Hi There,
I have just purchased the i3 with intel 80gb SSD, Crucial 4gb ram and wireless card.
I am now deciding on which NAS to buy. I have been looking at the Synology DS214+ but wonder if I it overkill as I have the processing power of the i3
My main aims are to use the NAS to store all media and then use the NUC as plex client which will be able to transcode media for to watch on the move.
Fair to say I am getting a little confused on what I need and searches on the forum arent really answering my specific question on what NAS would be best.
Any help appreciated!!
Thanks
May be best placed on the plex forum as they will have more experience with each NAS set up and plex.
The NAS doesn't need to be particularly powerful, as plex transcoding will be unnecessary for the NUC which has enough beef to handle all video content natively. This means all the NAS has to do is create shares for the NUC to access your media library over the network.
+1.
NAS does not have to be powerful or expensive. Of course, depends what you want it for.
I have a WD My Book Live, My Zotac HTPC access all the shares to play files.
It hosts the backups for PCs, all media files and torrent client
The new one is called
My Cloud
Thanks for the replies. I think the WD may be a good starting point
Check Lon Seidman's channel on youtube, he has many NAS reviews including WD ones.
FYI... WD cloud does not support Plex... Since you mentioned it...
Interesting how people set up their gear - I use an i3 NUC with an SSD as a dedicated Plex server that transcodes to 5 boxes around the house.
Deciding on what to use for a file server should start with deciding how much media you're planning to store. If, like me, you're an OCD hoarder with 14TB of media you're going to want something pretty sizable, probably with a redundant disk. I use a Drobo 5N (it can run Plex but, like most NAS boxes, doesn't have the horsepower to transcode) loaded with 5 x 4TB WD Reds which, though pricey and proprietary, has worked without a hitch for the past year and rebuilt a failed disc without a hiccup (actually didn't notice the failure for a week because I keep it in a closet and didn't have the monitor software running on my PC...).
If you're not planning to do any transcoding keep an eye out for a used HP N36L Microserver - they make a fantastic all-purpose server. I had a dedicated VM for Plex on mine and it ran great. At one point I even slipped in a videocard and had it running as an all-purpose player/server cube. The only reason I got rid of it is that the WAF was much more tolerant of media gadgets that I was incapable of messing with and were no consistently in a state of development flux. These days it's Plex Fire TV's (with Kodi as a backup if I need surround sound) a dedicated Plex Server and a dedicated NAS.
I guess my big question would be why you're going with Plex at all, especially for a single client installation. Plex metadata is pretty much identical to Kodi and you've got no shortage of room on an 80GB SSD for OPENELEC and all the metadata you could possibly want. In my experience a Plex server is only justified when you start dealing with several clients. A WD Cloud or any number of other basic networked HD's would be plenty for your needs.
I don't use plex but use a DS413. It's fairly solid and I run CouchPotato, rTorrent and Sickbeard on it 24/7. The new DS415Play and 415+ are supposed to be even more powerful.
Besides one failed disk (which was not synology's fault) it's been rock stable for the past 2 years. QNAP is the other Nas I'd recommend.
(2014-11-20, 23:32)jimbosis Wrote: [ -> ]I guess my big question would be why you're going with Plex at all
The preference is for streaming to other smart TV's in the house and mobile devices. This reason only, as otherwise I would prefer to stick with Kodi/ XBMC
(2014-11-21, 18:38)Powerhouse Wrote: [ -> ]If you looking for a pre-built NAS, and want to do Transcoding using PLEX, the best NAS currently capable of this is the QNAP TS-870. Check out the following..
So OTT! But i must say I like this a lot!
Just use the plex service with devices that need it and I would recommend to still create SMB/NFS shares for the NUC so you can use XBMC and browse through your library there. It does mean the NAS will need to be a little more powerful to support plex transcoding but then you will have all your bases covered.
OP, do you mean the nuc will run the plex server? If that's the case you don't need the nas to be powerful at all.
But if the nas is going to be the plex server and you want to be able to watch your media remotely, then you will need a powerful nas that can transcode
Have gone down the budget route while i get my head around everything of the WD MYCloud. Have transferred a lot of content onto this and starting to get things working.
Have set it up with SMB shares and it's all working. I will say that HD content doesn't look 1080 so I'm now looking into why this isn't the picture it should be.
I must admit these boxes are very much a learning curve and i have to say after the first week of tinkering I know there is whole lot more to come!
(2014-11-26, 00:08)aptalca Wrote: [ -> ]OP, do you mean the nuc will run the plex server? If that's the case you don't need the nas to be powerful at all.
This is the idea, yes. Just working it out as i go along really