TR Forums

Hi all,

So I've been going around in circles for the past few months trying to think of what I can do without coming up with much of a solution, so I thought I'd come to the "experts" for some advice.

Currently, I have my old gaming rig setup as my Plex Media Server. Core i7 870, 8GB RAM, etc., running Windows 8.1. It's also got a few different hard drives in there of different sizes, with my video libraries spread across them. A few issues with this setup:
- No RAID
- If I need to reboot the system, I have to remember to log into to get PMS to run
- Space management is a pain since the disks are independant
- High-ish wattage
- I want to use the system as a secondary gaming rig again to play games with the gf

So I've been trying to come up with some options on setups I can use as a combo NAS & PMS. The closest option I've seen so far is IX System's FreeNAS Mini, but there's a few things ruling it out for me:
- Limited disk capacity (only 4 bays, which means I'd be down to 2 drives worth running in a RAID6 equivalent)
- FreeNAS (from what I've read, not the simplest of systems to use)
- Canadian availability: Yes, I can have it shipped to here in Toronto, but I'd be paying an arm and a leg in taxes and duty fees

So I've mostly resolved myself to the fact that I'll probably get an off the shelf NAS system and build a new system for PMS. With the NAS, I'm looking for simplicity in management, as well as expandability (Primary uses will be media storage and backup targets to start, but this could easily expand later as uses build). Synology looks decent, and their option to add expansion with the drive bays is nice as well. However, what's the community using these days.

On the PMS side, something low-wattage, with a small foot-print that can handle 3 or 4 transcode streams is what I'm looking for. Anyone have any suggestions for CPU/mobo? Rest of the components I can manage myself.

Also open to any other options that people my have if there's a solution that peopel have done that I haven't thought of.

Synology NAS units offer Plex server.

At home I run the Plex Media Server in a dedicated VM on a dual X5650 server. My files sit on a Synology DS1512+.

emorgoch wrote:

that can handle 3 or 4 transcode streams

Your CPU requirements will depend upon the quality of your source files, the Mbps setting, and quantity of your streams. Four different 20 Mbps streams use what you see below (although it can spike up or down depending on the scenes being played). The source files are all 30GB+:



I just noticed that another one of my files takes way more CPU power than the 4 shown (basically the same CPU usage as the above 4 streams). Interesting.

While there is a Plex Media Server on my DS1512+ I decided against using it because I don't want to stress the DS1512+ (I don't think it can handle anything close to what I want).

RAID 6 can push you into a very pricey NAS solution. What about a 4 disk RAID 5 or SHR setup with an 8TB archival drive as a backup? Play around with the RAID calculator.

I run a FreeNAS server at work and, while it is a bit of a pain, it is not that bad although the FreeNAS hardware requirements are rather steep (memory).