{"id":66792,"date":"2020-10-28T13:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=66792"},"modified":"2021-07-29T10:59:11","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T15:59:11","slug":"mac-mini-media-server-plex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/66792-mac-mini-media-server-plex\/","title":{"rendered":"Reuse, Recycle: Transform an Old Mac Mini Into a Media Server Using Plex"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The
The Media Server. From top, an Apple SuperDrive, the 2014 Mac mini, and an 8TB OWC miniStack drive<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Old Macs never die, they just get reused. An old MacBook becomes a school laptop for one of the kids. The old 21.5-inch iMac becomes a FaceTime “videophone” for Grandma. Macs have good longevity and older units are usable for a variety of purposes other than day-to-day work. Read along to see how we were able to transform a 2014 Mac mini into a home media server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s a Media Server?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wikipedia defines a media server as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A media server<\/strong> is a computer appliance<\/a> or an application software<\/a> that stores digital media<\/a> (video, audio or images) and makes it available over a network.<\/p>

Media servers range from servers<\/a> that provide video on demand<\/a> to smaller personal computers<\/a> or NAS (Network Attached Storage)<\/a> for the home.<\/p>https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Media_server<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’re using a Mac mini as the hardware and Plex<\/strong> as the application to organize the media. Why Plex? It’s the most popular media server app for macOS. Others that you may wish to consider include Emby<\/a>, Kodi<\/a>, Stremio<\/a>, and Universal Media Server<\/a>. NOTE:<\/strong> Several of these alternatives provide third-party add-ons that allow free streaming of paid video content. These are illegal and should not be used or installed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Not Just Use an Apple TV?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why build a media server when an Apple TV can provide just about every type of media you’d want? There are a few good reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. You might be living in an area with very slow Internet service. That could make streaming movies, TV shows, and music almost impossible. With a local media server, there’s no delay or concern about bandwidth.<\/li>
  2. Have you made a large investment in music CDs and movies or TV shows on DVD or Blu-Ray? Don’t buy that again in a streaming format – use that investment by copying the physical media content to your server. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    With fast internet service and purchased physical media, a media server running Plex offers the best of both worlds. You can stream online content and <\/em>make use of the media you’ve already bought and paid for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

    Why a Mac mini?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Why use a Mac mini instead of a Mac with a built-in screen? You probably have a large-screen TV to watch your content on, and the mini can use that as a “monitor”. There’s another very compelling reason to use a Mac mini \u2013 older models are inexpensive. For the purpose of this article, we looked no further than the OWC website to find a Mac mini<\/a>. We chose one with the ability to run modern versions of macOS (10.15 Catalina and 11 Big Sur in particular). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You don’t need a new operating system to turn a Mac mini into a media server. The minimum operating system requirement is macOS 10.9 Mavericks, so even an early 2009 Mac mini can fit the bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Where can you find a used Mac mini? OWC often has pre-owned minis available<\/a>. Fairly recent Mac minis are listed on Apple’s refurb page<\/a>. eBay lists many Mac minis, and used Mac stores do a bustling trade in these popular Macs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We used a mini with fairly modest hardware to create our media server. The specifications? A 1.4 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 4GB of RAM, and a 120GB SATA SSD. The Mac mini is one of the few remaining user-upgradeable Mac models. A large “hatch” on the bottom of the device makes memory<\/a> and storage upgrades<\/a> easy to accomplish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To provide sufficient storage for photos, music, videos, and more, we added an 8TB OWC miniStack<\/a>. This external drive works great with any Mac mini! It matches the looks of the mini and sits directly underneath the computer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We had a spare USB keyboard and mouse, and connected to an already-existing monitor. After a clean install of macOS 10.15 Catalina, we got to work setting up Plex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Setting Up Plex<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    1 ) Download a copy of Plex for Mac (64-bit) from the downloads page<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Begin
    Begin setup of Plex by downloading the Plex for Mac app (64-bit) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    2) Drag the downloaded app to your Applications folder and then launch it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3) Already have a free Plex account? Just launch the app and log in. If you don’t have a Plex account, no problem \u2013 you can sign up for one in the app. To make things really simple, use Sign In With Apple, Facebook, or Google. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"No
    No Plex account? You can sign in with Apple, Facebook or Google, or create an account with your email<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    4) Once you’re logged in, the Plex Home screen appears in the app. This displays:<\/p>\n\n\n\n