Options for setting up home media server (NAS vs Mac Mini)

[W.MlL]

I have an Apple TV 4K streaming device connected to my TV. I would like to be able to stream home videos (mp4 stuff I've recorded with my own video camcorder) to my Apple TV 4k.

I use Linux operating system on all my computers and have a separate network switch and router for my home network. My understanding is that I could buy a Mac Mini M4 and load my home videos into the Mac Mini's TV app. Then I could use the native "Computers" app on the Apple TV 4K to accomplish the stream. Correct?

The problem with the Mac Mini M4 option is its expense. It is exorbitantly priced, especially if one wants to get 512GB or a 1TB harddrive.

It would be a lot less costly to just use a NAS.
1) Is there a native Apple app for streaming from a NAS? (I'm assuming the native Apple TV "Computers" app will not work with NAS).

2) If there is not a native app, what are the preferred NAS apps? Is "Plex" one option? Does there tend to be monthly fees for the app offerings?

3) What kind of streaming experience can I expect using NAS? Would the Mac Mini M4 option provide a much better experience than NAS across any domains of use?

Thanks for any help anyone cares to offer.

 

[priitv8]

Why not take a cheap second-hand intel-based mini? Or the first gen with Apple Silicon. Their prices have come down by now, I guess
I serve my media from 2017 QC i7 mini. Both TV app and Plex server are in use. Also a Serviio server for DLNA.
File serving to aTV is not that taxing that you’d need to use latest M4 CPU.
One remark - i always try to stream native formats (h.264 / h.265) so that the server does not need to deal with video transcoding.
Audio transcoding is not a problem, but appleTV native formats work the best.

 

[Boyd01]

I just upgraded my media server to a base m4 Mini, cost $529 on Black Friday. All my media is on a 4tb external USB SSD, so don't need a big internal SSD. I used a 2012 base Mini for this starting in 2015 and switched to a 2014 Mini later. For the basic usage you describe, an older, used Mini would be more than adequate. If you're really on a tight budget, MacSales (aka Other World Computing) sells a variety of older Mini's and includes a limited warranty.

They have 2012 Mini's for as little as $39 and 2014's for $75. They have newer ones (2018, m1) but now we're getting up around $400 and it makes more sense to get a new m4 at those prices IMO. The $75 2.6ghz i5/8gb 2014 Mini should do it, I used the 1.4ghz/4gb 2014 Mini for a number of years and it was fine as a media server. That $75 Mini has a slow 500gb hard drive, but you could just add an external USB SSD and boot from that (which is what I did). The 2014 Mini is also pretty easy to install your own internal SSD. Or OWC will do it for you, they also sell SSD's. They quote $145 for that same Mini with an internal 500gb SSD ($185 with 1tb). The 2014 Mini only supports up to Monterey, but does that matter for a media server?

Of course, there are other good sources for used Mini's, you may find even better deals from private sellers. No experience with using a NAS for this myself, I decided against that option back in 2015 and went with a Mini.

 

[Reality4711]

I would love to understand one word of these media conversations.
1/ I am. old
2/ I am English - &
3/ I never understood the movie camera to start with.

All I ever wanted to do was/is play my high (file size) music through my hifi with a remote.

Loads of really helpful people on here have tried but I still sit silent and confused.

Perhaps I was meant just to watch tele. and play records?

 

[Boyd01]

Well, the advantage of using a Mini (or any Mac, for that matter) is that this is all quite simple. For what we're discussing, you need an AppleTV connected to an HDMI input on your television.

1. On your Mac, you simply enable Media Sharing. I'm also using file sharing and screen sharing, but those are optional.

2. On the Apple TV, you would simply click the Computers App (orange icon on the left here)

That's it; now you can access any video stored on your Mac.

There are various ways to add videos to your Mac, such as copying the files to a special folder or simply dragging them into the TV app.

 

[priitv8]

Loads of really helpful people on here have tried but I still sit silent and confused.

Why oh why?
appleTV is not the choice for a hi-res music player, to begin with.
I use my blu-ray player for that purpose. Can play all PCM files up to 192k and DSD up to DSD128 from a media server over the local network. Would also play directly from a USB drive.

 

[Reality4711]

Why oh why?
appleTV is not the choice for a hi-res music player, to begin with.
I use my blu-ray player for that purpose. Can play all PCM files up to 192k and DSD up to DSD128 from a media server over the local network. Would also play directly from a USB drive.

???????????????????????????????????/

 

[KBJ55]

Why oh why?
appleTV is not the choice for a hi-res music player, to begin with.
I use my blu-ray player for that purpose. Can play all PCM files up to 192k and DSD up to DSD128 from a media server over the local network. Would also play directly from a USB drive.

The OP asked about playing video files, not audio files.

------

I would get a subscription to Infuse.

Infuse 8 - An Elegant Video Player

Ignite your video content with Infuse – the beautiful way to watch almost any video format on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, and Vision. Free download!

firecore.com

 

[priitv8]

The OP asked about playing video files, not audio files.

Some elderly gentleman from UK was.
But if you set your home media server up, you can pley both video and audio files.

 

[Boyd01]

IMO, age need not be a barrier to any of this as long as there's a desire to learn. I'm 75 (but nobody ever accused me of being a "gentleman" 🤣 )

 

[LelandHendrix]

If you're going to use the mini as a desktop computer as well, I say it could be a nice addition to your home. But it's a bit overkill.


I stream old family videos, ones from my drone, discs I've ripped all to my Apple TV using players available on the App Store. I settled on one called infuse because it's shared across iPhones, iPads and computers too, but there are free versions. Being familiar with linux, you likely know file sharing through samba. I use a raspberry pi as a file server with an 8 TB hard drive to host the videos, then set up infuse to find the smb share. Works brilliantly. There are other apps that will play network video files that are free I just chose that one for convenience and it works on all my devices.

I also have an M1 Air with a broken screen I originally had doing a similar server job, but I wanted to brush on up linux and pi and I kinda love it for different reasons and because it's tiny. But a whole Mac just for the light job you described seems a bit much?

 

[ignatius345]

My understanding is that I could buy a Mac Mini M4 and load my home videos into the Mac Mini's TV app. Then I could use the native "Computers" app on the Apple TV 4K to accomplish the stream. Correct?

Exactly. I've been doing this for many years and it's quite a usable solution. Also, a M4 Mini is massive overkill if you're just using it for this. You could buy an older Mac (say, a Mini or MacBook Air) secondhand, set it up using the instructions above, and use that. Also know that you can store your media on an external drive if its built-in storage isn't large enough.

 

[JamesMay82]

An alternative is just to move all your videos into Apple photos app and use iCloud photos and this will sync them to the cloud which will then be viewable on the Apple TV photos app.

This is how I do it now. I use to use the computers app method but my Mac is upstairs and have buffering issues when I try to access it from the tv downstairs. It’s also easier for my wife to use as well

 

[myhaksown]

I have an Apple TV 4K streaming device connected to my TV. I would like to be able to stream home videos (mp4 stuff I've recorded with my own video camcorder) to my Apple TV 4k.

I use Linux operating system on all my computers and have a separate network switch and router for my home network. My understanding is that I could buy a Mac Mini M4 and load my home videos into the Mac Mini's TV app. Then I could use the native "Computers" app on the Apple TV 4K to accomplish the stream. Correct?

The problem with the Mac Mini M4 option is its expense. It is exorbitantly priced, especially if one wants to get 512GB or a 1TB harddrive.

It would be a lot less costly to just use a NAS.
1) Is there a native Apple app for streaming from a NAS? (I'm assuming the native Apple TV "Computers" app will not work with NAS).

2) If there is not a native app, what are the preferred NAS apps? Is "Plex" one option? Does there tend to be monthly fees for the app offerings?

3) What kind of streaming experience can I expect using NAS? Would the Mac Mini M4 option provide a much better experience than NAS across any domains of use?

Thanks for any help anyone cares to offer.

I use a UGREEN NASync and I find the Apple TV app to be really good. Plus I can access everything outside my home without having to buy extra apps and setup webDAV for everything. It’s kinda pricy to start but I stream movies and tv shows I’ve ripped from my dvd and bluray collection to my Apple TV and on my iPhone and iPad on the go without issues. Using a Mac mini would cost about the same I’d guess when you factor drives, extra apps for out of home access, and the machine itself. Plus I like that I can just set and forget. When I used a 2012 Mac mini back in 2014 for the same purpose I constantly had issues. Probably better by now but I wouldn’t waste my time after my last experience.

 

[drsox]

I've had NAS units to store and play audio and video for 20 years. For video I use Synology units with Firecore Infuse running on the Apple TVs. Simple to run and setup. I've stopped ripping video from DVDs.

For audio I use the same NAS units to store and play though SONOS units. I use Apple Music (was iTunes) on my MacBook Air to rip and manage audio.

Has worked well without issues. Every so often I update and change out the hardware as technology moves on.

 

[Reality4711]

I AM THAT OLD GENTLEMAN!
Only 72 and very much not gentlemanly.
As for keep learning!!
Well a good source of teaching would help and knowing what language they speak would both help.
That was not meant as a disparaging remark to all though who try to help me (daily it seems) just that 'media' stuff just seems a totally disjointed subject and this old autistic just cannot connect the dots; without a map.
eg: tried a NAS setup - failed & costly - tried wifi setup (British telecom) router incomprehensible - tries 'bluetooth'; sounds crap.
I could go on but another list of options in Media jargon code will probably fry what's left of my braincell.
I give up. 🤨🦈🦈🦈

 

[JtheLemur]

Get a Synology NAS that has good Plex/etc server support. Load it with drives. Use Apple TV as client. Done. Can’t beat 40TB serving video and not have to think about it.

On the AppleTV I run Plex client but there are plenty of other frontends, such as Infuse.

 

[drsox]

I have an Apple TV 4K streaming device connected to my TV. I would like to be able to stream home videos (mp4 stuff I've recorded with my own video camcorder) to my Apple TV 4k.

I use Linux operating system on all my computers and have a separate network switch and router for my home network. My understanding is that I could buy a Mac Mini M4 and load my home videos into the Mac Mini's TV app. Then I could use the native "Computers" app on the Apple TV 4K to accomplish the stream. Correct?

The problem with the Mac Mini M4 option is its expense. It is exorbitantly priced, especially if one wants to get 512GB or a 1TB harddrive.

It would be a lot less costly to just use a NAS.
1) Is there a native Apple app for streaming from a NAS? (I'm assuming the native Apple TV "Computers" app will not work with NAS).

2) If there is not a native app, what are the preferred NAS apps? Is "Plex" one option? Does there tend to be monthly fees for the app offerings?

3) What kind of streaming experience can I expect using NAS? Would the Mac Mini M4 option provide a much better experience than NAS across any domains of use?

Thanks for any help anyone cares to offer.

 

[JamesMay82]

Get a Synology NAS that has good Plex/etc server support. Load it with drives. Use Apple TV as client. Done. Can’t beat 40TB serving video and not have to think about it.

On the AppleTV I run Plex client but there are plenty of other frontends, such as Infuse.

But plex won’t be able to add iTunes movies will it due to drm?

 

[JtheLemur]

But plex won’t be able to add iTunes movies will it due to drm?

Nope, not without stripping the DRM. OP did not cite this as a requirement. But given it’s an Apple TV, it of course has the ability to play iTunes Movies natively, so there’s no problem here.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

OP, since cost is steering you AWAY from the easy solution of native formats for your home movies + using the (Apple) Computers app via home sharing to easily watch them (and it works with all DRM Apple files too), you are not obligated to buying a new Mac at all.

1. Buy a used PC (or a cheap new PC), install iTunes and put your home movies, movies, Disc rips, music, etc on it. It will function just fine as a media server to AppleTV.
2. Buy a used/refurb Mac, use iTunes (if it's old) or Music & TV if newer and store all of that kind of media. Turn on home sharing and Computers app will be able to access all of it in one simple app.
3. Unretire a Mac or PC you already have on hand. Even an OLD one running old macOS can be a simple media server for AppleTV.

Plex and Infuse, etc are all fine and work with NAS setups but come with tradeoffs- particularly if any Apple DRM is involved. The all-Apple way is store the files in Apple formats, get them indexed in iTunes or the Music + TV app combo, watch on AppleTV Computers app. It 'just works' fine.

 

[chrisus]

Well, the advantage of using a Mini (or any Mac, for that matter) is that this is all quite simple. For what we're discussing, you need an AppleTV connected to an HDMI input on your television.

1. On your Mac, you simply enable Media Sharing. I'm also using file sharing and screen sharing, but those are optional.

View attachment 2464887

2. On the Apple TV, you would simply click the Computers App (orange icon on the left here)

View attachment 2464890

That's it; now you can access any video stored on your Mac.

There are various ways to add videos to your Mac, such as copying the files to a special folder or simply dragging them into the TV app.

When I try this all I get my music nothing else! When you say "now you can access any video stored on your Mac" I have my films on a separate hard drive attached to my Mac mini bit then again so is my music
happy Christmas

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Do you index your video files in the TV app (or iTunes if you are on a PC or older Mac). They have to be in either TV or iTunes for Computers app via home sharing to see and access them. When you open either app on your Mac, you have to see them indexed in it (just like music files in the music or iTunes app) and if you click them to play on Mac, they play.

They also have to be in a format compatible with Apple, typically file names ending in .mp4 or .m4v.

Tip: if you don't have much room on the internal drive inside the Mac, you can leave them stored on the existing external by unchecking one key box in settings in the TV or iTunes apps...

​

Note that you MUST have the video drive connected to the "home sharing" Mac for the files to play on AppleTV.

 

[Boyd01]

When you say "now you can access any video stored on your Mac" I have my films on a separate hard drive attached to my Mac mini

What version of MacOS are you using? Starting with Catalina (IIRC) if a video is available in the TV app on your Mac and media sharing is enabled, then you should also be able to view that video using the computers app on the Apple TV. I don't know, there might be some formats that would play on the Mac but not Apple TV?

It shouldn't matter where you store the video, as long as you set the correct Media folder location in the TV app "files" preference.

Hope you have a great holiday too!

 

[chrisus]

Ok thanks understand now, films not indexed in movies. will continue useing vlc that works well for me