SSD vs Seagate Firecuda for iMac Plex server

[SlashFredo]

I have a late 2010 iMac that needs a replacement hard drive. It will not be my primary computer but I am instead going to use it as a media server with Plex installed. I have a good, fast external 8TB drive with my media but am not against transferring the data to the iMac’s new internal drive if that will work better.

So my question is given the specific use I will have for the iMac what is a better drive to install? I was initially leaning to an OWC SSD:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/imac-27-inch/2010

I would then use the attached 8TB drive for all the media. But then someone else suggested that perhaps something like a Seagate Firecuda Hybrid drive might be better because I wouldn’t be relying on USB 2 to access my media.

My dilemma is more around what is the configuration that should provide the best performance. So to be specific, will the USB 2 connection to the hard drive negate the advantages of upgrading to an SSD? Will serving the media off an internal hybrid drive be faster than from an SSD to USB 2 external drive? Anyone have suggestions or recommendations?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Do not go with either a hybrid or fusion drive, but with an SSD.

Being an eight year old computer it will be slower than say +2012 models with USB3.

 

[SlashFredo]

Do not go with either a hybrid or fusion drive, but with an SSD.

Being an eight year old computer it will be slower than say +2012 models with USB3.

Thanks for this.

 

[cwanja]

You will likely want to max out the RAM if not already done.

 

[HDFan]

If you are running Plex now, do you have a bottleneck? I.E., with your media on an external USB 2 drive are you limited by the disk in the number of streams that your can run, or their resolution? Are you limited by your CPU capacity if Plex is transcoding?

Start up as many Plex streams as you can to determine what your bottleneck is. If you can run, say 8 streams of 4K with no problem, and you will never run more than 2 in real life, then you can remove Plex as a factor in your purchasing decision.

 

[SlashFredo]

You will likely want to max out the RAM if not already done.

Yeah, it has 8GB which I'm thinking will be OK for my purposes.
[doublepost=1532135317][/doublepost]

If you are running Plex now, do you have a bottleneck? I.E., with your media on an external USB 2 drive are you limited by the disk in the number of streams that your can run, or their resolution? Are you limited by your CPU capacity if Plex is transcoding?

Start up as many Plex streams as you can to determine what your bottleneck is. If you can run, say 8 streams of 4K with no problem, and you will never run more than 2 in real life, then you can remove Plex as a factor in your purchasing decision.

I briefly tried running Plex on this iMac back when it was my primary computer and it was a disaster, which makes sense given that it was an old mac running a bunch of crap. Now that I have a new primary iMac, I'm hoping that by starting with everything new on this old mac and just running just Plex it will be fine. But I'll have to obviously test its limits to see what I can get away with.

 

[HDFan]

As a side comment, after writing this I tried to see how many 1080p Plex streams that I could run on my iMac Pro. I think I got something like 8 streams started, but 6 or so of those streams gave just a spinning circle. ~10 minutes later my system crashed with a kernel panic during a screen share session with Apple support working another issue.

 

[Guy Clark]

Absolutely go for the Seagate Hybrid Drive. I have them installed inside my late 2015 21.5" 4k iMac and mid 2011 21.5" iMac. Excellent performance with Higher capacity at a lower price than SSD
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/solutions/solid-state-hybrid/

21.5"
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2389+Hard+Drive+Replacement/6284

27"
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2390+Hard+Drive+Replacement/8919

 

[SlashFredo]

As a side comment, after writing this I tried to see how many 1080p Plex streams that I could run on my iMac Pro. I think I got something like 8 streams started, but 6 or so of those streams gave just a spinning circle. ~10 minutes later my system crashed with a kernel panic during a screen share session with Apple support working another issue.

Geez, that's surprising on an iMac Pro. But it highlights that I'm keeping my expectations low and I don't have robust requirements. 90% of the time I'll be using Plex to stream music to 15 or so Denon Heos speakers spread across three homes. Hopefully music files won't be very taxing on the server. Occasionally, I may stream a movie on my local network but for me Netflix/HBO, etc. on every device is just so much easier than trying to stream my own movies and dealing with all the congestion that comes along with that.