I’m still in the process of setting up my OTA antenna, followed by an HD Homerun and Channels. I’d like to setup my Channels DVR on my Mac Mini (also running Plex server). For storage, can I use my Synology DS216Play. Is it correct that the core i7 on the Mac will help will playback? Does this sound like a plausible setup?
Yes it should work, but recording to a network mount is not recommended as it requires 2x bandwidth and can max out your network. If your Mac is wired it might be okay.
In-Home playback uses very little cpu. But it will help a lot with commercial detection and remote streaming.
You could run the DVR on the NAS directly too, but the cpu in the ds216play is not very powerful.
So maybe the best option would be the Mac Mini and use onboard storage? If at some point I wanted to switch to an external USB drive connected to the Mac Mini, is that something that’s easily achieved without losing my existing recordings? My plan now is to utilize the Synology for Plex movies and have the Mac mini run both the Plex Server and Channels server.
Sure, you can move your recordings and update the directory in the DVR at any time.