{"id":14631,"date":"2013-03-18T08:24:16","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T08:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/?p=14631"},"modified":"2020-04-14T00:27:28","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T23:27:28","slug":"the-plex-media-server-and-the-mac-mini-diy-fusion-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/reviews\/the-plex-media-server-and-the-mac-mini-diy-fusion-drive.html","title":{"rendered":"The Plex Media Server and the Mac mini DIY Fusion Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes yes, I know you’ve heard it a million times before but we love Plex! \u00a0One of the best new features over recent months, PlexSync is used with the many mobile devices in our family, it’s such a\u00a0fantastic\u00a0way to take your media with you.<\/p>\n

Here’s a scenario, it’s Friday afternoon and you know you have a long drive on Saturday and you want to keep the kids amused. \u00a0You can log into your home Plex Media Server right from work and choose a few movies or perhaps some TV episodes to sync to your iPad. \u00a0Once your selection is made, PMS will automatically begin to re-encode the files to best suit your device. \u00a0When you arrive home they are all ready for you to sync across to your tablet.<\/p>\n

Upgrade Opportunity<\/strong> – This duty is\u00a0currently\u00a0performed\u00a0by a 4-year-old Mac mini at the Automated Home. \u00a0It has served us well but with an increasing load being put on the machine from 4 users and multiple client streaming and syncing it’s time for an upgrade. \u00a0So what should we expect from the new hardware? \u00a0Well, as an idea of how much of a\u00a0difference\u00a0a new i7 makes over the ageing\u00a0Core 2 Duo in our old mini here’s a graph pulled from our MacBook Pro with Retina Display Review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Handbrake

HandBrake \u2013 re-encode a 5.8GB MKV file to iPhone format \u2013 2hrs 37mins vs 32mins<\/p><\/div>\n

So you really can benefit from huge time savings using one of the latest generation of Intel Core CPU machines, never mind the improvement in the number of clients served too. We decided to plump for a new Mac mini.<\/p>\n

\"mini-ssd\"<\/a>

Samsung SSD fitted in spare drive bay<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0latest Mac mini\u00a0starts at \u00a3499<\/a>\u00a0for the 500GB dual-core i5, but we opted for the the 1TB quad-core i7 for an\u00a0additional premium of \u00a3180.<\/p>\n

Solid State<\/strong> – Choosing\u00a0Apples own 256GB Flash \/ 1TB combo adds another \u00a3240 to the price tag but we thought we could do better. \u00a0SSD prices continue to fall and we paid just \u00a375 for the\u00a0120GB version of the\u00a0Samsung 840 series SSD<\/a>. \u00a0While we were at it we ordered the\u00a0Crucial 16GB kit (8GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM<\/a>\u00a0which was \u00a376. Remember that you’ll also need a\u00a0PlexPass subscription<\/a>\u00a0to use PlexSync (the lifetime sub option is still available).<\/p>\n

Plex re-encodes your requested files to \/Library\/Caches\/PlexMediaServer\/Transcoder – deleting them\u00a0once the sync has completed, so in truth there’s no need for this machine to keep the 1TB spindle and it would be fine with just the 120GB SSD as all our media lives on the\u00a0Jukebox Server MkII<\/a>. \u00a0But we didn’t have a use for the 1TB in anything else and hey, it’s a chance to tinker with Fusion drives, but more on that later.<\/p>\n

\"mini-kit\"<\/p>\n

\"mini-done\"<\/a>

16GB of RAM Plus SSD and HD<\/p><\/div>\n

Mac minis have a spare drive bay inside but you need a few special tools as well as a second Apple SATA cable to hook it all up.<\/p>\n

We ordered the $35 OWC ‘Data Doubler’ SSD\/2.5″ Hard Drive installation Kit<\/a> from\u00a0Other World Computing. \u00a0It\u00a0took 2 weeks to get to the UK (via the cheapest shipping method). \u00a0The kit includes the\u00a0OWC 5-Piece Mini Toolkit, a\u00a0Logic Board Removal Tool,\u00a04 Rubber Grommets,\u00a04 Hex Screws, a\u00a0Mac Mini flex SATA cable and an installation Manual.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing difficult about the upgrade, although some of the connectors to the logic board are fragile and fiddly. \u00a0The kit’s\u00a0printed\u00a0instructions\u00a0are excellent and the video (below) is even better. \u00a0Have a watch through and make sure you are confident before you go\u00a0ahead and order up the bits.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jSA65MjfRG8<\/p>\n

Double Act<\/strong> – Like its\u00a0predecessor\u00a0the new Mac mini serves dual roles. \u00a0In addition to its media server duties it is\u00a0also our Plex client on our main AV system. \u00a0Another nice little upgrade from our old setup is the new mini’s built in full size HDMI port with audio, meaning we no longer have to rig up a\u00a0separate\u00a0audio input into our amp (see the video below on how the old mini was rigged up from our 2009 podcast).<\/p>\n