Newbie advice: Dell T330 vs Synology vs DIY for file server and Plex

[xrayos]

Folks,

I'm a newbie to the server world, but not a newbie to assembling a computer (did it 25 yrs ago). Anyhow, I have a Synology ds1512+ unit for my file server duties. Plex is installed on the synology and it serves movies for the kids daily (indespensible).

So, the reason I'm here is to figure out an upgrade to my existing system. I don't need much HDD space as I have just about 2TB of files, music and movies on the Synology now. What I do need is processing power. My existing synology ds1512+ has an Intel Atom 2700 dual core. A new ds1517+ has a quad core C2538. I think it can transcode a stream of 1080p. Most of my movies are directplay as they are encoded in the correct format. It evens streams 4k movies to my 4k TV w/o any problems as long as I don't enable subtitles. Enabling subtitles requires transcoding.

So, I've been reading this forum for the past few days and have come to the following options.

1. Get a new Synology DS1817+ ~$900

2. DIY nas/media player. ~$600

A. Asrock C236 itx motherboard $200, Intel Pentium G4560 $60, Case fractal 304 ~$80, RAM 16gb ~$130, PSU ~$80, HDD recycled from current system.
B. Supermicro X10SDV-TLN4F, maybe a little overkill
​

3. Dell T330 ~$500, brand-new as configured from Dell right now.

Specs: intel C236 chipset, Pentium G4600, 8gb ECC RAM, 4 hotswap bays, 2x Gbe
500Gb HDD included, remainder of HDD recycled from current system.
​

Currently leaning towards option 2A and 3. Option 3 (prebuilt Dell T330) seems easy and upgrade-able. DIY NAS seems just as easy also, I get to choose my own case. The fractal is smaller, but does not have any hotswap bays. What does everyone here think?

 

[nk215]

You are already familiar with Synology so I recommend a Xpenology build. Get a cheap TS140 with an xeon e3 or i3 and turn that into a whitebox Synology NAS.

 

[Rand__]

There are some nice audio rack alike cases out there if you want it in the living room ...
Else 2a - and you still can put xpenology on it.

In the end depends on whether you want/need looks or not, those entry level offerings are usually fine and just slightly overpriced (here 8gb ram missing)

 

[xrayos]

^^
xpenology build is what I'm going to shoot for...



^
These dell servers just seem to get too good to pass up. There's also a T30 mini-tower server with a Xeon e3-1225 v5 going for $349 before taxes. Just tempting. Still the SFF custom build just seems nicer, but more $$$. I wish I had the need to build a Xeon D system. Now that would be a nice and powerful build.

 

[tullnd]

How much transcoding power do you actually need? How many simultaneous clients will likely be streaming and how many of them will need to transcode? This will tell you what you need.

Honestly, I'd do a hybrid. Keep your Synology you have. It works fine. Leave the drives in it for now. Build a separate server to handle your Plex duties. You can do Small Form Factor, but I'd probably suggest getting a case with enough room to eventually move the hard drives into it, for when you one day retire the Synology.

Figure out how many streams you need to transcode and use that to determine how powerful a server you need. I'd suggest a basic Linux install(pick your flavor...Ubuntu, Debian...something mainstream that Plex supports) and get Plex running. Share the Synology drives with NFS to your Plex/Linux box.

Over time, maybe you can throw in new drives to the Plex/Linux box, create new drive pools there for newer content, and one day migrate all the content into that single physical server. In the meantime, you'll have the reliability of the Synology box, the simplicity of it's configuration for any functions you may not know how to do well on Linux yet and also the ability to use it as a backup if you run into issues with config on the newer Plex server.

If all you are running is Plex(and maybe some of the apps that go along with it) you really don't need more than 8Gb of RAM to start, so you can save some cash there. It's really just determining the processor for transcoding. If you think you might want to run the server headless, look into a motherboard with some nice IPMI functionality to make it easier. I'd just get a standard board with at least two 4x or higher PCI-E slots, so you can add a SATA/SAS controller at a later date if you move the drive pool into the box and maybe an updated NIC if you ever decide you want 10Gb or something down the line(but probably won't need it on a device like this).

 

[xrayos]

^ Thanks for all the advice


I decided to DIY my own NAS. Went with a Gigabyte H270N itx motherboard with built in dual Intel Gigabit LAN. i3 kabylake CPU. 2x 8TB reds. Xpenology install was a breeze. It recognized the dual intel LANs w/o any issues. Kill-a-watt shows 35watt power draw when idle. Doesn't go up much with normal NAS usage. When it has to transcode 1080p to 720p then power draw goes up to a little more than 50watts. all and all, not bad. I feel bad building a xpenology system, however, they just released a ds1517+ that uses the same C2538 atom cpu from 4 years ago.