NOTE: Several of these alternatives provide third-party add-ons that allow free streaming of paid video content. Others that you may wish to consider include Emby, Kodi, Stremio, and Universal Media Server. Why Plex? It’s the most popular media server app for macOS. In this article, we’re using a Mac mini as the hardware and Plex as the application to organize the media. Media servers range from servers that provide video on demand to smaller personal computers or NAS (Network Attached Storage) for the home.

Wikipedia defines a media server as follows:Ī media server is a computer appliance or an application software that stores digital media (video, audio or images) and makes it available over a network. Read along to see how we were able to transform a 2014 Mac mini into a home media server. Macs have good longevity and older units are usable for a variety of purposes other than day-to-day work. The old 21.5-inch iMac becomes a FaceTime “videophone” for Grandma. An old MacBook becomes a school laptop for one of the kids. Old Macs never die, they just get reused. From top, an Apple SuperDrive, the 2014 Mac mini, and an 8TB OWC miniStack drive For me, a top line QNAP can't compete with the mini & storage, & i certainly have zero experience of anything windows, but as always YMMV.The Media Server. If it gets sluggish (which I can't imagine) you just update the mini & if a hard drive dies, I just update the array. I'd always go down the road of using a mac mini as although the initial outlay is expensive for what it is, it's one less thing to go wrong - sure I could get a qnap or synology, but the chips in there aren't as powerful & although the mini has HDMI, I prefer the interface on TV. One look at the Plex forums would give the answer they're seeking & there's loads other posts on here talking about what people use - NAS vs mac (mini's are also mentioned as HTPCs) vs windows vs pi vs nvidia & so on. I'm not exactly sure what the OP's question is.

Plex still runs under Rosetta it's not M1 native yet, so whilst it's no doubt better at what it does than my 2012 (& loads of other competing options), I'm holding until either it's native or apple bring out the mini pro (hopefully both come at the same time for a full fresh install & rebuild of my libraries) Click to expand.I'd commented earlier that I was waiting for the new mac mini, that advice still stands, so that's my recommendation.

Mac mini mail server