NAS questions

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DrDee

269 posts

Ultimate Geek

#140907 24-Feb-2014 12:01

I currently run a server with plex to feed my media to my LG smart TV.
The server runs 5 HDD's, 1x dedicated for the system drive and 4x HDD's (2x 2TB, 2x 1TB) for the media, running Drivepool from Stablebit (best software purchase I have ever made!).
The TV sees the folders as you set them up in Plex (eg TV series, movies, etc.) so it makes browsing for files nice and easy from the connected devices menu.
I am also using sickbeard to organise the files, it has a brilliant rename and organise feature to keep everything organised in the right places from just dumping everything into a 'blackhole' folder that is accessible over the whole network.

I am wondering if a NAS box can take over from the server in this situation. My main requirements would be that the NAS would be visible to the TV using a sensible file /folder structure rather than a mile long list of files and a PC running sickbeard can access and alter the contents of the NAS drives over the network.

I haven't had a NAS yet and wondering if people who use them can give me any opinions as to what NAS would suit my requirements if any so I can do some more research.

Swanny

107 posts

Master Geek

#993256 24-Feb-2014 12:25

I just ordered a Synology NAS (a little 213j). After I ordered I checked out the list of add-ons, there are a few:

http://www.synology.com/en-global/support/download/DS213j#download_tabs_package

Maybe something in there fits your needs?

D.W

725 posts

Ultimate Geek

#993258 24-Feb-2014 12:31

Some of the more expensive NAS options can run Plex, otherwise you have options such as the 'Synology DS213Play' which support transcoding via DLNA which means you don't need to run Plex (but the result may not be as good).

Personally I've gone for an i3 Intel NUC connected to the TV + Synology DS213j NAS for storage.

lxsw20

3552 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#993276 24-Feb-2014 13:10

I've got a Synology DS212j and 2013 LG TV, Synology have both their own DLNA app or there is a Plex app, both work with the TV just fine.

davidcole

6029 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#993286 24-Feb-2014 13:12

Quite a few of the NAS boxes will run plex - but there's one big caveat - the ARM based ones cannot transcode content. So if your client is a PC then you're golden. But if you want to run it on tablets/phones/most media players/over the internet then they'll probably need some sort of transcoding ability.

Things like the QNAP NAS boxes for the Synology 4 series I think run intel chips. How good they are for transcoding I don't know.

Personally I made the choice to stick with a "server" - An A10 powered desktop machine with a bunch of hard drives running plex (and VMware workstation for virtaulisation) - it has more than enough grunt to transcode any of my videos to anything my clients desire - and I run an iPhone/Apple Tvs/Ipad/A Roku 3 and a PC as clients

YMMV but I preferred the flexibility of building my own with a bit of an upgrade path rather a prebuilt NAS.

Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight

DrDee

269 posts

Ultimate Geek

#993311 24-Feb-2014 13:39

Excellent info, thanks guys!

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#993400 24-Feb-2014 15:51

I have synolgy 412+ which has an Intel processors and run the plex server software on it. Serves data to iPAD iPhone HTC One raspberry pi. Music to sonos and Demon AMP

Works well though the 5.1 through the raspberry pi is a little inconsistent but I only have stereo speakers.

A.