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Best option for additional storage for a Mac Mini HTPC

G

gana

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 16, 2012
1
0
Hi there

I’m planning on buying a Mac Mini as a media center (with Plex for the movies and itunes for the music), but I have some questions about the best option for additional storage.

I need at least 2TB of storage for all of my media files (music and movies), and would like the possibility of easy expansion. I would also like to have a backup of all of the files.

I would like to be able to download files from the Internet onto my MacBook and wirelessly drag-and-drop them to wherever the media is stored. I'd also like to wirelessly stream the video files to an iPad and an iPhone via AirVideo for example.

From what I gather, my two options are external hard drives hooked up directly to the Mini, or a NAS setup--except I've researched a whole bunch, and I still have no idea if one is a better option than the other for what my goals are. (What would be the point of a NAS if my mac mini would be dedicated to the media center ?)

Some information that may or may not be relevant:
- All the computers in my household are Macs running OS X Lion and Mountain Lion
- The Mac Mini would be in the ground floor and plugged to my DSL modem, a videoprojector and an AV Amplifier (would it be possible to watch movies on my lcd TV screen in the first floor ?)
- I'm okay with doing manual backups once a week or so of my media drive--constant synchronization is not a necessity but would be the icing on the cake
 
radicalcentrist said:
That NewerTech miniStack is gorgeous!
Click to expand...

Agreed! It is a nice match for the Mac Mini.

I have owned the previous version for several years and I haven't had any problems. You can buy an empty enclosure and install a drive or get an enclosure with a drive installed. Unless you happen to find an incredibly good deal on a bare drive it's usually about the same cost to purchase an enclosure with a drive vs. going to the trouble of installing a drive yourself.

The brand of drive used in the enclosure is available in the enclosure specs but OWC reserves the option to use a different comparable drive, so I suppose that you could wind up with a different brand than is in the specifications.

You do pay extra for the design. The earlier versions also doubled as USB hubs so that offset the cost somewhat. As far as I can tell the new version doesn't function as a USB hub.

I am waiting to get a Mini until the new models are released. I plan on stacking the Mini and miniStack to save some space on my computer desk.
 
Just get a media NAS. It does the same as the mini, and costs the same as the external drive bay. Then you can sell the Mini to someone who puts it to full instead of 10% use.
 
You ask which is better, direct attached storage (DAS) or network attached storage (NAS) ... the answer of course depends on your usage...

Do you need to access the files from multiple sources on a network? If so you don't necessarily 'need' but would benefit from a NAS. If you only want to access them from a single source, i.e. the mini, then you need an external hard drive. Don't over complicate things! :D

External hard drives are cheap - work out what you need then double it! 4TB is not that expensive and will address your needs and also provide room for expansion. The mini will stream to your other Apple sources.

I use a 5x3TB NAS in a RAID 5 array. I can stream to all my devices anywhere in the world. It cost a lot more than the external hard drive though!
 
evilpaddy said:
You ask which is better, direct attached storage (DAS) or network attached storage (NAS) ... the answer of course depends on your usage...

Do you need to access the files from multiple sources on a network? If so you don't necessarily 'need' but would benefit from a NAS. If you only want to access them from a single source, i.e. the mini, then you need an external hard drive. Don't over complicate things! :D

External hard drives are cheap - work out what you need then double it! 4TB is not that expensive and will address your needs and also provide room for expansion. The mini will stream to your other Apple sources.

I use a 5x3TB NAS in a RAID 5 array. I can stream to all my devices anywhere in the world. It cost a lot more than the external hard drive though!
Click to expand...

I second this . In the case of the op I would get a synology nas


this is a lower priced model

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108095
 
Save Energy

Personally, I use a couple of these 2.0TB models hooked up to my mini via FW800.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/RAID/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

The FW800 powers the external drives and they automatically spin down when not in use. Even better, when the mini is scheduled to go to sleep the drives also power down. This provides for a very convenient, and significant, way to conserve energy vs. leaving the drives powered up and spinning 24/7.
 
You can also get a My Passport 2TB, they are extremely portable

Has anyone tried the NewerTech miniStack? How is it noise?
 
I'd go FW800 route, some of the harddrives can also be powered by the cable - you can daisychain them and it saves space (no power bricks).

If the price is no concern, I would get this and run it as JBOD - plenty of space for media files.

I am longing for 2TB version of iOmega Minimax personally.
 
comatory said:
I'd go FW800 route, some of the harddrives can also be powered by the cable - you can daisychain them and it saves space (no power bricks).

If the price is no concern, I would get this and run it as JBOD - plenty of space for media files.

I am longing for 2TB version of iOmega Minimax personally.
Click to expand...

Personally I'd stick to USB3. Far more portable and compatible when you want to use a different computer. After all, *most* computer's don't have a dedicated FW port.

If money is no option, then I cant rate my Synology DS1512+ highly enough!
fill that with 15TB and you wont get much change from $2K AUD however...
 
I'd go for external hard drives with USB 3 for future proofing.
For example get two 3TB or 4TB drives. Attach both to the mini. One holds your media files and gets backed up to the other one with time machine. It's the easiest and cheapest way to go. Also saves energy when compared to a NAS I'd guess.

Not sure why you download to your MacBook. But you could let the Mac mini handle you downloads of that's interesting for you.
 
ToothTooth said:
The FW800 powers the external drives and they automatically spin down when not in use. Even better, when the mini is scheduled to go to sleep the drives also power down. This provides for a very convenient, and significant, way to conserve energy vs. leaving the drives powered up and spinning 24/7.
Click to expand...

I would be interested in knowing about standby cycles in Mac Mini with external hard drives. Could you elaborate a little more on this?

Thanks
 
I just got this 3TB Seagate Firewire external drive hooked up to my Mac mini. Nice amount of storage for the price. I can upgrade to USB3 in the future if I want by buying the $17 adapter. (Note the firewire 800 adapter includes USB 2 port). Works great, plus with file sharing turned on on the Mini, all other computers can see it on the network. Also powers down/goes to sleep when the mini does.

I think for $169 you'd be hard pressed to come up with a better options for 3TB of space.
 
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gana said:
Hi there

I’m planning on buying a Mac Mini as a media center (with Plex for the movies and itunes for the music), but I have some questions about the best option for additional storage.

I need at least 2TB of storage for all of my media files (music and movies), and would like the possibility of easy expansion. I would also like to have a backup of all of the files.

I would like to be able to download files from the Internet onto my MacBook and wirelessly drag-and-drop them to wherever the media is stored. I'd also like to wirelessly stream the video files to an iPad and an iPhone via AirVideo for example.

From what I gather, my two options are external hard drives hooked up directly to the Mini, or a NAS setup--except I've researched a whole bunch, and I still have no idea if one is a better option than the other for what my goals are. (What would be the point of a NAS if my mac mini would be dedicated to the media center ?)

Some information that may or may not be relevant:
- All the computers in my household are Macs running OS X Lion and Mountain Lion
- The Mac Mini would be in the ground floor and plugged to my DSL modem, a videoprojector and an AV Amplifier (would it be possible to watch movies on my lcd TV screen in the first floor ?)
- I'm okay with doing manual backups once a week or so of my media drive--constant synchronization is not a necessity but would be the icing on the cake
Click to expand...


I'm not sure anyone mentioned this. You can actually open up a 2011 mac mini, buy an oddly shaped SATA III connector and FIT another harddrive inside. Replace the original hard drive with another big 7200 speed hd and you can have a mini with a ton of internal storage. You'll avoid all the extra wires that way.

My buddy's media 2011 mini has a major collection of music and movies. He's only now considering external storage because he suffers from a condition shared by many people here. He deliberately tries to fill big HDs with anything and everything. That said, I would go the internal route, there are plenty of step by step guides that will show you how to do it and what you need. It's relatively cheap, the drives are fast and internal > external almost every time. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the 2011 mini can fit two 2 TB hds inside. I would double check that but I seem to recall his machine has 4TB.
 
ooh, 4TB internally, that sounds very good.

I watched videos to help me replace RAM and HDD in my unibody macbook a year or so ago, wonder if the same people do one about the mini


edit: found it. everymac.com
 
Since switching to an SSD, I needed space for my media and went with a Seagate Goflex Desk 3TB/7200rpm. Im using usb 2.0 as the only lag is when trying to open a file while the disk went to sleep occasionally, and don't think the firewire adapter would solve that. The drive also supports usb 3.0. Thought it was a pretty good deal, $139 at Walmart (Said $160 online!).:)
 
Today I played with the new Thunderbolt Drobo due in Oct at VMworld. Very nice piece of gear. It may be worth waiting.
 
I was just speaking to him earlier. He's got 2TB internally. He only recently hit 4TB total storage using a firewire external.
 
LeandrodaFL said:
You can also get a My Passport 2TB, they are extremely portable

Has anyone tried the NewerTech miniStack? How is it noise?
Click to expand...


Not silent, but i'd say about on par with the noise from the spinning of the HDD, but a slightly different pitch, unless you are OCD, it shouldn't be a big deal.

One oddity is that when you are connected via USB, and unmount the drive in finder, the drive will sleep and the fan will turn off. Go back into disk utility and remount the drive, the drive will spin up but the fan will not. I could not replicate the issue when connect via FW800 (which is how i am currently connected, 2 of them daisy-chained). I am holding out for the next revision of the mac mini on the hope of USB3.0 being included with it, to take advantage of the USB3.0 included on these mini-stacks, i may have to have to wire a thermo-switch & resistor to provide the fan with ~8v (which it meters at when running currently) when the drive is warm & then have it shut off after the drive has cooled off from being asleep. Then again may just leave it connected via FW800 as i am only streaming video.

Purchased these mini-stacks because the usb3.0 interfaces on the new mybooks and the goflex desks have given me nothing but trouble. both manufacturers point the finger at apple and refuse to fix the problem. chose the owc/newertech enclosures because i purchased a newertech usb3.0 hard drive dock and it has served me very well for a year with zero problems. the drives from both of those enclosures inside the mini-stacks have also been flawless 'so far' (i've only had the mini-stacks for a week now).
 
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