2024-05-23, 02:45 AM
Hey friends,
I have seen a few people suggest using a Mini-PC as a Home Media server due to the supposed power efficiency and small form factor. However, when it comes to storage expansion, the most I've seen a Mini PC have is 1 internal 2.5" drive slot. This would mean that if I were to expand my storage with more drives, I would have to connect a drive bay to it right?
Regardless, I am planning to build a Media Server from scratch and I would love some help. This Media Server should be able to play up to 4k Videos for roughly 6-10 people (for now). It should have minimal transcoding needed but if it does, maybe 2-4 transcoding streams only (for now). Right now, I only have about 2TB worth of media but it is steadily growing.
Additionally, I might look into expanding the use case of this server to be used as cloud storage since I am slowly creeping into the rabbit hole of self-hosting.
All in all, I am primarily seeking advice on the build for this server. For example, if I should actually use a Mini PC and eventually invest in a drive bay when expanding storage. The components of the server as well, like what kind of drives I should use for the boot drive, storage etc.
I would greatly appreciate any advice that you can give me. If there's any more information needed, please let me know. Thank you!
FYI, I am currently using my laptop as a temporary media server but soon, I would need to migrate the use of a media server away from this laptop.
I have seen a few people suggest using a Mini-PC as a Home Media server due to the supposed power efficiency and small form factor. However, when it comes to storage expansion, the most I've seen a Mini PC have is 1 internal 2.5" drive slot. This would mean that if I were to expand my storage with more drives, I would have to connect a drive bay to it right?
Regardless, I am planning to build a Media Server from scratch and I would love some help. This Media Server should be able to play up to 4k Videos for roughly 6-10 people (for now). It should have minimal transcoding needed but if it does, maybe 2-4 transcoding streams only (for now). Right now, I only have about 2TB worth of media but it is steadily growing.
Additionally, I might look into expanding the use case of this server to be used as cloud storage since I am slowly creeping into the rabbit hole of self-hosting.
All in all, I am primarily seeking advice on the build for this server. For example, if I should actually use a Mini PC and eventually invest in a drive bay when expanding storage. The components of the server as well, like what kind of drives I should use for the boot drive, storage etc.
I would greatly appreciate any advice that you can give me. If there's any more information needed, please let me know. Thank you!
FYI, I am currently using my laptop as a temporary media server but soon, I would need to migrate the use of a media server away from this laptop.