NAS Solution

[mark_m]

looking at NAS solutions.... want to get something to stream to firebox / Apple TV 4 and various iOS devices. Looking at synology 4xx line so far. 3 tvs 1080 max res for all (for now) thoughts?

I am thinking iTunes dedicated box or maybe plex. Thoughts?

 

[Mainah]

QNAP and Synology are the only way to go outside of repurposing or building your tower IMO. Don't forget to set your RAID preferences and use cat6 ethernet connections to the clients wherever possible. The particulars beyond that will depend on total use case and budget factors.

 

[Bruce]

I am using a low end Synology dual drive unit to backup three phones. I am very happy with it but have never tried to stream to more than one device at a time.

 

[Zarrella]

Damn.....how do I convert the posts above to English??? LOL

 

[Mainah]

Don't know why I did not think of it last night. This site is the best IMO for scientifically reviewing and rating networking gear.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

 

[Brian Graham]

I use QNAP at home and recommend it to my smaller customers, <50 people. I think the devices are pretty incredible.

 

[spatty99]

I've had A Synology DS214+ for several years and have been very pleased. Primarily using it to automatically backup computers/phones and stream audio. I think there is a huge community happily using them as media servers.

 

[bronze_10]

 

[Joe Hellaby]

I love PLEX. I've been using for a few years now (back when they would still sell lifetime pass for $75). They have an app for EVERYTHING (android, ios, windows, roku, firetv, tivo, most smart tvs).
Great app to share your home library. I've had mine playing on 6 TVs at the same time between my house and some family members, watching in 1080
They recently have been doing beta testing for cloud based storage, I got a beta invite, but don't have enough cloud storage for my library to really test.
Plex also has the ability to auto backup pictures from your phone

I run mine off a dedicated PC a couple hard drives. But plex will run off tons of NAS units with decent processors

 

[JetPowered]

If you go QNAP, get a model that has an Intel processor for transcoding using PLEX (English=Conversion to a different size/format). My QNAP box struggles with the ARM processor built-in. It will get worse when I start storing 4K content.

I would also get a minimum of 2GB ram with a preference of 4GB.

For drives, RAID 1 (two drives) would be sufficient for what you need. If you want more space, either get bigger source drives or go up to a 4 bay. I would avoid a RAID 5 setup. It takes a long time to rebuild when it fails putting your data at risk.

 

[mark_m]

https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16822108331

I am circling around this unit. Anyone have this one running in their setup?

 

[mark_m]

https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16822108331

I am circling around this unit. Anyone have this one running in their setup?

it's a little less memory but does include the intel chipset. I think it would do nicely in a RAID-1 configuration.

Streaming / transcoding as required. Thoughts?

Configuration
Form Factor 2-Bay
Processor Intel Celeron N3060 dual-core 1.6 GHz, burst up to 2.48 GHz
Default/ Max. Memory 1GB
Hard Drive Performance
Included HDD Capacity Diskless System

 

[JetPowered]

I think long term 1GB of ram would be a limitation. I have had to of memory errors with 2GB and PLEX when it transcodes or even scans the media library in the middle of the night.

What else are you going to do with the NAS? Just PLEX?

 

[mark_m]

I think long term 1GB of ram would be a limitation. I have had to of memory errors with 2GB and PLEX when it transcodes or even scans the media library in the middle of the night.

What else are you going to do with the NAS? Just PLEX?

Plex and more robust backup solution for items that are not already backed up in iCloud.

DVR Storage for hd homerun or other solution. My neighbor has been really singing the praises of the synology devices.

 

[JetPowered]

I'd save up a few mores sheckles and get a quad core with more memory or something that can be upgraded with more memory.

I would look at this QNAP
https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-TS-251-...UTF8&qid=1483557131&sr=1-4&keywords=qnap&th=1

It also comes with HDMI so it could be a source to run KODI on in addition to PLEX server.

 

[mark_m]

I'd save up a few mores sheckles and get a quad core with more memory or something that can be upgraded with more memory.

I would look at this QNAP
https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-TS-251-...UTF8&qid=1483557131&sr=1-4&keywords=qnap&th=1

It also comes with HDMI so it could be a source to run KODI on in addition to PLEX server.

Expansion of ram, combine of network ports make this even more attractive choice. I don't think I would need to direct connect my receiver to hdmi port though does this preclude me from running the backend on the nas unit and have it serve up hardwired and wireless clients?

Thanks
Mark

 

[JetPowered]

Nope, simply another source should you need it. All of these NAS boxes are managed through a web interface so you are good!

 

[mark_m]

Damn.....how do I convert the posts above to English??? LOL

NAS stands for network attached storage. Think of it as you own personal cloud solution. I'm interested in cutting the cord on tv but to keep video recording capabilities I need to store. This is primarily for over the airwaves signal. . . Think of local over the air feed recording for basketball or hockey, etc.

Media server is also useful for serving up photos, music, video and the like.

 

[2nazt]

I read Naval Air Station lol. Darn military. The amount of things I know nothing about never stop amazing me.

 

[JetPowered]

So Mark, what did you end up getting?