Thanks all for any feedback you may provide. Given a properly structured gigabit network, would a NAS (=network attached storage) perform SecuritySpy interaction services just as well? SSD drives, not just prohibitively expensive, might not be desirable in a continuous read-write setting, not sure.Īny recommendations for very large capacity direct attached storage for Mac Mini M1 for 24/7 recording? In this case is USB 3.1 recommended? I could imagine a four bay RAID 5 array, perhaps based on 7200 RPM 'surveillance grade' hard drives. Currently using low resolution cameras and moderate frame rates but as time moves forward, will be replacing with 4K in mind. I think he would need at least five days' retention. Sometimes, USB 3.1 drives that use USB-C are mislabelled as Thunderbolt.Ī client with twelve cameras is asking to move from motion detection only to 24/7 recording. USB 3.0 tends to use USB-A ports, whereas USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt tend to use USB-C ports.

USB 3.0, USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt are all protocols, whereas USB-A, USB-B, USB-C are physical port specifications. Note that the terminology is confusing, and drives can be mislabelled. In this case, I would recommend a 3.5' drive over a 2.5' drive, as these tend to be faster, higher capacity, and more reliable in the long run. If you're mainly doing motion detection, rather than recording continuously at high frame rates, then a standard HDD drive would do the job. The other choice is whether to go for the SSD (fast but expensive and reliable) or HDD (slower but cheap). Thunderbolt drives/enclosures are more expensive than USB enclosures, and there's no point in the extra speed (40 times faster than a fast SSD, and hundreds of times faster than the fastest HDD).

The price difference between these two options shouldn't be too great, so it just depends on which port you want to use for the drive and which ports you want to leave available for any other devices you might want to connect.

Or you could get a USB 3.1 drive and connect it to one of the USB-C ports on the mini. So you could either get a USB 3.0 drive and connect it to one of the USB-A ports on the mini. This provides plenty of speed for even the fastest external drives. I would say USB 3.0 should be your minimum.

Mac mini m1 external storage