Media Server mini

[sumsaykra-z]

Hey all. It's been QUITE a while since I've been around. I've built 2 hack installations for personal use a few years back and have since moved on to first an iMac and now a MacBook Pro. I love my MacBook Pro for everything I use it for except one: Media Server. It's a mobile device so it isn't always on. Right now I use Plex as my media server from my MacBook. The drives that store my movies and tv shows are on my external connected to my Airport Extreme. It's getting to be a bit tiresome when everytime my family and I want to watch something I have to plug my laptop in (so it doesn't die) turn off idle sleep and clam shell sleep using InsomniX so it doesn't sleep or power down and then mount my network drive. I'm looking to build a a media server STRICTLY for housing and streaming my media. Has anyone built one using the new CustoMac Nano set ups? This sever doesn't need to be super powerful because any trans-coding I need done I will just do on my more powerful MacBook. Are these nano setups pretty straight forward like I'm familiar with? I just need ethernet to work and some video output for initial setup and any subsequent maintenance that may need to be done and of course USB.

 

[Going Bald]

A NUC or a Brix would suit your application very well. If just using as a media server you don't need a great deal of power or expansion capability so one of these should suit your needs.

 

[sumsaykra-z]

A NUC or a Brix would suit your application very well. If just using as a media server you don't need a great deal of power or expansion capability so one of these should suit your needs.

Wow. You're still here! You helped me out with a lot back when. Thanks for the prompt response. I know it's in the buyers guide however, I don't see anything about compatibility. Well, I haven't found it yet. Since this is like an all-in-one solution are there any compatibility issues with the couple of things I'm interested in? I would guess any built-in wi-fi or bt would either be partly compatible or not at alll

 

[Going Bald]

suggest a forum search for Brix or NUC or look in the Yosemite Guides forum for install guide.

 

[Gordo74]

I might not recommend a NUC or BRIX just because of the power required for transcoding on Plex to some devices. I know you SAID that you would be using the Macbook to do the transcoding, but it's nice to have it all in one place and a 24/7 server so that you dont have to worry about it.

If ALL YOU NEED is a viewing box for Plex for a TV, I would strongly recommend a Roku 3 over a whole computer.

I'm in nearly the same boat. I use the Customac Mini with an i5 (which does max out when feeding multiple clients) and a NAS that is attached to my Airport Extreme via USB that houses the media files. This way, you can acquire the media on any PC, put it on the NAS, then the Plex Media Server running on the Customac Mini scans the library every hour or so. I also have the customac mini hooked up to my TV via HDMI with a logitech harmony controlling it to switch between Plex Home Theater and Slingbox.