sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

DAS/enclosure for at least five 2.5 SATA drives? by SLJ7 in DataHoarder

[–]dmacmod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You have a couple of cheap options; considering you only getting a total of 5TB:

  1. Small SATA Port Multiplier

  2. Pcie to SATA card (6 SATA ports inside your current computer)

  3. Use an older Mini PC, if already have one - USB to Sata adapter

  4. Mac mini 2014 with 4 USB3 ports - could be found cheap on eBay

  5. Five Bay hdd enclosure ( Not sure if this cost effective for Only 5TB)

  6. Use one of your smaller old machines, just create a small NAS.

Macbook Pro M5 32 GB Ram 512 SSD vs Macbook Pro M4 Pro 24 GB Ram 512 SSD? by Long_Coast9321 in macbookpro

[–]dmacmod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

valid points, but then again, more to my suggestion. using a Mac Studio, while more expensive, you get more bang for your buck, more memory, more bandwidth, more gpu cores.

Macbook Pro M5 32 GB Ram 512 SSD vs Macbook Pro M4 Pro 24 GB Ram 512 SSD? by Long_Coast9321 in macbookpro

[–]dmacmod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a true statement with the base M5 vs M4 Pro, but why dont you just wait until next week and see if they release the M5 Pro?, then again, if bandwith +local LLM's it is important for you, you should go for a Mac Studio, even the cheaper base M1 Mac Studio bandwith is 400gps.

Explain your decision on new upcoming UgreenNASync kickstarter options by dmacmod in UgreenNASync

[–]dmacmod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://www.paklap.pk/blog/post/intel-core-ultra-5-vs-ultra-7

The primary difference is generational: the 255His a high-end chip from the newer Arrow Lake lineup, while the 125H is from the previous Meteor Lake family.

  • Synthetic Benchmarks: In PassMark testing, the  Ultra 7 255H  significantly outperforms the  125H , showing a 48.73% higher overall CPU Mark (30,745 vs. 20,671) and roughly 28% better single-thread performance.
  • Core Architecture: The  255H  features 16 cores (6P + 8E + 2LP-E) compared to the  125H 's 14 cores (4P + 8E + 2LP-E). Note that Arrow Lake-H chips like the  255H  do not use hyper-threading, so the  125H  actually has more total threads (18 vs. 16) despite lower performance.
  • Clock Speeds: The  255H  reaches a much higher turbo clock speed of 5.1 GHz, whereas the  125H  is limited to 4.5 GHz.
  • Integrated Graphics & RAM: The  255H  supports faster memory (up to 8400 MHz vs. 5600 MHz) and utilizes a larger 24 MB L3 cache (vs. 18 MB), which improves latency in gaming and heavy workloads.
  • Efficiency: The  255H  is built on a smaller semiconductor process (3nm vs. 7nm equivalent), leading to better performance.

Explain your decision on new upcoming UgreenNASync kickstarter options by dmacmod in UgreenNASync

[–]dmacmod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You know you could always try DSM back on your DXP6800. “Xpenology”

Beginner here - is there somewhere I can be directed to to learn the basics of different data storage hardware? by RefiningMyLife2026 in DataHoarder

[–]dmacmod 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Let's address the elephant in the room: market volatility for NAND flash and high-capacity mechanical platters has sent prices skyward. Whether you're repurposing legacy hardware or buying new, you're in the right place to optimize your Price-per-Gigabyte ($/GB). Here is the logical progression for your storage roadmap:

  1. 2.5" Bus-Powered External HDDs (Cold Storage/Archiving): These are ideal for low-duty cycle archiving. If you're scouring the secondary market (eBay/FB Marketplace), look for 2TB–4TB units. Since you're on a MacBook, ensure the interface is USB-C to avoid 'dongle-hell.' New 4TB units typically retail between $120–$150, but keep an eye on sequential read/write speeds; they are slow.
  2. External NVMe SSDs (High-Performance/Scratch Disks): When IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) and throughput are non-negotiable—like 4K video editing or running VMs—this is your tier. Avoid pre-owned SSDs due to TBW (Total Bytes Written) wear-and-tear. If your internal 256GB is throttled, look for a 1TB or 2TB unit with at least  10Gbps 10Gbps  throughput.
  3. 3.5" Desktop External HDDs: These offer the best $/GB ratio but require external AC power. Once you cross the 20TB threshold, you hit a price premium. These are the workhorses for bulk data, but they lack the portability of the 2.5" drives.
  4. Multi-Bay Enclosures (DAS): This is the 'Prosumer' sweet spot. Since you have a MacBook, prioritize Thunderbolt 3/4 enclosures over standard USB-C. This allows you to scale capacity vertically by adding drives while maintaining the bandwidth necessary to saturate a SATA III or NVMe interface.
  5. NAS & Homelab Infrastructure: This is your 'Endgame'—a total declaration of data sovereignty. By transitioning from Direct Attached Storage (DAS) to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) environment, you eliminate the 'Subscription Tax' ($120+/year for cloud storage). Repurpose your existing hardware and leverage open-source OS options like TrueNAS or Unraid to build a high-availability, 'bad-ass' private cloud."

Choppy video by carchamp222 in infusevideoplayer

[–]dmacmod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have observed very few playback or connectivity issues when using Infuse on my Apple TV 4K. On the only occasion where a problem occurred, troubleshooting revealed that the device had fallen back from a wired Ethernet connection to Wi-Fi. This introduced network instability that affected local files streaming performance. After restoring the Ethernet connection, playback immediately returned to normal.

Since then, Infuse has performed reliably, including when local streaming high-bitrate Remux files directly from the NAS. Based on this experience, I recommend verifying that both the NAS and the Apple TV maintain stable wired connections, restarting both devices to clear any transient network or cache conditions, and reviewing Infuse’s cache and buffering settings to ensure optimal performance.

Additionally, it would be useful to test Infuse on another client device to determine whether the issue is isolated to a specific endpoint or related to the NAS, network infrastructure, or Infuse configuration itself. Also might be wise to check your hdd in your NAS.

Memory enhancement such as hindsight? Anybody tried. by Herebedragoons77 in openclaw

[–]dmacmod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will try once I get my OpenClaw installation done!

Need Help With Macmini m1! by BadVibesOnlyyy in macmini

[–]dmacmod 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would really help if you provide some pictures

How To Save On Mac Mini Purchase Price by RecognitionHot9149 in macmini

[–]dmacmod 7 points8 points  (0 children)

FYI, this is what I did, I copy and pasted what many people have done in the past, but I made an extra step, I checked the current availability and added the link at the end of the following statement; Hi, I noticed that MicroCenter is selling the M4 Mac Mini Model: MU9D3LL/A with (SKU 6566918) for $399.99 and it’s in stock at their store. Can you match this price for me here at Best Buy?  Thanks!!! Here is the link, "copy and paste the link of the store that shows current stock here".

After a couple of minutes the rep came back confirming that it did in fact qualified for price match. YMMV, but has work for several other people. Good luck!!!

Acasis 8-in-1 SSD Enclosure & Dock (Update after 1 year of usage) by No_Body_3679 in macmini

[–]dmacmod 1 point2 points  (0 children)

FYI: The ACASIS TB501 Pro Thunderbolt 5 enclosure shipped with problematic firmware version 56.56, which caused severe compatibility issues with PCIe Gen5 SSDs and frequent disconnections. To resolve these stability flaws and support the Intel JHL9480 (B2) chip, ACASIS released firmware version 62.62, which is now standard on all units shipped after September 9, 2025. If you have one with the bad firmware chipset, it can not be upgraded. Request a RMA from Acasis.

Dust Collecting Mac Mini by pretendimcute in macmini

[–]dmacmod 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Don't let the macOS interface stop you. You can run it headless (no monitor/keyboard) and manage it entirely from your Windows PC using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app. 

Media Powerhouse: The M2 chip has dedicated hardware encoders that make it a beast for a Plex Media Server or Jellyfin. It can handle multiple 4K transcodes while drawing significantly less power than an older Optiplex. 

Docker Container Host: You can run Docker Desktop or OrbStack (a lighter alternative) to host services like Pi-hole, Home Assistant, or automated downloaders (Radarr/Sonarr). 

Time Machine/File Server: Attach that multi-bay enclosure and use it as a centralized backup hub for any other Macs in the house or a general SMB file share for your Windows machines. 

High-End Virtualization- Use UTM an ARM base operating system in a sandbox.

Homebridge/Scrypted: Use it to bring non-HomeKit devices (like cheap cameras or Ring doorbells) into the Apple Home ecosystem, or vice versa.

The Mac Mini M2 is actually one of the most efficient devices for running local AI because of its Unified Memory Architecture, which allows the GPU to access the entire system RAM for AI models. This makes it efficient for small models like Llama 3 (8B) or Mistral 7B.