#Best mac mini for media server pro#
#Best mac mini for media server software#

But Apple doesn’t build servers! I hear you say. The nature of the requirements above means this has to be an Apple server. Lastly the server will be used for Time Machine Backups of my partner’s MacBook Air, if we can get that to work. Last but not least the occasional websites I still build could do with a staging server, and the home server might be able to act as that. Beyond that I am looking to replace my ownCloud-based file sync system (that runs on server space I rent in the UK still) with an equivalent on the local server – and that is going to need some way to access the home server remotely. Music and films are going to need to be streamed to each of the MacBooks, and photo libraries loaded on each of the MacBooks. The server will first and foremost be a repository for four sorts of files: all our music, films and photos (the quantity of which is too large to store on either of our MacBooks), and common files for an art project we run together. We each have iPhones as well, but that’s not important for this story.

Our WiFi Router is a tp-link Archer AC1750 that is connected by ethernet cable to the modem-router provided by our ISP. We play music wirelessly to an old 1st Generation Airport Express that is connected to the HiFi. All her other files and Time Machine Backups are on two 2Tb external HDDs connected as and when they are needed. My partner has a work computer that doesn’t come into any of this, and for personal use has a MacBook Air with a 256Gb SSD that she uses around the house – never at a fixed desk. All of this is backed up a second time to a Hitachi 3Tb external HDD that is connected once a month or so.

#Best mac mini for media server pro#

My main work and personal computer is a 2017 MacBook Pro with a 512Gb SSD, and I usually use that at my desk where it connects to a 2Tb WD USB 3 external HDD that contains old files, and a 1Tb USB 2 external HDD for Time Machine Backups.

#Best mac mini for media server software#

Part 3 is dedicated to the software installations. Part 2 explains the hardware repairs and network setup. This blog post (part 1 of the series) explains the requirements and the purchase of the hardware. With time on my hands due to the Coronavirus lockdown it was time to finally get around to doing it. For some years I’ve been wondering whether to run a server at home.