PLEX personal media server

[Lionel Hutz]

does anyone here have a plex based PMS? I am looking at doing a NAS with at least 32TB of storage and am interested in hardware recs (I'm also considering mac mini or comparable + externals or taking everything into google drive)

 

[Jr Mouse]

does anyone here have a plex based PMS? I am looking at doing a NAS with at least 32TB of storage and am interested in hardware recs (I'm also considering mac mini or comparable + externals or taking everything into google drive)

I'd be interested in this as well. I run Plex off my PC and could see it being an advantage to have it located on separate hardware.

From what I have read many consumer NAS are not powerful enough to do hardware video encoding on the fly. So unless all your video files are in the correct format then they are limiting.

I had this discussion with @otc a while back. So he might have some good input to chime in with.

 

[otc]

I dunno, I don't use plex. My only experience with it was as a way to stream files from my parents mac to their roku (since the roku lacked the ability to just play video files over the network).

I just have an HTPC that is capable of playing everything in its native format, so I don't need anything like on the fly transcoding. Even if I were to move the storage outside the HTPC, I don't think I would want to transcode...my network should be fast enough to stream whatever I am watching.

But I dunno...Plex might make it easier to set up a library and have multiple nodes. I can also see the value in the transcoding if you want to be able to access your content outside of your home (such as on a phone or from a hotel).

 

[Jr Mouse]

I use the Plex app on my PS3 that's connected to my HDTV. My main PC is in another room.

Network wise I'm good. Apartment is fully Ethernet wired and I have a pretty up to date wireless network.

Best thing about Plex is the UI and how it presents all your video files. App on the PS3 is a tad slow, but that's a hardware issue. If I had a PS4 it would run much nicer.

 

[Piobaire]

Don't use Plex but my Synology NAS takes anything I throw at it and like both the software and hardware.

 

[NaTionS]

OP I’d be interested in knowing what you ultimately decide on. I currently have Plex running on my computer with 40TB of storage and DrivePool. Have been thinking of putting together a separate machine for media storage and Plex so I don’t have to worry about other programs slowing down Plex or vice versa.

I’m guessing a recent year i3 would be fast enough to transcode.

 

[Lionel Hutz]

OP I’d be interested in knowing what you ultimately decide on. I currently have Plex running on my computer with 40TB of storage and DrivePool. Have been thinking of putting together a separate machine for media storage and Plex so I don’t have to worry about other programs slowing down Plex or vice versa.

I’m guessing a recent year i3 would be fast enough to transcode.

I ended up getting the QNAP 453A-8

https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-Professional-Grade-Attached-Supports-TS-453A-8G-US/dp/B017YB3QSK

I looked at some WD and Synology offerings but ultimately the HDMI output was the tiebreaker for me. Not even sure if I'll end up using it but I like the flexibility of easy direct connect. Kind of a crapshoot since I haven't totally drilled down on what file formats and **** I'll be using because I don't have any experience with plex. I have a friend who is hooking me up with digital files for 500ish movies so I felt pressure to purchase ASAP. I have 2 400 disc blu ray players and this should save me a bunch of time ripping my own copies. Though I think his digital copies are 720p and I might want lossless versions. Going to have to see how the file sizes work out

FWIW and of more general interest to people who have a NAS the best deals I'm seeing on drives are 8TB western digital red's at $207 per

https://slickdeals.net/f/11433203-w...hard-drive-wd80efzx-207-99-plex-pass-required

love me some slick deals BTW, good site for finding deals on tech

 

[Lionel Hutz]

I'd be interested in this as well. I run Plex off my PC and could see it being an advantage to have it located on separate hardware.

From what I have read many consumer NAS are not powerful enough to do hardware video encoding on the fly. So unless all your video files are in the correct format then they are limiting.

I had this discussion with @otc a while back. So he might have some good input to chime in with.

General rule AFAIK
A Dual or Quad Core x86 based CPU (Such as an Intel or AMD processor) running at 1.6+
At least 2GB of DDR3 Memory

more on hardware requirements

https://support.plex.tv/articles/201774043-what-kind-of-cpu-do-i-need-for-my-server/

Answers to all your NAS transcoding questions here with what each NAS model can do in PLEX

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...Ac4oOLPRtCkgUxU0jdj3tmMPc/edit#gid=1274624273

 

[Jr Mouse]

That Google Doc list is great. Thanks for posting!

 

[Lionel Hutz]

The 4 bay was out of stock so I got the 6 bay

QNAP TS-653A (8GB RAM version) 6-Bay Professional-Grade Network Attached Storage, Supports 4K Playback (TS-653A-8G-US)

 

[otc]

I'm thinking about flipping back to linux on my HTPC. Been running windows since, I dunno, 2011 or so?
Originally switched over for a new build because I wanted access to streaming services like Netflix that weren't linux compatible (or at least not nicely). Also was nice to be able to run steam with a bunch of controller enabled games.

But nowadays, my smart TV can handle netflix/amazon (and I think they work fine on linux now). Meanwhile, windows still has frustrations with HTPC mode. HDMI handoff issues, annoying update behavior, etc. Seems like switching back to linux could get me rock-solid appliance-like stability again. Would also enable some better "server" features that I've long struggled to implement on windows (like enabling easy sharing of specific files/folders from my HTPC to other people).

 

[Lionel Hutz]

Am now in the process of ripping my blu rays and DVDs. I was using Leawo to make MP4s but I've not switched to MakeMKV because I like the flexibility of keeping multiple audio streams and subtitle options

I did use Leawo to strip the DRM from all my iTunes movies. I haven't found a solution to strip DRM from VUDU movies yet.

Extra step to have to compress with handbrake and I haven't started that yet, ripping around 40

used slick deals to get 8TB WDReds for below $200 per, I was very happy with that price. I've only outfitted 4 bays so far