@Coxeroni said:
@ChuckPA said:
the best NAS for Plex? QNAP.a) cpu power
b) superior tech support by miles.I have had a DS1815+ now for a while. I switched to QNAP TVS-1282 (large step) because I need the transocding. I wasn’t going to pay Synology’s price for the older processor (launch date) and inferior support.
What a monster…
I see the TVS-1218 is offered with three CPU’s, What CPU did you get? The only thing I like about QNAP is the hardware.
@GoSpursGo said:
Thanks for posting the info Chuck! I really don’t want to hijack the thread, however I don’t feel it’s necessary to create a fresh thread for this question (which might aid the OP).I’ve been a Synology user for quite some time (I’ve purchased 4 NAS units over the past 8 years or so). I’ve always been fairly fond of the GUI and how easy everything was to use. Obviously familiarity is something we all like, however the lack of adequate hardware has had me pondering moving to either QNAP or my own NAS build. I’m looking for a little guidance in what I should do on my next “upgrade”.
With QNAP, my perception has always been that the hardware is much better than Synology, but the software is really lacking. Do you feel this is the case? I use quite a few of the Synology packages and apps and noticed that QNAP offers many of the same features… Are they comparable is your opinion? Is there anything you prefer about Synology over the QNAP?
With custom built NAS (I presume running FreeBSD), I feel I could get the best value and most flexibility from a hardware perspective, but am a bit worried about the software side. I’ve built ~10 or so computers in my lifetime and really enjoy doing it, however I’ve loaded Windows OS on every one of them which I am incredibly familiar with. I’m a little worried that going this route might be a headache, as I’m really not familiar with the stability or feature set of FreeNAS.
Are any of these options more/less friendly with Plex?
Any advice you could share would be greatly appreciated!
Having been all in with Synology since 2012 I understand what your saying. I own and or manage 12 Synology NAS of different models and for good reason. In my humble opinion Synology offers more packages such as a DNS server that QNAP does not and DSM and the packages are more polished then QNAP, QNAP’s packages always feel like there beta. QNAP OS navigation is very Android feeling and Synology DSM has a Windows OS feel. When deciding on a NAS and trying to decide on QNAP ve Synology you need to first ask yourself what packages you want to run, Then look at the UI of each to see what you like then look at power. I would NOT base my purchase decisions solely on running PMS unless that’s the only thing you wan’t to do with it and you don’t care if the UI feels Android or Windows.
Update: If you like Synology and all glory the app center offers you can build your own box and use XPEnology.
xpenology.com/forum/
It will seem intimidating but with the rite help you will be up and running in 30 minutes. If your interested I can help with the rite resources to get you setup. Take a look at the link below for the how-to video I used to get setup…
youtube.com/watch?v=aVEPePSLr54&list=PL-Mpec9tEKUN2Ee_-t-vqUkwnUn_1jaI0&index=8&t=1251s
@ChuckPA said:
@GoSpursGoFrom a UI ‘pretty’ factor (Human Factors / Ergonomics Engineering), Synology is very “MacOS like”. It hides a great deal from you / does a lot for you. That said, it does limit you from doing many things which the QNAP allows.
If you approach Synology from a "Windows / Mac user’s perspective where everything is point & click while approaching QNAP from a Linux user’s perspective (being the magician and ‘hands on’ technical ) you’ll be very on target.
QTS 4.3.3 is a huge improvement over 4.2 from the UI perspective. It’s only been out a couple months and you will find a few small kinks. It took me longer to learn Synology’s thinking than to learn QNAP’s. This is why it’s very important to test-drive each vendor’s ‘live’ demo environment,.
There is nothing from Synology which I miss being QNAP based now.
Here’s the bullets as I see them from the technical perspective.
- Support which responds and is proactive in addressing the issue whereas Synology is not
- Networking, with emphasis on LACP which works flawlessly (measured and can demonstrate with the screencap) 469 MB/sec inbound to the QNAP using all 4 gigabit adapters.
- I can’t do any full-up VMs on Synology. Respectfully, even with the DS3617, the ship has sailed. Docker/ containers don’t meet the requirement.
- QNAP gives me some more flexibility and simply much easier, with layers of storage. I am about to install all of QTS main apps on the M.2 (1TB), HDs are the second volume, and then I add the SSD cache.
- A plus for Synology at this point is their SDK/package API is a little easier to work with. That said, I still have much to learn of the QNAP (only owned it for 3 months)
- Last, but by far least, I’ll reiterate hardware and tech in the product. Look at how modular and upgradable QNAP is. QNAP documents this stuff too. Synology doesn’t.
There are more but hope this gives you the big points as I see them.
Chuck you may make some good points but I really enjoy the apps Synology offers, I really think this is a case of Ford vs Chevy. To add to what I have already said I agree with you take a look at the live demo’s each offer, Look at the applications each offer and go from there.
@Kabeyun said:
Dantech, if you haven’t picked up your NAS yet, I recommend the Synology DS918+. Quad-core CPU capable of transcoding 4K video. Desktop unit with 4 bays. Option for addition SSD caching, which it shouldn’t need, but it’s there if you want it. Very happy with mine. (FYI, to decode Synology’s model naming convention, the last two digits represent the initial market year.)
That is bad advice, The OP stated he wan’t 4K and wants to support 5 users streaming. You looking at a Core i7 or Xeon.
I am not trying to be mean here I am just trying to prevent the OP from purchasing the wrong hardware and educate on whats needed for the use case. Plex has documented and recommend a CPU PassMark score of 2000 for each 1080 stream that needs real-time trans-coding, The DS918+ only has a score of 2159 so on paper it will do one 1080 stream. I don’t know what Plex recommends for 4K but it will need a higher score. As you can see the DS918+ is not going to work for the OP.
May I request we keep the discussion to the Pros & Cons of particular products and not start pointing fingers at the particular advice given unless it is factually wrong (with reference) ? If & when an error is made, I ask for objective, proactive, ‘points of order’ to highlight the error.
Thanks.
@ChuckPA and @Kabeyun,
I am sorry, I mean no harm in my post. Just trying to make my point and save someone from purchasing the wrong hardware.
Just started to look at NAS options for my plex needs.
I’m convinced that QNAP has better hardware, but I’m curious to know more about the Synology DS918+.
@Kabeyun could you provide more information regarding your plex server? How many users does it serve? Where are these users located (all in one country or?) What’s the average concurrent streams your plex server can handle? Or any other reasons that convinced you that the DS918+ was the best option for your needs.
Thanks.
I was conducting testing of a PMS update last night which I hope provides additional metric to others.
The TVS-1282 (i7-6700 flavor, 32 GB) was performing HW transcoding of 4K (2160p) SDR and playing on 1080p H.264 clients.
The interesting point here is:
Of course YMMV but this is a SkyLake GPU. The Synology x18 series NAS systems have the (better) ApolloLake GPU.
CPU utilization be higher because of audio transcoding but video transcoding should equally “not be a factor”.
I hope this information is beneficial.
@RayIT said:
@Kabeyun said:
Dantech, if you haven’t picked up your NAS yet, I recommend the Synology DS918+. Quad-core CPU capable of transcoding 4K video. Desktop unit with 4 bays. Option for addition SSD caching, which it shouldn’t need, but it’s there if you want it. Very happy with mine. (FYI, to decode Synology’s model naming convention, the last two digits represent the initial market year.)That is bad advice, The OP stated he wan’t 4K and wants to support 5 users streaming. You looking at a Core i7 or Xeon.
I am not trying to be mean here I am just trying to prevent the OP from purchasing the wrong hardware and educate on whats needed for the use case. Plex has documented and recommend a CPU PassMark score of 2000 for each 1080 stream that needs real-time trans-coding, The DS918+ only has a score of 2159 so on paper it will do one 1080 stream. I don’t know what Plex recommends for 4K but it will need a higher score. As you can see the DS918+ is not going to work for the OP.
to be sure, the little j3455 won’t support five 1080p streams, even in hardware, but what I find interesting in my research is qnap’s own recommendation to challenge the assumption that streams require software transcoding, and to utilize the integrated graphics subsystem of the j3455. that is, the 2000 passmark score “per stream” applies when the onboard integrated graphics subsystem is not utilized. what qnap is telling me (sales phone line) is to buy the $120 lifetime plex pass and then the j3455 will transcode four 1080p streams or one 4k stream. in hardware.
since I’m early in the learning curve, it’s not clear to me what conditions (using plex pass) would require software transcoding. what is getting clearer to me is that the 918+ (or other j3455 based nas such as the qnap 453b) is closer to meeting the OP’s needs than at least I originally thought, and that such a device should work for a great many home/soho situations at an attractive price point. in order to meet the original requirement set, it seems one needs to find a graphics subsystem capable of two 4k streams in hardware, using plex pass, or am I missing something?
If your tech savvy that old pc in your closet with the 2500k will be light years faster then most of the pre-built NAS solutions. Don’t waste your money. If your not tech savvy then a pre-built NAS is okay but don’t expect multiple streams unless you’re dropping big bucks. You’re paying for the convenience mostly.
The key here is trying to make sure that your media doesn’t require transcoding to be played for the most part as has been said elsewhere. I use the nvidia shield for the client and it’s working well. Even my 7 year old nas with atom processor could do this, however, when streaming to my ipad requiring transcoding, it would hose. The 918+ now has become my overall server over the nvidia shield PMS.
the other side of the key appears to be hardware transcoding. if the processors own graphics subsystem can do it, then a 10,000 passmark score is Irrelevant. if you can live within those limitations
@RayIT, no offense taken.
@RayIT & @ChuckPA , the thread’s titled “Best Synology NAS” (which led to my recommendation) but yes, I also understand QNAP devices can have more processing power. Having said that, although the OP wants 5-stream support, I don’t know that all 5 streams would be 4K, and if they would, if all 5 streams will be 4K transcodes. I think for home use with some family and friends that scenario will be unlikely, at least these days. That will of course change as screens and content continue the creep towards silly levels of pixel density (and of course, future NAS products have CPUs that can increasingly do faster math). I was very pleased when Sinology released the 918+ with a quad-core CPU with native 64-bit architecture scalability options and it’s a fantastic piece of kit, but no, it isn’t an i7. I also think DSM is a friendlier UI for those of us who know a bit but aren’t deep tinkerers, and I’ve personally found Sinology units really easy to set up and manage, a consideration not to be neglected especially it things get a little wonky. And we haven’t yet touched Sinology rack mount products, which it another thread I suppose.
@Dantech_IT , unfortunately I have no idea how many simultaneous transcodes my 918+ has managed in the few months I’ve been running it. FWIW, I’ve got two other family members and nine friends sharing my libraries, all in the L48US. I doubt I’ve served more than three simultaneously and know for a fact that only two friends have 4K TVs. I’m sure I’ve served two simultaneous 1080p and a two high-bandwidth WiFi-connected mobile devices without a sweat. If a. your use case is very likely to demand multiple 4K streams, or 2. you want to go nuts in Futureproofville, you are probably better off buying the NAS with the beefiest CPU you can possibly find, and it sounds like QNAP has the edge here. Lots of debate as to how much that edge is necessary though.
Strange you should mention 4K -> 1080p transcoding. >:)
I was doing some regression testing the other night. 6 streams, 4K HEVC SDR -> 1080p with 7.1 HD audio -> 5.1 & 2.0 . The QNAP did not notice the load (i7-6700) I’m not convinced a Synology J3455 almost can do the same but not 100% confident. Video is not the concern. Audio is the concern. The J3455 will run out of CPU very quickly compared to an i3/i5/i7 class QNAP
