Hello! I’ve been using PLEX for quite a while and have a lifetime Plex Pass. Recently I’ve been considering setting up a NAS to hold my server/library. My current setup is:
Windows PC (circa 2013 with an Intel i7-4770, 24GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 635)
Currently serving from that PC’s SSD
Common clients are Xbox One S, Sony Smart TV, or mobile app then Chromecasted to TV
Don’t often have remote viewing of the library, just occasionally
One gripe has been that if the computer has gone to sleep I or a family member have to run up to the computer and get it turned on to use PLEX. Minor, but still annoying. My other concern is that I think I’d prefer just having a larger NAS set up separately from the computer to house as many movies/shows as I’d like and not worry about the space.
The last gripe is that occasionally when I’ve tried to stream some higher level content (something downloaded as 4K, occasionally 1080p) it won’t play in what seems to be the best looking resolution. Not sure if that’s a transcoding issue or what. Still don’t know that well enough to confidently say if that work is being done by the computer, the Xbox/SmartTV/Phone, or if I have settings even set up properly on all ends.
I’ve been considering getting a Synology (or other) NAS hoping it can alleviate all of these concerns. My hope is that in this post I can get the right directions to know if this is even a wise path for me.
I’m assuming I’d get the NAS, load it up with drives, attach it to my router. Then I’d set it up as my server, load the libraries, and should be good to go. Is it that simple? Will this actually help me with my issues? Are there other routes I should consider?
Thanks in advance for anyone that can help me out here!!
Thanks for the feedback. Truthfully, I’m not sure if the issue I experienced was transcoding or not, I’m certainly not as educated as I’m sure most are on these forums about exactly how it all works.
I guess my question is this: when thinking about transcoding (and the ultimate appearance of the movie on the screen) is that work primarily done where the server resides (in this case my PC) or is that dependent upon the device I’m using (say the Xbox One S)? Also, how do I know if something is direct playing vs. transcoding?
It could be that using this PC is actually fine and I just need to bump up the storage, or need to adjust my settings, or something along those lines. If that’s the case, then changing those power settings you mentioned might be fine. I guess I just need to figure out what’s what.
As for storage space right now I have less than 1 TB of video files, and if I need to buy some more drives, that’s no big deal (obviously this was under consideration with the NAS anyway) But it isn’t like I need to go to 4 bays with 4 GB or anything like that.
Let me know any other info I can provide to help figure this out, and again thank you VERY MUCH for the help!
Thank you for all of this! I’ve made the power setting changes you recommended. For the different devices I’m using to play my PLEX content, are there settings I should set up on either the PLEX Media Server or on the individual clients to maximize things?
As a reminder, I’m primarily using an XBox One S, the PLEX app on a Sony Smart TV, and then Chomecasting from a Pixel phone to a TV via first-gen Chromecast stick.
