Mac Mini Server as NAS?

Question

Mac Mini Server as NAS?

I realize that this question has been beat to death on Apple's forum as well as every other tech forum on the internet, but existing posts don't quite seem to address what I'm wanting to do. My debate is between a NAS device versus a Mac Mini Server/ regular Mac Mini running OS X Server (with external storage).

I'm not wanting to host websites, emails, or caldendars, as I use iCloud for these things and don't wish to keep the Mini on 24/7, but to utilize something similar to Wake On LAN. I do often share content with coworkers and family members, but don't neccessarily want them to have full access to my entire machine, which is why OS X Server appealed to me. I'm simply wanting a device that can serve as a Time Machine target, allow me to stream media to both my MacBook and iOS devices remotely, set up a few user accounts to give specific people access to specific files/services, as well as the ability to control settings/etc remotely.

The current NAS offerings don't support HFS+ file systems, which is a major drawback for me as I utilize Spotlight and color labels extensively (and would like to use tags in the upcoming Maverick OS). What's more, accessing these devices remotely requires use of their clunky interfaces, or using something like Transmit or ExpanDrive (which also remove the metadata). However the massive expandability relative to price of devices like Synology's Disk Stations leaves me questioning whether I should get over the disk structure I'm after, or go the iSCSI route.

In the end, I'm looking for something that's going to interface with my current Apple ecosystem as seamlessly and simply as possible. Is a Mac Mini overkill for what I'm wanting to do? Any and all advice is welcomed!

Thank you!

Silver Macbook 2.0GHz, Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Aug 4, 2013 1:07 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Aug 4, 2013 5:01 PM in response to William Stuller

It makes an expensive and rather power-hungry NAS, but it will work for that purpose.

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Answer 2

Aug 10, 2013 7:14 AM in response to William Stuller

While it might not be as cheap as a NAS and need a little more setting up if your needs is to have a workgroup server (and your post makes it clear this is the case) then this is exactly what a Mac mini server is aimed at providing.

(In that an Apple server is not justifiable for a single user, and is inadequate for an enterprise environment, server a small workgroup like yours is exactly its targetted market.)

I would therefore get a Mac mini run Server.app on it, and if you need more storage space than the internal drives, get a Thunderbolt external RAID like the Promise range. See http://www.promise.com/storage/raid_series.aspx?m=192&region=en-global&rsn1=40&r sn3=47

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Answer 3

Aug 10, 2013 9:18 AM in response to John Lockwood

John,

Thank you for your input! After talking with a business representative at my local Apple store a few days ago and describing this exact same scenario, he as well told me that my needs are more in the realm of server and not networked storage. After checking out the link to the Promise drive you attached, it seems as though that's exactly the solution I am looking for! Based on the stellar reviews, that's most likely going to be my first choice.

A somewhat unrelated question, I will also be providing my parents access to this drive from several states away via VPN connection. They would most likely store all their movies and TV series on this setup and stream from there. With that said, would money be better spent on the quad-core mini with standard 4GB RAM, or on the dual-core mini upgraded to 16GB RAM? Obviously the internal hard drive is a nonissue, as a RAID array will do all the storage. I assume the processor power is more needed, but I'd just like to get your take as well.

Thank you again!

W. Stuller

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Answer 4

Aug 10, 2013 9:31 AM in response to William Stuller

Depending on the size of your video files, I would be dubious as to wether you will be able to stream them over the Internet and a VPN link with adequate performance. Remember most home Internet links have a much slower uploading (sending) speed than their headline downloading speed. So while your parents might have a fast downloads speed you may only have a slower upload speed.

An option to consider would be to run Plex Server on the Mac mini and Plex for iOS on a iPad. The Plex Server will then convert the video to a format suitable for the iPad which should be less demanding as well.

See http://www.plexapp.com/getplex/

The performance of the Mac mini you need depends on what it will be doing, if it is streaming unaltered the video files this is a glorified file copy and needs hardly any processing power. If it is transcoding (converting) videos in real time for say an iPad then this does need processing power but even a Dual Core model can do this with no problems. However if you have multiple users with iPads doing this at the same time then a quad core might be needed. This will also be affected by whether the videos are 1080p (equals more work), or ordinary DVD resolution (a lot less work).

I would stick with 8GB of RAM whichever model you go for. So far it sounds like a Dual Core will also be sufficient for your needs.

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Answer 5

Aug 10, 2013 11:23 PM in response to John Lockwood

John,

It's done— ordered! I took your advice and went with the dual-core model and the 8GB. As far as the VPN, I guess I'll try it out once it gets here. I clocked my upstream speed at around ~12Mbps, but I'm not sure if that's adequate or not. I had never heard of Plex, but it seems like a great option; I will check that out as well.

Again, I sincerely appreciate your help!

🙂

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Answer 6

Feb 15, 2014 8:44 AM in response to William Stuller

William,

How has the dual-core Mac Mini been working out for you? I am thinking of getting the same model and using it as a Server. I wanted to see if there are any problem using the dual-core model instead of the quad-core. There is a $200 difference and I can use that money for other hardware such as an external hard drive.

Thanks!

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Answer 7

Jun 2, 2014 1:26 PM in response to Puterdood

Puterdood,

I apologize for the late reply. It's probably too late at this point, but I wanted to share with you my results regardless. The dual-core model has and is continuing to work well for me, although at times I question whether it was the smartest decision as far as future-proofing goes. Regardless of which model you chose, both are very capable and high-performing machines. In terms of configuring this entire system, I can say that I've learned more about networking than I ever wanted to know, but looking back with today's knowledge, it was fairly simple to set up (learning on the go was the hardest part).

On a side note, one thing I can admit, like others in similar situations have heard ad nauseam on various forums, is that a Mac Mini is definitely overqualified for these needs. If it's an implication that is critical to a revenue-generating business, or connecting multiple people for important tasks, the Mini is perfect. But unless you have some extra time and funds on hand, streaming movies and serving occasional files could probably be left up to simpler devices/services. I am eagerly awaiting a more NAS-like Time Capsule device (something similar to Transporter) that integrates seamlessly into the iOS and OS X file system, but unfortunately no such device yet exists.

Best,

Will

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Answer 8

Jun 2, 2014 4:20 PM in response to William Stuller

Will,

I just put my Mac-Mini/Server in place a few weeks ago. I went with the dual-core model in order to save a little money. So far it has been working great. I come from a Windows server background where the planning and installation of a server is a long, drawn out, and tedious process, not to mention far more expensive. I was able to get the OS X server up and going in a couple hours and most of that time was spent checking and re-checking a few things because it was so simple (compared to a Windows server) I thought I was doing something wrong. Anyway, I don't have it completely implemented yet since I want to ease into a few of the features, but for now I have drive and file sharing going along with VPN. Already, VPN has saved me a ton of trouble by being able to easily access my files while away from home, as it is obviously meant for. I was even able to connect a Windows laptop for file sharing without much effort.

One thing I can say for sure, if I get calls from small businesses that simply want a way to share and back up files, have a VPN server, and a few other things, I will definitely try to steer them toward a Mac Mini/OS X server and away from a Windows server and all the complicated hidden costs associated with it.

Thanks for the info!

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Answer 9

Oct 18, 2014 5:25 PM in response to Puterdood

Hey All,

I'm interested in doing the same thing here except with my Fiance's older MacBook Air 11". Think that will be sufficient? Has anyone come across any good guides for setting up OS X server? I see some posts mentioning that setup is easy, and others mentioning that they had to learn a bit about networking, so not sure what really goes into it. Any help would be super appreciated. Thanks so much!

-Steve

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