2025-04-08, 12:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 2025-04-08, 02:56 PM by georgeApolymath. Edited 1 time in total.)
Hi, also using a M4 Mac Mini as a home server! It’s a base 16gb / 256GB (will try a 2TB self upgrade later) but with the 10Gbps upgrade. BTW… if you can use the veteran discount it turns out better than the educational discount for Apple products! I currently have a Drobo 5N (with 30TB and one drive redundancy) with for my media storage and two 20TB Seagate Expansion Desktop Hard Drives that I use as a backup to the Drobo should the Drobo itself die. I will be replacing the Drobo at some point as is no longer supported being out of business but to be honest it’s worked just fine (recovered perfectly after 2 drive failures and did have to replace the power brick for $50 once) for years as a Plex media server so till it dies I will keep using it.
So why an M4… easy as they are not really that expensive and I am deep in the Apple ecosystem so it makes sense for me. I use universal control from my MacBook to control it but do have a spare monitor attached to it. I also that same monitor a second monitor on my MacBook when needed. Throw in my iPad via sidecar and it makes for a great and very flexible setup! Sometimes living in a walled garden is nice as yes it does just work!
I use the Mac Mini as more then just Jellyfin server however. I keep it running with a VPN, use Transmission for torrents, keep a Wyze window up to monitor my cameras (love how IOS apps run on it seamlessly). Playing with both a Calibre and Kavita book server to see what works best. Might try more with the Jellyfin book aspect if I can still use one of the book readers on my iPad that I like… will see! Basically I like the face that besides the home server aspect, I can still use it as a normal Mac and do many other things with it at the same time!
So will read and share more as time goes on so us Mac Mini nuts can learn from each other and not feel quite so nuts for using it! 🙃
Edited to add this link… Complete Guide for Hosting Jellyfin on macOS by user DigitalShane
https://forum.jellyfin.org/t-complete-gu...n-on-macos
So why an M4… easy as they are not really that expensive and I am deep in the Apple ecosystem so it makes sense for me. I use universal control from my MacBook to control it but do have a spare monitor attached to it. I also that same monitor a second monitor on my MacBook when needed. Throw in my iPad via sidecar and it makes for a great and very flexible setup! Sometimes living in a walled garden is nice as yes it does just work!
I use the Mac Mini as more then just Jellyfin server however. I keep it running with a VPN, use Transmission for torrents, keep a Wyze window up to monitor my cameras (love how IOS apps run on it seamlessly). Playing with both a Calibre and Kavita book server to see what works best. Might try more with the Jellyfin book aspect if I can still use one of the book readers on my iPad that I like… will see! Basically I like the face that besides the home server aspect, I can still use it as a normal Mac and do many other things with it at the same time!
So will read and share more as time goes on so us Mac Mini nuts can learn from each other and not feel quite so nuts for using it! 🙃
Edited to add this link… Complete Guide for Hosting Jellyfin on macOS by user DigitalShane
https://forum.jellyfin.org/t-complete-gu...n-on-macos