I bought a Mac Mini instead of a $10,000+ Server

Too Long; Didn't Watch — Summary

This video demonstrates how to build a high-speed, 60TB network-attached storage (NAS) system for video editing using an inexpensive Mac Mini and enterprise NVMe SSDs, showcasing its performance and ease of setup as a viable alternative to traditional, expensive servers.

Main Takeaways

• Traditional hard drive-based NAS systems are a bottleneck for video editing due to slow random disk reads.
• A Mac Mini, despite its low cost, can be transformed into a powerful NAS for video editing by leveraging its Thunderbolt ports for high-speed NVMe SSDs.
• Enterprise NVMe SSDs, combined with Thunderbolt to U.2 enclosures, provide significantly faster read/write speeds compared to hard drives.
• macOS offers built-in software RAID and file sharing capabilities, making the setup relatively straightforward.
• Network performance can be optimized by adjusting SMB settings, achieving impressive speeds over 25 Gigabit Ethernet for video editing workflows.
• Remote access to the Mac Mini NAS can be securely established using solutions like Twingate, enhancing its utility for distributed teams.

Detailed Summary

Introduction (0:00 - 0:29)

The presenter highlights the storage demands of video production, requiring terabytes of space. While a large 200TB hard drive NAS with powerful specs exists, hard drives are inefficient for the random disk reads needed for video editing, leading to performance bottlenecks as storage fills up.

The Mac Mini Solution (0:30 - 1:54)

Kioxia provided two 30TB CM7 Enterprise NVMe SSDs (PCIe Gen 5) to address the performance issues. Due to the high cost of building a dedicated server, the presenter decided to explore using a Mac Mini as a more affordable alternative. A base model Mac Mini, costing $399 USD with an M4 chip, 10 cores, and three Thunderbolt 4 ports, is chosen for its processing power and high-speed connectivity, despite its gigabit Ethernet limitation.

Initial Hardware Setup and Drives (1:55 - 3:58)

For initial testing, 6.4TB mixed-use PCIe Gen 4 NVMe drives are used, as the 30TB drives are still in transit. The setup involves Trebleet Thunderbolt to U.2 enclosures and a RaidenDigit LightOne dual 25 Gigabit Thunderbolt dock. The enclosures are designed with a large aluminum block and a fan for cooling, though the airflow direction is not ideal for enterprise SSDs. The Thunderbolt 4 ports offer 40 Gbit/s bandwidth, aiming for 3-4 GB/s per SSD.

Thunderbolt Dock and Connectivity (3:59 - 5:39)

The RaidenDigit LightOne dual 25 Gigabit Thunderbolt dock is highlighted as a cost-effective solution compared to more expensive alternatives, offering SD card slots, Thunderbolt passthrough, USB-A ports, DisplayPort, and a 140-watt gallium nitride charging brick for $360 USD. While the Thunderbolt 3 dock limits total bandwidth to 40 GB/s, it allows for high-availability networking. The core benefit of this setup is its superior random read/write performance for video editing compared to hard drives.

Initial Power-Up and Software RAID (5:40 - 8:09)

Upon powering on the Mac Mini, the Thunderbolt Ethernet and both SSDs are immediately detected. The presenter explores macOS's built-in software RAID capabilities, opting for a RAID 0 configuration to maximize performance by striping data across both drives. The chunk size is set to 128k, suitable for large video files, resulting in a 12TB "Speedy Boy" volume. Initial tests show read speeds of almost 7 GB/s and write speeds of 2.6 GB/s, saturating the network card.

PCIe Gen 5 SSD Compatibility Issues (8:10 - 9:17)

When the 30TB PCIe Gen 5 SSDs arrive, they are not detected by the Thunderbolt enclosures or directly by the Mac Mini. This is attributed to potential compatibility issues between PCIe Gen 5 drives and certain U.2/U.3 controllers or firmware, leading the presenter to revert to the working Gen 4 SSDs.

Mac OS File Sharing and Remote Access (9:18 - 11:39)

To enable NAS functionality, file sharing is configured in macOS System Settings, sharing the "Speedy Boy" RAID volume. Windows file sharing is also enabled for broader compatibility. Twingate is introduced as a sponsor for secure remote access, allowing the Mac Mini NAS to be accessed from anywhere without port forwarding, demonstrated by streaming video on an iPhone over cellular.

Network Performance Optimization (11:40 - 14:07)

Initial network transfer tests from the Mac Mini NAS to a MacBook Pro over a 25 Gigabit connection yield 1.7 GB/s read and 1.2 GB/s write speeds. To improve performance, the presenter modifies SMB settings in macOS, specifically increasing the number of RSS (Receive Side Scaling) channels from 4 to 8. This change boosts read speeds to 2.5 GB/s, nearing the theoretical maximum of the 25 Gigabit link. Write speeds remain lower, potentially due to macOS file server limitations with RSS streams.

Real-World Video Editing Test (14:08 - 15:54)

DaVinci Resolve is used to test the NAS with a video project. While interframe footage initially causes some hiccups, the system performs flawlessly once cached. Switching to ProRes proxy media (intraframe) demonstrates incredibly responsive scrubbing, with data transfer rates of only 6-10 MB/s, highlighting the efficiency of random accesses on the SSD-based NAS. The performance is significantly better than a hard drive-based NAS.

Final Configuration and Extensibility (15:55 - 19:30)

Before deployment, energy settings are adjusted to prevent automatic sleeping and enable automatic startup after power failure. A dedicated "editor" user is created with read/write access to the shared volume. The presenter discusses the Mac Mini's ability to run apps like Plex Media Server or Docker containers, making it versatile. The setup is highlighted as upgradeable, allowing users to start with hard drives and onboard networking, then upgrade to SSDs and faster networking. While not the most cost-effective for everyone, it's a great way to utilize an existing Mac Mini or similar Apple device, offering significant performance gains for video editing.

Notable Quotes

"Hard drives, they're just not that great for video editing." — Jakkuh

"When you think about it, these Mac minis, they're so cheap for $3.99 USD with an M4." — Jakkuh

"One of these SSDs could run laps around all 30 of the hard drives in my hard drive base NAS. Multiple laps." — Jakkuh

"Holy [__] it actually worked. 2.5 GB per second." — Jakkuh

"That's way more responsive than my hard drive base NAS. That's phenomenal." — Jakkuh

"You can't put a price tag on knowledge." — Jakkuh

"It's not It's not pretty, but it does work." — Jakkuh