I have a simple question. Until now I have always run my PMS from my Synology DS1812+ which runs on an Intel Atom D2700 2.13GHz with 3GB Ram. My plex data is on the same NAS.
I also have a late 2009 mac mini that is currently doing nothing which I could turn back on (and leave on 24hrs) and repurpose this one just for running PMS. the mac mini runs on a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz with 4GB ram.
So what I am wondering is.
is it smart to disable PMS on the NAS and start running it from the mac mini that is not doing anything right now anyway
will this allow me to better stream 1080P content to some of my tablets (my NAS cannot do that without buffering)
will this allow me to better stream some of my contents remotely to my plex friends?
is it actually not a good idea as I will have 2 machines on 24hrs a day without a tangible benefit and thus just adding to electricity cost?
looking forward to your opinions. At first glance looking at processor power it seems an easy choice/good idea but I am not sure if that is really true: whether the mac mini really gives me an edge in any sense.
Part of the reason why I want to do this is the following. During parts of the day I connect to a VPN server on the NAS which makes the plex server inaccessible remotely. I am kinda tired of turning the VPN on and off for Plex… by moving the server to the mac mini I could just leave the VPN on which would be better for me. by the way I am assuming that even though the data is on the NAS which is connected to a VPN it is still accessible remotely as the Server is on the mac mini which is not behind a VPN.
I hope I got the CPU specs right. Synology CPU passmark is 839 and MacMini 1638.
Your MacMini can run up to ElCapitan so that’s good.
In theory you will gain 100% more power.
Plex needs roughly 2000 passmark for one full/transcode of video. More info here
Not really. Unless your upload speeds are in hundreds of Mbit/s and your friends will use Direct Play only. MacMini will most likely struggle with more then one transcode simultaneously.
In your case for own use, maybe. Because with MacMini should allow you to watch one 1080p stream.
In my opinion depend on your needs and your budget look for new solution. Let it be MacMini, NUC, some other small form factor like HP Z2 mini or even Nvidia Shield.
TL;DR Let Nas be Nas, MacMini 2009 will not give you the edge you might be looking for, buy new server.
You shouldn’t have any problems streaming 1080p streams to your clients when no transcoding is necessary. I tested my Seagate Personal Cloud which must be the lowest powered NAS that can run Plex server & can stream at least four simultaneous 1080p videos to a variety of clients (Roku 3 wired & wirelessly to a web client on my MacBook Pro & iPhone 6s Plus & iPhone 5s).
@nigelpb said:
You shouldn’t have any problems streaming 1080p streams to your clients when no transcoding is necessary. I tested my Seagate Personal Cloud which must be the lowest powered NAS that can run Plex server & can stream at least four simultaneous 1080p videos to a variety of clients (Roku 3 wired & wirelessly to a web client on my MacBook Pro & iPhone 6s Plus & iPhone 5s).
yes I agree… my comment was meant to streaming to ipad where transcoding is needed
@“Bartlomiej Baraniec” said:
I hope I got the CPU specs right. Synology CPU passmark is 839 and MacMini 1638.
Your MacMini can run up to ElCapitan so that’s good.
In theory you will gain 100% more power.
Plex needs roughly 2000 passmark for one full/transcode of video. More info here
Not really. Unless your upload speeds are in hundreds of Mbit/s and your friends will use Direct Play only. MacMini will most likely struggle with more then one transcode simultaneously.
In your case for own use, maybe. Because with MacMini should allow you to watch one 1080p stream.
In my opinion depend on your needs and your budget look for new solution. Let it be MacMini, NUC, some other small form factor like HP Z2 mini or even Nvidia Shield.
TL;DR Let Nas be Nas, MacMini 2009 will not give you the edge you might be looking for, buy new server.
thanks for the detailed response! I might give it a shot after upgrading the OS on the mac mini… don’t feel like spending more money on hardware right now… I agree a NUC or newer mac mini would be better though
@spikemixture said:
Odd questions!
Why are you asking?. It’s not like you don’t have the equipment!!
May I suggest to try the mac mini and tell US what works better.
Maybe is asking about our opinions. Maybe he wants to save time and asking might prevent him from installing and configuring. Maybe someone on forum had/has similar or exact setup. Maybe someone actually did calculation of power consumption for those devices. There is nothing wrong with asking a question. He said he might give a shot, so just maybe we have pushed him right direction. Keep your sig real!
@spikemixture said:
Odd questions!
Why are you asking?. It’s not like you don’t have the equipment!!
May I suggest to try the mac mini and tell US what works better.
Maybe is asking about our opinions. Maybe he wants to save time and asking might prevent him from installing and configuring. Maybe someone on forum had/has similar or exact setup. Maybe someone actually did calculation of power consumption for those devices. There is nothing wrong with asking a question. He said he might give a shot, so just maybe we have pushed him right direction. Keep your sig real!
Ok - we have another expert.
So much talent on this board I don’t know why I bother…
@spikemixture said:
Odd questions!
Why are you asking?. It’s not like you don’t have the equipment!!
May I suggest to try the mac mini and tell US what works better.
Maybe is asking about our opinions. Maybe he wants to save time and asking might prevent him from installing and configuring. Maybe someone on forum had/has similar or exact setup. Maybe someone actually did calculation of power consumption for those devices. There is nothing wrong with asking a question. He said he might give a shot, so just maybe we have pushed him right direction. Keep your sig real!
Ok - we have another expert.
So much talent on this board I don’t know why I bother…
@spikemixture … in all honesty I was also taken somewhat by surprise by your response… odd questions?? questions are questions… I asked for the reasons Bartlomiej Baraniec mentioned…
this doesn’t mean your suggestion does not make sense… I have all the stuff… I could have just tried it out and share back to the forum… my approach was in reverse… why try out first if there a loads of members on the forum that have done this already.
anyway this is a forum so all opinions and questions are welcome yours and mine
