Specs for a Mac Mini Media and File Server

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Specs for a Mac Mini Media and File Server

I'm looking to set up a Mac Mini to work as a File Server. I want to serve movies and audio via Plex and also serve file locally. What sort of specs should I be looking for? I have plenty of storage on USB 3 Drives. What kind of processor do I need? How much RAM? The Server would be connected to the internet by Cat 5 with files being served locally by wifi. Finally, should I look at setting it up as a Mac OS Server? or stick with the Standard OS? I could see some value in having a home-based web server.

Posted on Jul 26, 2021 7:25 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 26, 2021 8:16 AM in response to mattw212

FWIW, I have a 2010 Mini that I am using for a home server and an iTunes "master" library/Home Sharing server.

Only using 8 GB of RAM and I installed a 256 SSD and all storage is on USB.

The current limitations of using my 2010 Mini as a file server is the limitations of USB2 ports that it has. I would believe that a new M1 Mini with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage would be more than sufficient if all data and media content are on external drives for a home configuration. If it were a small business server, I would bump to 16 GB RAM because of the possibility of many "jobs" running at once.

Also, there is no macOS server version and the Server app that is available in the app store really doesn't add anything useful for a home server scenario as everything can be accomplished through the File Sharing preferences in macOS.

FWIW, double check the PLEX site to make sure their media server app is Big Sur compatible as well as Apple M1 CPU compatible.

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Specs for a Mac Mini Media and File Server

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