I currently have an Intel NUC Server (i5-7260U, 8GB RAM) with Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, NZBGet, etc. on it - I’m happy with it, I’m pretty good with Windows, and the setup works fine.
I have a WD MyCloud Mirror Gen 2 NAS (WDBWVZ0160JWT-NESN) for storage where the actual library files are stored. It’s been a pain in the ass since I got it, but I got it for really cheap from Amazon. I’m looking to replace it. (You’re unable to plug it into a device and “mount” it.)
The Synology 218+/718+/918+ servers seem highly recommended, so I’m looking at those, but I’m open to anything.
A few questions:
Will I be able to take the two 8TB Hard Drives from the MyCloud and plug them into the Synology and keep my Plex library?
If I get one, do I even need the NUC Server anymore?
On the reverse, If I do keep the NUC, do I need the 218+/718+/918+, or should I get something else? It doesn’t have to be a Synology product.
If this is your primary pain point with your WD NAS a Synology NAS isn’t going to improve your experience as, to my knowledge, they do not support direct attached storage options for their devices either. If you’d like the other benefits of a NAS (multiple drives in a single enclosure, data resiliency, relatively simple storage configuration) and you also want to be able to connect it to your server via USB or Thunderbolt, a QNAP NAS may be a better option:
As to your questions:
You can move the drives to the new NAS, but they’ll have to be reconfigured (read erased and likely reformatted) to work there. So you’ll need to temporarily store the data elsewhere if you need to save it. You have backups, right?
Plex Media Server can be run on many NAS devices (see here for details). Whether or not you want to do so depends on your goals. Your existing NUC has a more capable CPU and more RAM than comes standard on most NAS devices and is, in my opinion, a better choice as a Plex Media Server. It seems like you’re happy with it too.
This goes back to your goals for your storage solution. NAS devices are a great for providing centralized storage for multiple devices and when data resiliency is needed. But if your primary goal is to have storage which you can connect directly to your server, Synology devices likely won’t be a good fit. See the QNAP page I linked above. There are other manufactures who support direct attached storage (DAS) devices as well.
So, what are your goals for the new device, whatever it ends up being? Other than not being able to directly connect your WD NAS to your server and mount it, what other problems are you trying to solve with the new device?
Get a Syno or QNAP (ARMv8 CPU) and use it as the storage.
Get a couple drives to start so you can empty the WD across the LAN to it.
Setup the NAS , let it make the RAID volume (takes longer on Syno than QNAP)
Create shared folders for your media
Start copying.
Map the new network shared folders to your Windows PMS.
ADD the shared folders to their mates (so you have what looks like duplicates in PMS).
Let PMS find everything and actually declare as duplicate
After everything is added and you’ve double checked,
Edit your media library section again and remove the mapped locations for the WD.
Everything will now have migrated to the new NAS and retained your watched history/status.
If you want to shuck the drives out and use for cold storage, great.
Without knowing whether or not they are NAS-rated drives, I wouldn’t put them in a real NAS.
A lot of those WD style boxes are meant for extremely light duty. A real NAS with a RAID volume is heavy duty (24/7/365 uptime)
As for selection, you have 2 bays now. You’ll want 3 or more bays as you now are moving up in device performance class.
Thank you so much for your helpful response. You answered most of my questions. DAS and NAS are new terms to me.
The MyCloud has a very slow web interface. Sometimes it times out. I’m also having issues with saving files from the NUC to the NAS.
I do like being able to save and access the NAS from other devices on my network, so I think I’ll keep the NUC and look for the best NAS/DAS hybrid device.
Is the TS-453BT3 from Qnap better than what you linked, because it has Thunderbolt 3 capabilities? Or will the USB 3.0 be fine for my needs?
I also have an i5 NUC (the next model after yours) as my server and it is just great for my needs. I have about 20 users but rarely have more than 4 on at once.
My data is stored on a QNAP TS413 (or is it 431, I’m not at home and working from memory) NAS with 4 x 4TB WD-Red HDDs in a raid configuration to give me 12TB of total storage. I do regular backups onto 3 x 4TB USB drives, that I store off site.
This NAS unit is at the lower end of the QNAP range, it can run Plex but cannot transcode so is very limiting. As simple storage only device it cannot be faulted.
as others have said, your NUC is a great little server, your best option is to get a proper NUC (I would recommend at least 4 bays) but you don’t need to spend up on the top level units.
I run a group of NUCs,
four dedicated to PMS for users… and one as a test unit. others for various services…
All connected via ethernet to three Synology NAS units, 1815+, 1817+, 1819+
First two fully populated. third getting there…
can’t be happier with the way things work,
All the PMS NUCs see the same media on the NAS units, media types are mixed on them.
Only issue I have to deal with is keeping the PMS database on each of the units the same, wish they would share a database and metadata. not much one can do about that. Also the database and metadata has grown so large I have to find a way to move that information to a larger storage unit.
If you have no need for transcoding, ex your media files are all blu ray H264 you can shuck the drives and plug them directly into your NuC via externally powered USB adapters and call it a day. It won’t look pretty but it doesn’t matter if its just sitting in your basement next to a router.
EDIT- FYI this will void your WD warranty if any is left on it.
I just downgraded to my RPi3b+ from my way overpowered windows dev server via WD easystore as my storage and have had really no issues. You just have to make sure to use CAT6 from router to PMS device and you should be good for streaming anything on 5Ghz wifi if you DIRECT PLAY movies. If your lucky you can cat6 from router to TV as well.
