Tim BrayDec 1, 2022

Dear LazyMastodon: Hey, we have this ancient 2008 Mac Pro, used to be the Family Mainframe and homework machine for the kids. All It does now is feed music to a DAC and run a Plex server. But it's hot and eats watts and MacOS is so old it won't run browsers or anything useful.

I think I'm gong to replace it with a basic Mac mini and a couple TB of outboard disks. What's a good choice for those disks?

Show threadjwzDec 1, 2022
@timbray I am a fan of these drives. Not the fastest, but USB-powered, ~$20/TB, super reliable long-term, and small. I use them for all my backups and archives, I've got dozens of them: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VS8QCXC/
Amazon.com

Show threadTim BrayDec 1, 2022
@jwz Hmm might not be fast enough for Plex. Mind you haven't used that in a year…
Show threadjwzDec 1, 2022
@timbray I use one for my movie archive. Startup can be a little pokey but it never stutters during playback. I wouldn't use it for like video editing or anything though.
Show threadTim BrayDec 1, 2022
@jwz OK, that's what I needed to hear, thks.
Show threadTim BrayDec 1, 2022
@jwz Also, less wires.
Show threadjwz
@timbray Less wires good.
Dec 1, 2022 at 6:13amWeb