Advice on configuring nucleus+

Roon Software Discussion Nucleus
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i’m planning to purchase a nucleus+ to use as the source in my music system. this will replace a mac mini and external hard-drive.

  1. to avoid the use of an external drive, can i install my (rather large) music library (9000 albums, ~ 3tb) on an internal SSD? currently i see the maximum size of such drives is 4tb. is this is sufficient, or should i wait for the availability of larger drives?

  2. how difficult is it to install an internal ssd? is there a guide for loading one’s music library onto this hardware? is it possible to order a nucleus+ with the ssd pre-installed?

  3. i understand that the nucleus+ is purely a music server, that it doesn’t run the roon gui, and that’s fine with me. but what do people use to host the roon gui? the ipad interface is ok in a pinch (i use it now for remote access to my mini), but for regular use i prefer the full gui i now run on my mini, with keyboard, mouse, and display. this means reintroducing fan-noise into the setup, as well as purchasing a fairly pricey component.

  4. assuming that i go the mac-mini route for the roon client software, what is the minimum ram requirement?

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  1. For a nucleus, you would install an internal drive, have Nucleus format it, and then you would need to copy all your music over the network from another PC to the newly installed internal drive on the Nucleus. Being careful to follow migration directions to not duplicate your library and/or lose your edits etc. Or, you keep the external drive, which is what I use on my ROCK NUCs. Also, you cannot do backups to the internal drive, so you need an external drive or network location for db backups.

  2. Not difficult. If you can install a drive, you could also build a NUC. And I have not yet seen a new Nucleus with a storage drive pre-installed.

  3. The full UI is only available on a tablet or a PC. For comfort, I like a full keyboard and mouse. In my main listening area, where my server is NOT, I have a small PC connected to the TV and an AIR mouse and keyboard I use while reclining in my lounge chair 8 feet away. I have Roon endpoints feeding my AMP and DACs.

  4. If you are running Roon on the mac mini now, then you are already running the Roon client, so you presumably have enough RAM already. After the nucleus is installed, you will go on the mac and change the server to the nucleus.

1 Like
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thanks daniel - i think you’ve answered most of my questions.

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I use a Micron Ion 8210 SSD for my internal SATA drive that I purchased on Amazon for a couple of hundred dollars more that a 4tb Samsung.