Hi All, apologies in advance if this has a thread somewhere - I searched but could not locate info.
I have an M1 Mac mini running the lastest Plex server connected to a JBOD Thunderbolt box with four 16TB drives. I’m nervous! If one of those fails, it will be a PITA to retrieve, even with Backblaze.
Is it possible to use the Mac mini as a server connected by ethernet to a Synology NAS which stores the media files? I have no other use for this mini and would prefer to have the robust(ish) M1 chip doing the serving vs the anemic(ish) Synology CPU trying to serve the media.
I mount my “media” share from the NAS to my mini and the server on mini sees it as any other volume. You should be able to add it as a login item to mount if mini reboots but I personally don’t do that. I just remote desktop into the mini from main computer and remount if needed which is rare.
yes. that’s definitely the way it should be done in your scenario. Run PMS on the mini and mount the synology share as a network drive. Once you’ve done that look at enabling smb 3 multi channel on both devices to increase throughput.
you find that your mini mounted to a network drive (your qnap) rarely disconnects?
I’ve never been able to keep a Mac mounted to a network drive consistent (sometimes a week, sometimes a month) but it will always inevitably disconnect. I’ve always had to run a script to ensure it remounts immediately when it disconnects. Are you mounting via smb?
you find that your mini mounted to a network drive (your qnap) rarely disconnects?
I, too, am running my PMS on a Mac mini with a Synology NAS connected via SMB holding my media. I only experienced it once that the Mac lost the connection to the NAS and I had to manually remount it.
Out of curiosity: do you mind sharing the script that you are using to ensure it remounts automatically when disconnected?
I should clarify- I ran the same script for many years, which worked perfectly. a couple years ago the new MACOS release wouldn’t work with the script so he rebuilt it into an app that does the same thing + gives you some more functionality (but it’s $15). https://automounter.app.
Worth it to me for the peace of mind that I never have to worry about drives being mounted (I also have my mini mounted into shares from three different devices).
the network share from NAS is Mounted to mini, not a drive from mini mounted to NAS. But yeah I had to reboot yesterday due to something unrelated to Plex but it has been running for about 6 months the last time I had to touch either (which was only because I moved) . I can’t recall the last time it the NAS mount was removed from the Mac that was not related to me rebooting the NAS for some reason like an update.
that’s fascinating. It never dawned on me to mount the the share to the mini. It’s a little easier to manage mounting from the mini since it’s mounting three shares from one device but If that’s reliable then I’ll definitely give it a shot. Thanks for that.
You find performance better with AFP or more reliable?
sorry last question. There’s so much misinformation regarding the new M chips it’s hard to make heads or tails of what’s legit information or people simply like taking a dump on apple no matter what.
How your performance with the M chip? i know the CPU’s have a tremendous amount processing power, especially single thread speed, What’s your experience with remote use, transcoding without quick sync etc?
I know Quick sync on newer Intel chips can make a big difference, would you say it’s a bigger variable than overall processing power when it comes to software transcoding or no?
sorry I’ve verged off course, it’s just so hard to get someone who really knows plex and give an objective answer. I’d really appreciate it.
I use an M1 MacMini with USB connected drives wit media on it. I don’t have many remote users, but I have had 4 4k HDR streams transcoding down to 1080p without the mini breaking a sweat. It probably could do another 2-3 streams easily. I have transcoded from 4K HDR in UK to 1080p in the USA.
It mostly direct plays 4k HDR streams and regularly have 4 of them going at the same time.
I used to use a 2012 Mac Mini with had a intel processor. It had quick sync which was fine for 1080p to 720p transcoding. Could not transcode at all from 4K, but direct play was fine. That is now a NAS for backups.
It does all of this why also sipping power and generally staying cool and fan running on idle.
A lot of people use apple computers for Plex set ups. There a number of helpful Facebook groups as well.
I have quite a few remote users and a lot of movies with good size bitrates. Not remux but encodes from remux.
I have an aging 8th gen Intel (funny at the time it was considered awesome) which still does fine. I have decent upload bandwidth and changing to maximum upload bandwidth get a lot of direct plays, streams and even the transcodes never really seems to put much strain (except subs murder cycles). I’m starting to think ahead, CPU’s have exploded at reasonable price points since then.
Contemplating building my own vs buying an m2 model once the M3’s come out. The price difference will reasonably negligible in the end so trying to get an idea of my next move and what’s going to serve me best.
