A little while back, I was having some issues with meta data and files in iTunes. I found a neat program called Subler that does wonders for fixing up metadata since Apple has removed so much of the functionality from iTunes.
Gigabit ethernet will deliver at maximum 125MB/sec, and in actuality somewhat less than that -- this is your bottleneck.
But... but... but... that would mean something *I* set up is working as well as can be expected! I suppose according to the law of averages that's possible, but it seems so utterly unlikely!
But, you're correct about "a while to spin up." That's exactly what the array is doing. If this is intolerable to you, there's a little utility called "keep drive spinning." I haven't used in in a while, so I can't speak to any impact it may have on a hard drive's life, but it will literally, keep them spinning all the time, in defiance of your macOS settings, and any drive firmware routines that may ignore your settings.
Just for giggles I turned off "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" in the mini's System Preferences but it didn't change the behaviour. Either the LaCie makes its own choices about when to snooze (as you suggested may be the case) or the System Preference only controls internal drives.
Having already burned through a couple drives in the ~three years I've owned it, I probably should not keep them spinning all the time. I'll look into the utility you mentioned for occasions when I may want that option though.
Thank you VERY much for the helpful information! I was thinking about chucking the mini/LaCie combo and getting a NAS to see if it would perform better. You just saved me 15% or more on my file insurance, not to mention hours of pointless effort!
Just for giggles I turned off "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" in the mini's System Preferences but it didn't change the behaviour. Either the LaCie makes its own choices about when to snooze (as you suggested may be the case) or the System Preference only controls internal drives.
1) What kind of RAID setup do you have? What is the speed of the discs? What percentage of the discs are used?
2) I'm only using a cheap HW RAID that has useless, awful software (thankfully there are switches on it to switch the RAID type) and I've never had a delay issue. Right now, it's connected to the latest Mac mini (circa 2014?) and connected via USB 3.0, but before that it was connected to a 2001 iMac via FW400 to the RAID's FW800 port. The reason I bought this RAID was because it would scale from FireWire to USB 3.0 (and eSATA).
Based on that I'd say it's likely your LaCie is to blame. If you can get your hands on another RAID you can test the speed over the same interface to rule out other possibilities.
You know someone needs an editor when several paragraphs into the story you get a paragraph that starts, "Then in about the winter of 2002..." And I thought Daniel Eran Dilger is the only one that can't write a concise story! Here's all you need to know, get a Synology DiskStation. It can do most everything mentioned in this story for a fraction of the cost and it can do some things better.
That passage in question is 10 whole sentences in. Not a particularly arduous read to that point.
Anyway, I do like the Synology. A two-bay DS-218+ retails for $300. A 418 is $370-ish. It's a good solution if you don't have idle Mac hardware.
The old Mac mini shown here was retired production equipment -- which is the whole point of the article. I'd rather spend on drives.
Mike, Thanks for the reply. My comment is an attempt to help. Following is a link to one of many sites on the subject. The tips page on this site gets to the heart of the issue. Using the tips will reduce your first 10 sentences to five without giving up any of the meaning. https://writeconcisely.com/ ; Another good site on language is here: http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/author/acurzan/ ; If writing to a wide audience will be an on-going passion for you, these kinds of sites can only help. Knowledgeable readers recognize and appreciate a well written article. I have a DiskStation 1513+ with five 10TB drives configured in RAID 6, and I use only use half the capabilities of the machine. The Diskstation solved the problem of losing files when a computer dies. Old photos from four laptops ago are no longer lost forever because everything gets saved to the DiskStation, with access to the files anywhere in the world. Your article makes great points about the utility of having a NAS. Thanks for sharing your solution.
You know someone needs an editor when several paragraphs into the story you get a paragraph that starts, "Then in about the winter of 2002..." And I thought Daniel Eran Dilger is the only one that can't write a concise story! Here's all you need to know, get a Synology DiskStation. It can do most everything mentioned in this story for a fraction of the cost and it can do some things better.
That passage in question is 10 whole sentences in. Not a particularly arduous read to that point.
Anyway, I do like the Synology. A two-bay DS-218+ retails for $300. A 418 is $370-ish. It's a good solution if you don't have idle Mac hardware.
The old Mac mini shown here was retired production equipment -- which is the whole point of the article. I'd rather spend on drives.
Mike, Thanks for the reply. My comment is an attempt to help. Following is a link to one of many sites on the subject. The tips page on this site gets to the heart of the issue. Using the tips will reduce your first 10 sentences to five without giving up any of the meaning. https://writeconcisely.com/ ; Another good site on language is here: http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/author/acurzan/ ; If writing to a wide audience will be an on-going passion for you, these kinds of sites can only help. Knowledgeable readers recognize and appreciate a well written article. I have a DiskStation 1513+ with five 10TB drives configured in RAID 6, and I use only use half the capabilities of the machine. The Diskstation solved the problem of losing files when a computer dies. Old photos from four laptops ago are no longer lost forever because everything gets saved to the DiskStation, with access to the files anywhere in the world. Your article makes great points about the utility of having a NAS. Thanks for sharing your solution.
I've been doing this for a long time, and I'm comfortable with the first ten sentences -- and so was my editor. That said, I appreciate you having taken your time to tell me your opinion on the matter.
Thanks for the links -- I've used the first, and wasn't familiar with the second.
Interesting story. One of the things I found useful on macOS server prior to High Sierra was the caching server because I have limited internet connectivity in a rural location.No use redownloading the same content multiple times with multiple Macs and iOS devices. The High Sierra version of the server app stripped out the caching server - however it has been moved to the regular version of High Sierra under Sharing services. I’m surprised that reviewers haven’t pointed out this useful new feature in High Sierra which is now available to everyone.
One minor FYI concerning assigning the IP address of your server to not collide with DHCP. If you have an AirPort Extreme/Time Capsule (and likely many other modern routers) you can setup an IP reservation in the router so it always assigns the same IP address to a machine/host based on the machine's MAC address.
Based on that I'd say it's likely your LaCie is to blame. If you can get your hands on another RAID you can test the speed over the same interface to rule out other possibilities.
I seem to recall that the "stop and think before showing folder contents" behaviour started after an OS upgrade. Or maybe it always did and I only became consciously aware of it after the OS upgrade. I really need to start paying more attention to what goes on around me...
If it was related to the OS upgrade, it might be the Mac causing the delays, not the RAID. I'm using the same Mac as you though (latest mini, whatever that is) so it does seem plausible that a different enclosure may behave differently. I just don't wanna drop another big chunk of cash to find out. I'm waiting for solid state storage prices to come down to what hard drives cost now, then I'll replace it. In other words, I'll probably be using this thing for the rest of my life!
Considering what Apple has been doing to its server product for the last six years, macOS Server is only good enough to be a home server. I take care of several Mac servers, and when they need to be replaced, I must sadly move them to another OS. In some cases, I can move the data to the cloud, but I won't be able to do that with all of them.
From what I'm reading and beginning to experience is that Mac OS Server 5.4 (10.13) is no longer suitable for professional use. For some time now i've been installing Synology products and finding (within reason) they're more than capable of handling modest network setups. Apple just seem intent on dictating what you can and can't have. Here's one Admin (not me!) who's very seriously hacked off:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8184905
From what I'm reading and beginning to experience is that Mac OS Server 5.4 (10.13) is no longer suitable for professional use. For some time now i've been installing Synology products and finding (within reason) they're more than capable of handling modest network setups. Apple just seem intent on dictating what you can and can't have. Here's one Admin (not me!) who's very seriously hacked off:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8184905
Sure it is. You just have to install your own services. There are pros and cons to this approach, naturally, and I'm sure that the move annoyed a lot of people.
The most bothered are those who want a turnkey solution. On the other hand, installing your own services allows admins to be sure that they're up to date with all the patches and upgrades without waiting for Apple.
Personally, I'd have preferred the turnkey solution with more frequently Apple-provided updates.
I like the premise of the article, creating a home server with Apple hardware and external drives you already have. I dont understand why some people feel the need to comment about you could have a better home server if you go out and purchase 'this' or 'that' or utilize an old pc using freenas or linux. Come on people, read the title of the article. It isn't "why you want a NAS box or freenas server from old PC equipment and how to get one going". I think this type article is to get mental juices flowing about what I can do with some old hardware. Even though I've worked in the IT field for over 16 years, with many industry certifications (including MCSA), I dont feel compelled to berate others ideas by commenting on how it can be better with 'this option'. This article speaks to the common home user who may want to set themselves up with some data protection or other services they might want to experiment with. I've had many iterations of MS server (Home, Small Business and Enterprise) and linux server for testing and/or lab machines for experience. I ran a MacOS server on a Mac mini at work due to requiring ASD to perform warranty repairs but not one at home. So recently acquiring an old 2012 mini I decide to create myself a small home server for all my Apple devices (Time Machine and ios back-ups). I say good for you for creating an article about using Apple hardware you already own to run a server on.
Perhaps I could revive this old thread with a question.
I have a Mac Pro 2,1 which I would like to use use as a media server by moving an iTunes library to it to be accessed over wifi from 2-4 clients (iPhones, MacBooks and Apple TV 3).
The computer is currently in standard 2x2,66GHz dual core config and I am wondering if that will suffice to serve music and, in particular video, to 2-4 clients simultaneously over wifi or if I should upgrade to a quad core CPU?
Thanks in advance for any real-world experiences of this Philip
Perhaps I could revive this old thread with a question.
I have a Mac Pro 2,1 which I would like to use use as a media server by moving an iTunes library to it to be accessed over wifi from 2-4 clients (iPhones, MacBooks and Apple TV 3).
The computer is currently in standard 2x2,66GHz dual core config and I am wondering if that will suffice to serve music and, in particular video, to 2-4 clients simultaneously over wifi or if I should upgrade to a quad core CPU?
Thanks in advance for any real-world experiences of this Philip
The machine is more than powerful enough to serve that many properly encoded files to other clients. So, as long as you keep it iTunes, even for video, you'll be fine. Plex will probably struggle.
Wi-fi is probably going to be the chokepoint for video streams.
This answers why run a home server, but falls on a crucial question: why Mac? One person in the comments mentioned Linux. Me personally, because it's my old pc and I already had Plex setup in it, use Windows. That's not too say Mac isn't a bad system, but you are limited by the hardware. I guess if you have one lying around you use what you got, but if you've expanded this far, why not build your own pc? Run Linux and you can expand it as far as your desires and Wallet will take you. My tower has over 30tb running a ryzen 7 2700x and, when I upgrade my gpu, will be running a rtx 2080. Using that for encoding Plex files frees my cpu for other tasks. This is just my choice, but the possibilities are endless, and I feel like there should've been an entry as why Mac might be better than other offerings.
This answers why run a home server, but falls on a crucial question: why Mac? One person in the comments mentioned Linux. Me personally, because it's my old pc and I already had Plex setup in it, use Windows. That's not too say Mac isn't a bad system, but you are limited by the hardware. I guess if you have one lying around you use what you got, but if you've expanded this far, why not build your own pc? Run Linux and you can expand it as far as your desires and Wallet will take you. My tower has over 30tb running a ryzen 7 2700x and, when I upgrade my gpu, will be running a rtx 2080. Using that for encoding Plex files frees my cpu for other tasks. This is just my choice, but the possibilities are endless, and I feel like there should've been an entry as why Mac might be better than other offerings.
The possibilities might be endless but that doesn't that are feasible for the average user. For instance, I can't code so writing a bunch of Perl scripts to automate a few dozen tasks isn't going to happen, which is why macOS with apps and Automator apps and folder actions I can create makes it an obvious choice. In the same vain that you said "I already had a Plex setup" I already know how to setup my Mac to do everything I want as a headless home server. I can even build my own with off-the-shelf HW, if I choose.
Comments
But... but... but... that would mean something *I* set up is working as well as can be expected! I suppose according to the law of averages that's possible, but it seems so utterly unlikely!
Just for giggles I turned off "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" in the mini's System Preferences but it didn't change the behaviour. Either the LaCie makes its own choices about when to snooze (as you suggested may be the case) or the System Preference only controls internal drives.
Having already burned through a couple drives in the ~three years I've owned it, I probably should not keep them spinning all the time. I'll look into the utility you mentioned for occasions when I may want that option though.
Thank you VERY much for the helpful information! I was thinking about chucking the mini/LaCie combo and getting a NAS to see if it would perform better. You just saved me 15% or more on my file insurance, not to mention hours of pointless effort!
2) I'm only using a cheap HW RAID that has useless, awful software (thankfully there are switches on it to switch the RAID type) and I've never had a delay issue. Right now, it's connected to the latest Mac mini (circa 2014?) and connected via USB 3.0, but before that it was connected to a 2001 iMac via FW400 to the RAID's FW800 port. The reason I bought this RAID was because it would scale from FireWire to USB 3.0 (and eSATA).
Based on that I'd say it's likely your LaCie is to blame. If you can get your hands on another RAID you can test the speed over the same interface to rule out other possibilities.
I have a DiskStation 1513+ with five 10TB drives configured in RAID 6, and I use only use half the capabilities of the machine. The Diskstation solved the problem of losing files when a computer dies. Old photos from four laptops ago are no longer lost forever because everything gets saved to the DiskStation, with access to the files anywhere in the world. Your article makes great points about the utility of having a NAS. Thanks for sharing your solution.
Thanks for the links -- I've used the first, and wasn't familiar with the second.
Better to be between .250-.254.
It's set for RAID10 with the switches on the unit - essentially a mirrored pair of striped pairs.
In that configuration I get a total of 8TB storage. Finder says there's 2.8TB free, so ~65% full.
I seem to recall that the "stop and think before showing folder contents" behaviour started after an OS upgrade. Or maybe it always did and I only became consciously aware of it after the OS upgrade. I really need to start paying more attention to what goes on around me...
If it was related to the OS upgrade, it might be the Mac causing the delays, not the RAID. I'm using the same Mac as you though (latest mini, whatever that is) so it does seem plausible that a different enclosure may behave differently. I just don't wanna drop another big chunk of cash to find out. I'm waiting for solid state storage prices to come down to what hard drives cost now, then I'll replace it. In other words, I'll probably be using this thing for the rest of my life!
Regarding Mac server versus NAS: I know the Mac sever takes more fiddling, but I like the fiddling!
The most bothered are those who want a turnkey solution. On the other hand, installing your own services allows admins to be sure that they're up to date with all the patches and upgrades without waiting for Apple.
Personally, I'd have preferred the turnkey solution with more frequently Apple-provided updates.
That all said, this article isn't about that.
I think this type article is to get mental juices flowing about what I can do with some old hardware. Even though I've worked in the IT field for over 16 years, with many industry certifications (including MCSA), I dont feel compelled to berate others ideas by commenting on how it can be better with 'this option'. This article speaks to the common home user who may want to set themselves up with some data protection or other services they might want to experiment with. I've had many iterations of MS server (Home, Small Business and Enterprise) and linux server for testing and/or lab machines for experience. I ran a MacOS server on a Mac mini at work due to requiring ASD to perform warranty repairs but not one at home. So recently acquiring an old 2012 mini I decide to create myself a small home server for all my Apple devices (Time Machine and ios back-ups).
I say good for you for creating an article about using Apple hardware you already own to run a server on.
I have a Mac Pro 2,1 which I would like to use use as a media server by moving an iTunes library to it to be accessed over wifi from 2-4 clients (iPhones, MacBooks and Apple TV 3).
The computer is currently in standard 2x2,66GHz dual core config and I am wondering if that will suffice to serve music and, in particular video, to 2-4 clients simultaneously over wifi or if I should upgrade to a quad core CPU?
Thanks in advance for any real-world experiences of this
Philip
Wi-fi is probably going to be the chokepoint for video streams.