How much space does MacOS use on the drive?

A

AlanG

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I'm planning on buying a mac mini to replace two old PCs(1 Linux, 1 Windoze) I will be buying a 2TB external SSD to supplement my 1T B NAS drive.
The question is how much internal storage do I need? 256G is the min, I'm considering 512G.
But I only plan to use it for OS and programs all data would be on the external drive(s) so is the 256G sufficient?
 
Keep in mind that your needs will change as time goes on. What your plans are today just may change three to five years from now. Go with the 512G and don't look back.
 
Cheryl said:
Keep in mind that your needs will change as time goes on. What your plans are today just may change three to five years from now. Go with the 512G and don't look back.
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That's kind of my own thinking, but I was curious just how much space would be left if I went with 256G.

A supplementary question is: How should I format the 2TB external drive? It comes as exFat but should I reformat it as HPF+ or whatever Apple prefers these days? exFAT is more universal, but I don't really plan on moving it about in practice - the NAS is for any shared stuff.
 
exFat is probably a good choice, but as Cheryl said, your needs can change, so if you suddenly need to move some files to another computer, without knowing what system is running, ExFat will likely still be OK. Recent Mac systems use APFS, which is woefully NOT compatible with anything except a Mac. Until very recently, any Windows PC would not see an APFS volume at all. Leaving it as ExFat should be OK for the near future. My suggestion is to erase the new drive, both to make sure it is actually ExFat, and that there are not any "wonderful, marvelous utilities" that the drive manufacturer decided to give you for free, but not useful for anyone who has a Mac. When you buy external storage, it's always good to be able to use all of the space -- you know what I mean?
 
OK, I've hit the buy button. I went for 512GB storage and 16G RAM.
I'm also buying a 2TB external USB-C SSD which I'll use for my main storage (see another forum thread for more on that) and backup to my NAS.

Thanks for the responses.
 
AlanG said:
OK, I've hit the buy button. I went for 512GB storage and 16G RAM.
I'm also buying a 2TB external USB-C SSD which I'll use for my main storage (see another forum thread for more on that) and backup to my NAS.

Thanks for the responses.
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You should go with a smart NAS! With a True NAS Mini or a Synolgy NAS plus models for video serving too!
 
Satcomer said:
You should go with a smart NAS! With a True NAS Mini or a Synolgy NAS plus models for video serving too!
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I already have a full NAS but the snag with NAS is they are limited by network speeds. In my case a 1Gbps network, which, in practice, means about 80MB/s read/write speed. A USB-C SSD drive can deliver 10 times that speed in theory and at least 5 or 6 times in practice. (Thunderbolt 3 would be faster still but costs 3 times as much!) My workflow basically sees me storing all the raw and intermediate photos and clips and project files on the work disk and then transferring finished tiff or video files to the NAS where they can be viewed on tablet or TV etc throughout the home (or indeed across the internet if I choose).
 
AlanG said:
I already have a full NAS but the snag with NAS is they are limited by network speeds. In my case a 1Gbps network, which, in practice, means about 80MB/s read/write speed. A USB-C SSD drive can deliver 10 times that speed in theory and at least 5 or 6 times in practice. (Thunderbolt 3 would be faster still but costs 3 times as much!) My workflow basically sees me storing all the raw and intermediate photos and clips and project files on the work disk and then transferring finished tiff or video files to the NAS where they can be viewed on tablet or TV etc throughout the home (or indeed across the internet if I choose).
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Yea but if you get especially a Smart NAS with OCI slot built in you add a 10G card! Even YouTube has several users doing so with Synology system just a few years old!
 
Satcomer said:
Yea but if you get especially a Smart NAS with OCI slot built in you add a 10G card! Even YouTube has several users doing so with Synology system just a few years old!
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Yes, but that means upgrading my entire network to 10Gb! New cables, new router and switches etc. That would cost $$$ - even more than a thunderbolt disk! Also, I'd need to change my Mac Mini order to have a 10G network card, but too late I've already hit 'buy'... :)
 
AlanG said:
Yes, but that means upgrading my entire network to 10Gb! New cables, new router and switches etc. That would cost $$$ - even more than a thunderbolt disk! Also, I'd need to change my Mac Mini order to have a 10G network card, but too late I've already hit 'buy'... :)
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Yea but you cancel it right now and oder this:

 
Satcomer said:
Yea but you cancel it right now and oder this:

Click to expand...
That's $110 for that switch - only 4 ports, so I 'd need 2 = $220
Add an extra $200 for the 10G on the mac
Add another $100 for 10G compatible cables
And then the cost of the NAS itself fitted with SSD storage and 10G card...
getting close to $1000 in total.

That's a lot more than the $200 for a 2TB USB drive or even the $500 for a Thunderbolt drive.
And still only twice the speed. In 5 years time it will probably be a no brainer I suspect.
And I'll probably go that route when I upgrade the Mac, which hopefully will be in about
8-10 years time!
 
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