When I decided to get back into self-hosting my own TV shows and movies, I did a lot of research.

First, I needed to decide between Plex and Jellyfin. While Jellyfin has come a long way over the past few years, I ultimately landed on Plex because it's more reliable, user-friendly, and generally plug-and-play. I also already have a Plex Pass ($250 lifetime subscription) from well over a decade ago (you can also subscribe for $70/year or $7/month). Next, I needed to figure out what device to host my acquired media on.

Pretty much everything I read recommended building my own NAS or opting for an entry-level Synology NAS like the DS224+ DiskStation. I like to refer to myself as the resident "dumb guy" editor at XDA, but not because I'm stupid — I just come from the far less technical smartphone and Mac world, so the prospect of building my own NAS or learning how to use Synology's DiskStation Manager felt a bit daunting.

The more I researched, the farther I went down the rabbit hole. How much on-board power would my NAS need? How many HDDs or SSDs should I buy? Then I realized just how expensive storage is right now amid the ongoing memory crisis, and I almost gave up on the entire project. Then I realized I don't need to go all-in on self-hosting, at least to start, especially if I still plan to keep a few streaming apps around for convenience as I shift to self-hosting.

I can just use a relatively powerful device I already have lying around as the home for my Plex server — the M4 Mac mini.

The Mac mini is a great home for self-hosted media

Keeping things simple isn't always a bad move

After hunting through my devices, I ultimately landed on the M4 Mac mini I reviewed last year over on Pocket-lint. I have a small office that's already full of smartphones, laptops, and other gadgets, so I only have what I actually use set up, leaving a stack of review devices stored away in a sizable closet. With the decision made, I dusted off my Mac mini and hooked it up to my monitor.

After updating the Mac mini and adjusting macOS settings to ensure the pint-sized computer never goes to sleep, I installed Plex's media server app and got things going. There's nothing more annoying than the device hosting your Plex server going into sleep mode when you're ready to watch a TV show or movie.

Of course, you don't need to use a tricked-out M4 Mac mini with a built-in 1TB SSD. You can use nearly any Mac mini, an older MacBook Pro, or an aging Windows 11 laptop or PC (you can host from your main computer, too). Even if the device you're running your Plex server from isn't that powerful, it might not matter if you're streaming to a modern set-top box like the Apple TV 4K or Nvidia Shield that's compatible with a wide range of file types. If your Plex server's settings are configured to only transcode on the fly under certain conditions, like with incompatible files or when your home network is too slow to handle a massive 4K rip, it's unlikely you'll ever truly take advantage of your host device's power.

In my case, I stream directly to my Apple TV 4K, along with a few other high-end streaming devices, like the Nvidia Shield TV Pro and Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K Max. This means that file-type compatibility issues are rarely a problem for me. Over the past few months, I've only needed to transcode a handful of files.

Add external storage when you actually run out of space

A sizable USB 3.0 HDD will get the job done

Since most movies and TV shows stream at 5-50 Mbps, depending on the quality, I can get away with adding an old-school HDD connected via USB 3.0 (5Gbps) or higher if I run out of storage on my Mac mini. You can even get by with USB 2.0 (480Mbps), but it might cause buffering when streaming high-quality 1080p or 4K content. This leaves me with a variety of external HDDs I could pick up once the memory crisis dies down, and I actually find that I need that extra storage space. For now, I'm good with storing content on my M4 Mac mini's internal 1TB SSD, which offers 3,000-3,500 MB/s read speeds.

Of course, there are better options out there. I'm considering buying Satechi's $100 Mac mini Hub and Stand, which features an M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure slot, along with two USB 3.2 ports, a USB 2.0 port, and an SD card reader. However, given the cost of M.2 NVMe storage, especially right now, I'm not sure if I'll end up taking that route. Still, it would be a really sleek solution if I find a decent deal on compatible M.2 storage at some point. What's more likely is that I'll wait for a USB 3.0 18TB HDD to go on sale.

If you're just starting out, you don't need to go all-in right away

Will I eventually dive into the wild world of NAS? Probably. But since I'm still figuring out exactly what I want to use my Plex server for and how to fit it into my TV show and movie consumption habits, starting small makes more sense for me. With that in mind, if you're thinking about getting into self-hosted media, don't feel like you need to build your own NAS or buy a dedicated device; you probably already have an old PC or Mac that serves that purpose just fine.