Need NAS/PLEX advice please.

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Roadrage68

New Member
Jul 19, 2018
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Good Evening All,

  • I'm looking to build or buy a NAS to also use as a PLEX Server.
Every time I build a new computer I end up transferring files around and nothing is in a centralized location.

  • I have about 4TB of MP3's and Pictures and backed up movies.
  • I access the internet and my current files via several media devices ((2) Xbox One, PS3, Xbox360, Nvidia Shield).
  • I live in a 2 story house with wireless Asus RT-AC87R Routers on each story.
  • I'm on Comcast high speed internet
  • I don't plan on creating a huge catalog of movies/videos, just backup a few Marvel Movies.
  • My current problem is that I'm not always able to access my files due to UMS or sharing issues.
  • And none of my files are consolidated in one place.
  • I just bought 2 more X300 4TB HDD's (+1 in main PC)
  • My thought is to use spare PC#1 and build this Server/NAS with FreeNAS or similar.
  • I have decent Windows skills but no linux, I'm sure a GUI would be easy to learn though.
  • I would need some kind of redundancy, I don't want to lose mP3's and pictures.

My Main PC
  • i7-7700K
  • GA-z270N-Wifi
  • 16GB RAM
  • 240GB M.2 PCI-E SSD
  • Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
  • Toshiba X300 4TB HDD
  • MSI Aero GTX 1060
  • Corsair 250D
  • LG BluRay RW Drive

Spare PC#1

Spare PC#2

  • I've looked all over the internet and I just don't where to go with this, there are so many threads with so many options.
  • I really don't want to spend much money as I have a lot of parts, maybe hard drives though.
  • And FYI I ahave about 22 GPU's mining that I could put in any of these machines. (RX570,RX580, 1060, 1070)
  • I can't see ever running more than 3 streams.
  • Please help! I'm sure I missed something.
 
Last edited:

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
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Use Spare PC #1 w/Xeon and configure it as an All-In-One using either Proxmox or VMware ESXi (free version). Build your NAS and Plex server as VMs, plus as many other VMs as you want/can fit in the 32GB you have available.
 

Roadrage68

New Member
Jul 19, 2018
4
1
3
Use Spare PC #1 w/Xeon and configure it as an All-In-One using either Proxmox or VMware ESXi (free version). Build your NAS and Plex server as VMs, plus as many other VMs as you want/can fit in the 32GB you have available.
Thank you for the advice. I'll look into these. But I have to be honest I've never used VM's before.

Backups.

Raid/Zfs won't help when users delete/systems corrupt/ransomware encrypts important files.
OK. That's what I'm currently doing but I'm a little behind.

x264 or x265?
1080p or 4k+?
x265 and currently I only have (1) 4K TV, so mostly 1080P.
 

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
485
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Backups.

Raid/Zfs won't help when users delete/systems corrupt/ransomware encrypts important files.
If one has snapshots configured, ZFS can help with the above. That said it's still a good idea to have backups of important data. Or media, as it takes forever to RIP lossless from disc.
 

Evan

Well-Known Member
Jan 6, 2016
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If one has snapshots configured, ZFS can help with the above. That said it's still a good idea to have backups of important data. Or media, as it takes forever to RIP lossless from disc.
OMG I would be terrified to re-rip all my music !
I know what would happen, i probably would not do it , just live with Apple Music or similar.

It’s not just ripping it it’s adding all the meta data to it... very time consuming.

Anyway i have i all kept on backup drives to be sure.

ALAC and FLAC if anybody was wondering. Changed mid way through.
 

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
485
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OMG I would be terrified to re-rip all my music !
I know what would happen, i probably would not do it , just live with Apple Music or similar.

It’s not just ripping it it’s adding all the meta data to it... very time consuming.

Anyway i have i all kept on backup drives to be sure.

ALAC and FLAC if anybody was wondering. Changed mid way through.
I have a Nimbie, but even so it would be a massive pain in the neck to have to re-rip all of my media ... getting the metadata on the music correct is so time consuming, and the BRD/DVD rips are a multi-step process since I take them through a batch process to remove the soundtracks I dont want.

I rip all of the discs to FLAC, then compress/convert as necessary. The head unit in my car only recognizes WMA of all the lossless formats, for example, and I still use a Sansa Clip+ for my workouts because it drives me insane to carry a phone at the gym and/or be interrupted while working out, so MP3s for that device.

All of that to say, yeah, it would suck major to have to redo all that work. I have half a dozen HDD with backups of my media, in addition to the 8x8 in my NAS.
 
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Mike W

Kuntrolphreak
Jun 29, 2018
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Suffolk, Va
Just went thru the same issue. I had 2x e5-2690’s with 128 go ram for plex and all my virtuals. Using LSI controllers with drives in raid 10. Thought this was great until I checked the wattage being used. Started building a FreeNas machine then came across a QNAP 453 plus 8gb on Craig’s list for 250 bucks. Bought it and was the best purchase I have made in a long time. Friend of mine always ranted about how great it was and honestly he was right. Plug and play for plex, backups, remote acces and even supports virtualization. I have always built my machines and this was the first time I bought a pre-built NAS. Plex forums has a pretty good list of compatible models for QNAP and Synology.
 

William

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May 7, 2015
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Synology and QNAP NAS's are pretty darn good, tho they can get pricey with the higher end models and a NAS that has a spare PCIe slot for a 10G card.
 
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Mike W

Kuntrolphreak
Jun 29, 2018
75
29
18
Suffolk, Va
Yeah pricey can be an understatement. My buddy has the 8 bay, I7, 32gb of blah, blah, blah that cost as much as my CAR after the drive purchase. What I am saying is the middle range 4-5 bay models work just fine. Mine does fine with 3 streams. Has 4 1gb ports and with link agg. $250 can’t beat it.

Also I now will just wait until I see another deal for a larger unit and scoop it up. I still have my freenas box and vm’s and what ever I want to build and back up from my QNAP to these and testing different configurations and ain’t taking down my plex once. Which is nice cause everybody yells when that happens.
 

William

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May 7, 2015
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Yeah its been awhile that I have seen that.

The thing with Synology and QNAP stuff for me anyway, as much as I love the higher end stuff I really don't need all that power (that's hard for me to say LOL), I can't help it HAHA :)

But to be fair, a box like DS918+ that I am running right now is super sweet, I only wish it had 10G, as I am spoiled that's what I want but don't really need LOL. I do not use PLEX but from what I hear and you guys posting about it its pretty sweet on these boxes.

These are so easy to run, setup and use its not funny. I have better things to do than mess around with stuff all the time like I used to, I prefer something that just works and works well. I have another brand 4-Bay in the review pipe right now that looks to be pretty darn good also.
 

Roadrage68

New Member
Jul 19, 2018
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I appreciate all the advice..
After a year or longer of over thinking this, I bought the DS918+ and populated it with (4) 4tb X300 drives. I've heard good things about these drives and i've been using one of them for about a year with no issues. It can be a little loud when updating PLEX Library or transferring data, so I had to relocate it back up to the computer room.
Now I need to figure out which of my spare PC's to transcode blurays on, x265 takes way too long, on x264 they seem equal.
 
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William

Well-Known Member
May 7, 2015
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DS918+ is a sweet NAS, congratz on the new box :)
I do not use PLEX so I cannot compare, I do not even hear mine, but I have other noise sources in my room so that could be masking the DS918+.

Just got the DS1618+ up and running and loving that box also. It has 10G so I really like it LOL.
Only have 4x 10TB WD Red Pro's in it atm, maybe I will expand the RAID 6 later.