dougrush

Q: mac mini vs NAS

Hi, I have a 2010 27" iMac with a terabyte of storage and it is almost full. It still runs great so I didn't want to upgrade it yet. Seventy-five percent of its storage is pictures and home videos. We also have a MacBook Air, 2 iPads, 4 iPhones and 3 apple TVs. My basic question is whether I should stay in the Apple family and go with a Mac Mini and put all the pics and video there, or whether I should set up a NAS with Synology or QNAP? I use Lightroom to catalog and edit my RAW photos. I use online backup through Crash Plan plus I back up my pictures in Flickr as well. I'm not the most "techy" person but not a complete newbie either (so if I went with NAS it would have to be user friendly). I like the idea of a NAS as the kids approach high school and will be adding more laptops etc but I'm nervous about compatibility issues with all my photos especially and what I've read about backing up Macs on a NAS and issues with HFS+ etc. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

VIN, iMac (27-inch Mid 2010)

Posted on Sep 2, 2016 5:58 PM

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Q: mac mini vs NAS

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  • by Rudegar,

    Rudegar Rudegar Sep 3, 2016 2:29 AM in response to dougrush
    Level 7 (28,334 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 3, 2016 2:29 AM in response to dougrush

    I use a synology nat, at the end of the day a nas is just a linux computer which one only access using an app and or browser backup should not be an issue unless you limit back up to counting time machine

  • by woodmeister50,

    woodmeister50 woodmeister50 Sep 3, 2016 4:45 AM in response to dougrush
    Level 5 (5,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 3, 2016 4:45 AM in response to dougrush

    A few advantages of using a Mac Mini as a server:

    1.  Storage capacity will not be limited.  If you run out of space, just add

          another external drive to it.

    2.  You can set it up as a 24/7 iTunes "master" server with Home Sharing

         or Family Sharing".

    3.  You can spend $19 for the Apple Server app.  It provides an easy means

         to create shared folders and limit their access.  It can also provide a means

         of caching Apple updates.  This will be handy with all the Apple devices, updates

         will be downloaded only once, and it will serve those updates when other devices

         request.  Plus, there are also many other capabilities.  Check out Server in Mac App

         Store and see.

     

    NAS advantages:

    1.  Cheaper.