that I can drop stuff in to, and then things just auto-magically happen to those files and my output is thrown out the other end.

The Mini then every evening replicates the changes up to the NAS.

It's not the the solution I designed in the first place, it's just how I've ended up working, and not quite gotten around to sorting properly. I suspect once the DS918's start showing their age I'll upgrade to ONE 10Gbe NAS.

 

[cmaier]

It's an interesting conundrum isn't it - I went through something similar, and ended up with....Both. Not really by design, more by accident tbh.

I now have my two Synology DS918+ units that are backed up primary to secondary, and it also runs some apps like DropBox, some cloud stuff, and a VM. This used to be my primary way of working with large stuff - the 1Gb connection was getting a bit frustrating as I often have to move about large-ish virtual machines.

I then also have my i7 6 core Mac Mini with a couple of 2Tb SSD installed, and it also runs Plex with the media coming from the NAS.

The NAS units are connected via dual 1Gbe connections, and the Mini is connected with 10Gbe.

I use the Mac Mini to host some virtual machine stuff that I work on, and also have some file shares that I work with a lot during the day. Being able to do that over 10Gbe is blindingly quick. It's a server for my purposes - I have some folders that I can drop stuff in to, and then things just auto-magically happen to those files and my output is thrown out the other end.

The Mini then every evening replicates the changes up to the NAS.

It's not the the solution I designed in the first place, it's just how I've ended up working, and not quite gotten around to sorting properly. I suspect once the DS918's start showing their age I'll upgrade to ONE 10Gbe NAS.

I also use two synology NAS’s with one dumping to the other each night (3612xs and 2419xs). Having two is very comforting - I used to have two 3612xs, and a power interruption issue cause one to crash, and I had to wipe and start over (restoring from the second). I keep them on separate UPS’s to try and minimize common failure modes - sadly can‘t keep one off site quite yet.

 

[HDFan]

buying a new Synology,

If you end up buying I would consider QNAP. Although more expensive a QNAP in the same class (cpu, disk drives) tends to have a lot more features. For example the TS-453bt3 has thunderbolt 3, 10Ge, OLED panel, remote control, HDMI port. Does 4k hardware (not software) transcoding (as does the Synology equivalent DS918+). Comes with 8 GB of RAM vs the DS918+s' 4 GB (upgradeable).

I find their software a bit better than Synology's. For example their version of Seagate IronWolf Health Management software doesn't yet support 16 TB drives, while QNAPs' version does.

If you have a ton of media which would not fit on one disk then getting a Mini would usually mean getting an external RAID device. In that case you might as well get a NAS. It will be slower than RAID but will allow you to turn off your mini and just stream your media from the NAS.

I had to wipe and start over (restoring from the second).

Backups are also an issue. My media is on 3 locations (iMac, QNAP, and Synology). At one point 2 of those locations were down (Plex problem on iMac, one NAS in for repair) so I was running from the 2nd backup on a NAS.

 

[cmaier]

If you end up buying I would consider QNAP. Although more expensive a QNAP in the same class (cpu, disk drives) tends to have a lot more features. For example the TS-453bt3 has thunderbolt 3, 10Ge, OLED panel, remote control, HDMI port. Does 4k hardware (not software) transcoding (as does the Synology equivalent DS918+). Comes with 8 GB of RAM vs the DS918+s' 4 GB (upgradeable).

I find their software a bit better than Synology's. For example their version of Seagate IronWolf Health Management software doesn't yet support 16 TB drives, while QNAPs' version does.

QNAP has had some QC problems with their software from time to time, so if you don’t need a specific feature that only QNAP provides I always suggest going with Synology, which is generally more stable and has had fewer incidents of big problems in the past.

Both are good machines, though.

 

[dancurry]

Interesting ideas, all. I'll definitely look into 10GB as I have ethernet backbone to accommodate it, also SSD cache, and will look into QNAP.

 

[MacRS4]

As a quick side-note, if you want to use a Mini as a Server, don't forget you can network over Thunderbolt 3 - it's only 10Gbps, but it's still a lot faster than 1Gbpe (well, 10 times, obvs), and it's cheaper than putting in 10Gb interfaces everywhere. You can see the performance of mine here.

 

[HDFan]

as I have ethernet backbone to accommodate it

Your switches are 10Ge? Darn things are still expensive ...

 

[dancurry]

Well, I meant I have ethernet all over. However, haven't looked into 10gb fully. As I understand, need an adapter at each end point and possibly a switch. My ethernet is Cat6 but not sure whether 6A or not. Somewhere I read says that matters. How does one tell the difference between 6 and 6A?

 

[dancurry]

Say, MacRS4, do you have need to externally access your shares off the MacMini and how do you do it? The more I'm thinking this through, I like the concept of keeping my Plex content on the older NAS, and moving my photos and few other things to a Mini residing in my office with my iMac.

 

[MacRS4]

When I access stuff externally I use the replicas off the NAS rather than the Mac Mini. I rarely need to write-back, but often have to copy out if that makes sense. Works well as also have 1Gbps Internet which is absolutely joyous.

 

[dancurry]

I really like the specs on the higher-end MacMini. I think I'll keep the Synology in the basement and just continue to run the Plex content there. I'll set up the MacMini in my office near my iMac and connect the two machines together via thunderbolt. Use the MM primarily as a master photo repository with at least one external. Also could use the MM for a few other things and keep the Synology also for Synology Drive dropbox thing. I like Memories on Synology but it was too sluggish. Will run much better on Photos/iCloud. Then can backup to Backblaze or something.

 

[Tesla1856]

Would it be OK if I jump in here and asked a question ? (Since yall are all here).

I have a Synology DS-412+ fully-loaded with 4x4tb = 12tb SHR (Their RAID-5 1-disk fault-tolerance).
My ethernet (backbone) switch is a Netgear Pro-SAFE Gigabit.
Running DSM-6.2.x . Set to SMB-2 (and higher). Just the 1 ethernet-cable connected to it.
All my files and media are on it.

Windows-10 (where I usually do my file maintenance from) says transfers are around 110MB/s .

Plex (server) is installed from Synology package-store.
My Apple-TV-HD(Gen4) is where I run the Plex (client) app and watch from (in home theater).

So, is the NAS running everything (including trans-coding) or is it the Apple-TV-4 ? Is the NAS just "serving up the files" or something more ? Or asked another way, if a high-bit-rate (or high resolution) file started buffering, which one would need to be upgraded ?

My ripped MP3's and WAV's play fine. My ripped DVD's (converted to MP4 with HandBrake) also play fine. The problem seems to be with my ripped Blu-Rays (actually, the .MKV's I transcode them down-to ) ... depending on the bit-rate, resolution, and which DTS/DD audio tracks I keep.

 

[dancurry]

I'm not an expert on this, but I had a similar set-up previously and then moved the Plex server to my newish and faster IMac instead of on the Synology. It runs fine now.

 

[HDFan]

So, is the NAS running everything (including trans-coding) or is it the Apple-TV-4 ? Is the NAS just "serving up the files" or something more ? Or asked another way, if a high-bit-rate (or high resolution) file started buffering, which one would need to be upgraded ?

Depends. Some Apple TV apps, such as Infuse, allow for direct play so there is no transcoding required. If the streaming device supports streaming of that media type then buffering would more likely be a network issue.

My ripped MP3's and WAV's play fine. My ripped DVD's (converted to MP4 with HandBrake) also play fine. The problem seems to be with my ripped Blu-Rays (actually, the .MKV's I transcode them down-to ) ... depending on the bit-rate, resolution, and which DTS/DD audio tracks I keep.

The problem is your NAS. It doesn't have the required horsepower. From the Plex compatibility list:

 

[dimme]

I have a MacMini I use as my home server. I used to run Mac OS Server but since Apple has started to strip it of what I used it for I am just running Mac OS. My uses are Plex Server, iTunes server, File server, Central backup to back-blaze, VPN server, I-device management with imazing and windows virtual machine, plus more uses which escapes me right now. I have a total of 20TB of storage on the device through a mix of USB3 drives and thunderbolt drives.
I think going with the mini is far more versatile and fun.

 

[Tesla1856]

1. Infuse, allow for direct play so there is no transcoding required.

2. The problem is your NAS. It doesn't have the required horsepower.

1. Yeah, I saw Infuse back in 2016, but then I found Plex. I thought it was cool that it ran on my old Synology NAS. If Infuse works, that might be the solution as I just need to play my files in my Home Theater (don't use the other Plex stuff).

2. Thanks, as I've never seen that chart before.
[automerge]1583015078[/automerge]

I have a MacMini I use as my home server. I used to run Mac OS Server but since Apple has started to strip it of what I used it for I am just running Mac OS. My uses are Plex Server, iTunes server, File server, Central backup to back-blaze, VPN server, I-device management with imazing and windows virtual machine, plus more uses which escapes me right now. I have a total of 20TB of storage on the device through a mix of USB3 drives and thunderbolt drives.
I think going with the mini is far more versatile and fun.

Well, my first response to my problem would be to grab a (not too old) Windows-10 box and start loading it up.

But when you report your experience like that ... maybe my old MacMini-2012 could live-on as a Home Server ?

Thanks guys. Really appreciate the help. I guess it is good to have options.

 

[HDFan]

If Infuse works, that might be the solution as I just need to play my files in my Home Theater (don't use the other Plex stuff).

You could Infuse 2 ways:

1. Using a plex server on your NAS, which may result in NAS transcoding and slowdowns
2. Using a SMB share from your NAS which would use the NAS as a file server only. This might work.

 

[Scorned]

I have both. I picked up a WD MyCloud PR4100 and dumped all of Plex on it. Some Nas's enable HW transcoding.

My Synology 2415+ sux at Plex. The 2014 I7 Mini works well, but slows when two users are on Plex.

The QNap does have some really nice NAS's with better HW and options than Synology

 

[mattspace]

Bumping this thread to see how folks opinions of Mac Mini servers are a couple of years later.

I get the impression that even the 6 core i7 models have lower power draw when idle / asleep than a 5-6 bay synology, and they can be set to sleep after x time, then wake for access etc, assuming you get a drive array / cases that also spin down at sleep, it seems like it might be a better solution for a system that sleeps when I do.

On top of that, you have a backup workstation if your main machine dies for some reason. Clearly, it’s more than double the price of the empty Synology, but being within a potential budget... are there any downsides (especially if optioning it with 10gig Ethernet)?