A used NAS deal shows one way to expand a Mac mini server setup
A setup started with an i5-9500 Optiplex desktop, 32 GB of memory, and a 1 TB hard drive used for both a and a game server. The machine worked well, but the 1 TB storage limit became hard to live with. Searching used s for brought many bad options, including very old drives sold at high prices and sellers asking for outside payments without a public meetup.
A nearly unused NAS was later checked in person and bought with a Jonsbo N3 case, CWWK Ryzen 7 8845HS ITX , 16 GB DDR5 memory, three 10 TB WD Red Plus drives, three 4 TB WD Red Plus drives, one 4 TB HGST Ultrastar drive, a 250 GB WD Red M.2 boot drive, a 500 GB WD 2.5-inch SSD, and . The NAS cost $1,500. For another $100, it also came with a Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD3 UPS and a Tenda 10-port .
The main practical question is how to pool drives with different sizes so the storage is useful and reliable.
Key points
- The old server worked, but 1 TB of storage became too small for media and game server use.
- Used searches included risky or poor-value hard drive listings.
- The bought NAS included three 10 TB drives, four 4 TB drives, and two SSDs.
- The NAS cost $1,500, with a UPS and added for $100 more.
- A can pair well with a separate NAS for larger storage needs.