Base level Mini w/ USB3 External - viable option?

Michael Roselius

New member
Nov 13, 2012
1
0
0
Visit site
Just finished reading the latest column on the mini on iMore and am thinking of pulling the trigger.

I'm looking to use the Mini as a home server - primarily store my photo and itunes libraries for backup and always available access.

I don't need but the duocore i5 - but wonder about the 500gb storage. I know I could upgrade to the 1TB quad but wondering if throwing a USB3 external would be a cheaper but viable alternative? The Amazon reviews on the thunderbolt externals that are out there aren't too reassuring - and the cost difference is also a consideration.

The external would not be warm standby storage - I would expect that live content would be stored there and accessed by users, just like the c drive.

Thoughts?
 

Just_Me_D

Ambassador Team Leader, Senior Moderator
Moderator
Jan 8, 2012
59,681
627
113
Visit site
On the surface, I think so, and 500GB should be sufficient storage unless you have a catalogue of digital music and super large photos.
 

Fausty82

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2010
8,484
286
0
Visit site
Just finished reading the latest column on the mini on iMore and am thinking of pulling the trigger.

I'm looking to use the Mini as a home server - primarily store my photo and itunes libraries for backup and always available access.

I don't need but the duocore i5 - but wonder about the 500gb storage. I know I could upgrade to the 1TB quad but wondering if throwing a USB3 external would be a cheaper but viable alternative? The Amazon reviews on the thunderbolt externals that are out there aren't too reassuring - and the cost difference is also a consideration.

The external would not be warm standby storage - I would expect that live content would be stored there and accessed by users, just like the c drive.

Thoughts?

I have a 2010 Mac Mini with a 300gb drive. I store all of my media (80+ gb of Music, 750+ gb of movies and tv shows, 45+ gb of pictures) stored on an external NAS. iTunes is configured to NOT copy the media to my iTunes library... so it just accesses the media on the NAS directly. Works flawlessly for me, and I don’t have to worry about running out of HD space on my Mini.

I tried the external USB drive on the Mini, but drive would go to sleep and it would take up to 90 seconds to 3 minutes to reattach and make my media available. The NAS solution was the perfect answer for me.
 

Algus

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2013
535
0
0
Visit site
Upgrading the stock drive is not difficult but it does require a complete disassembly which can be nerve wracking if you've never worked with hardware. Basically though, I wouldn't look at the 500gb stock drive as a limiting factor. If you need extra storage at SATA speeds, adding an extra drive aftermarket is quite feasible.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
 

Peter Cohen

iMore staff
Apr 11, 2013
78
0
0
Visit site
Also, don't forget that there are kits to convert a standard Mac mini to a dual internal drive model, similar to what Apple does with the OS X Server configuration. iFixit sells one for $30, I think.