Which Tiny/Mini/Micro to Get for a 4K Plex Server?

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witchdoctor

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May 2, 2022
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I made some observations in my Plex storage future upgrade thread how I nearly filled 108 TB on my Synology 8-bay in less than a year doing Blu-ray rips from my collection.

You can start out with an external drive, but you may find yourself quickly filling that up. Commercial “consumer-grade” NAS are hideously expensive. If I didn’t buy my Synology as a gift for a family member who no longer requires it, I would’ve built my own NAS from the start. Between my tendency to over-spec everything, and gentle encouragement from other community members to over kill stuff as well (lol), tbh the cheapest way to do a media library where you have the physical discs is something like MergerFS + SnapRAID.

Do you have some older hardware you can repurpose in the meantime? You can try Open Media Vault, which is basically standard Debian with an easy to use GUI on top where you can easily configure MergerFS + SnapRAID. This probably will work out better than connecting an external drive in the long run.
I don't have any old hardware that is serviceable. Glad you told me that 10TB goes quickly :). I checked the mergerfs website and I like that solution. I will check out your thread and thanks for posting this, I never heard of mergerfs+snapraid and will check it out.
 

zer0sum

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2013
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I made some observations in my Plex storage future upgrade thread how I nearly filled 108 TB on my Synology 8-bay in less than a year doing Blu-ray rips from my collection.

You can start out with an external drive, but you may find yourself quickly filling that up. Commercial “consumer-grade” NAS are hideously expensive. If I didn’t buy my Synology as a gift for a family member who no longer requires it, I would’ve built my own NAS from the start. Between my tendency to over-spec everything, and gentle encouragement from other community members to over kill stuff as well (lol), tbh the cheapest way to do a media library where you have the physical discs is something like MergerFS + SnapRAID.

Do you have some older hardware you can repurpose in the meantime? You can try Open Media Vault, which is basically standard Debian with an easy to use GUI on top where you can easily configure MergerFS + SnapRAID. This probably will work out better than connecting an external drive in the long run.
UNraid > OMV: MergerFS + SnapRAID :p
 
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Marsh

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May 12, 2013
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Interesting thread.
I put the post #5 Lenovo M720q listing in my ebay watch list.
I have too many TMM machines already, didn't need another one.

Then few days later, the same ebay seller offer me $150 to buy it.
So I brought the same M720q for $150. It even came with PCIe riser, saved me few bucks.

This is the first that I experienced reverse of STH effect. :)
 

ReturnedSword

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Jun 15, 2018
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UNraid > OMV: MergerFS + SnapRAID :p
I’ve tried out Unraid previously, but I just don’t prefer it. It works for a lot of people though, and their community seems quite helpful, if misguided on certain concepts at times. I just feel that Unraid as a product oversells what it’s actually capable of. I’d much rather run the services on ESXi or Proxmox :D
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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ReturnedSword

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Jun 15, 2018
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Santa Monica, CA
I think I am going to try a cloud based solution before I purchase a NAS, for example:


14 day free trial. Thoughts?
Personally, I've tried to stay away from subscribing to additional services - I have way too many already. My torrent box lives in my homelab.

Which NAS were you contemplating on purchasing, though?
 

witchdoctor

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May 2, 2022
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I ordered a Buffalo LinkStation NAS with a 4TB hard drive included for less than a C note :).
I am ordering an Android box by Zidoo that has the option of installing a hard drive. I want to get it setup before I add a lot of storage.
 

witchdoctor

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May 2, 2022
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I got the new Lenovo M720q today and it is FAST! I have been using HP's forever and this is great so far. I added a Samsung 32" 4K monitor for my desktop and am very happy for all of the advice you guys have shared. This is the box I am getting for the HT which will allow me to display Dolby Vision on my Epson PJ (it has HDR but not DV and the box has a workaround so the DV will work with my PJ).