I have a Mac Mini M1 with 256GB internal storage space. My user folder is on this 256GB SSD built into the chip. I’d like to keep the wear and tear down on this internal SSD. I notice the Plex Media Server is saving the DVR recordings first to this internal drive under: ~Library/Caches/PlexMediaServer/transcode/Sessions first, and I guess then after recorded it copies over to my external 8TB HDD and then deletes from caches folder?
Anyways, I have an external 1 TB NVME ssd plugged into the lighting usb port. I’d like to have Plex Media Server cache to this ssd instead of internal ssd. Is this possible to tweak a setting in the server software for where DVR recordings are temporarily recorded to? And also any transcoding for other purposes?
Or am I overworried about wearing out the SSD in the M1? It can’t be replaced and it if it fails the entire system becomes junk.
I think you’re overly concerned about SSD life, I am sure opinions on this can go both ways. I’ve had SSD based Mac’s since 2017 and my iMac gets used daily… yet to see any issues that I can relate to the SSD…
My M1 Mini has been running since they came out, I have all the libraries on external drives, but Plex and its files are all on the SSD. So there of course is daily maintenance for Plex, and other usage. So for almost 2 years, my M1 Mini has been running Plex without a hint of issues related to the hardware.
I think moving the caches may reduce some usage depending on how much you record, but whether it will have any significant impact on your Mac is debatable.
