@KarlDag said:
Depending on your usage, a Nvidia shield pro could be a very good solution for a Plex Media server under 300$. With its HW it can transcodes 3-4 file at once. Just look at the support documents for its limitations.
D’oh. Hadn’t thought of that…Awesome idea
EDIT… But check up on USB ports. Just googled it and it seems to be 2 x USB3.0 and 1 x USB2.0.
I would have no idea if you would be able to get any port multiplying going on?
Thanks gentlemen,
I will read up on the Nvidia shield pro
@KarlDag said:
Depending on your usage, a Nvidia shield pro could be a very good solution for a Plex Media server under 300$. With its HW it can transcodes 3-4 file at once. Just look at the support documents for its limitations.
D’oh. Hadn’t thought of that…Awesome idea
I’m just a bit unsure about his storage… can the shield support 4 HDD on a USB hub? Not sure about that.
EDIT I guess he could just share the storage from his PC. That’s actually how I tested my own Shield’s server.
Assuming I can use my current Anker hub to connect my external hard drives, will I still be able to write data to them? Will my computer see them as individual drives like it does now? Am I merely reframing the same question you asked? o:)
Ignoring the router info, here is what an amazon reviewer wrote:
It functions as a PLEX server using my USB hard drive which is connected to my router and set up as an NAS. For those looking to use an external hard drive with it, unless you format the hard drive as a system drive, you cannot move media over form a computer through the network to the external drive connected to the Shield. It’s not an Nvidia problem, its an android problem apparently. I just connected to my router and set it up that way.
I picked up a Dell XPS (specs below) at Best Buy for $700 last year. It handles Plex wonderfully, and that’s really the only thing it does. It sits in a corner patiently waiting for requests. It’s also connected to my big TV, so it could run double duty as a Home Theater PC, but I don’t really use it much that way.
I have a cheap old PC that runs on a VPN that I use for downloading perfectly legal things that nobody should ever question. It wouldn’t be a loss if it went down.
Third, I have my desktop PC that I use for everything else. It’s my hub, that I use to manage Plex, do regular work, checkbook, Photoshop… etc.
Storage… You really can’t beat a NAS, which can grow with you over time. Technically I have 4 multibay boxes at the moment, the fastest of which houses all things Plex.
There are a thousand ways to accomplish what you want to do. You just need to make something to fit your needs within your budget.
Thanks for sharing your setup Rando. It helps me learn. Think of my brain like a dial-up modem that just keeps churning while it tries to get on the internet. It’s slow, but it will eventually connect.
I’ve been trying to do everything you do with just one notebook. I WISH I had the foresight to invest in a NAS when I started. It seems too costly now since I only need 16TB more of storage to meet my current and future needs. (The one thing I can attest to, as an expert, yes, it is legal to download and keep copies of media you have rightful access to.)
Since I still need to buy $400 in external storage, I have about another $1000 to play around with. If a Nividia will meet my needs for $300, that would be sweet.
A NAS is a big investment up front. I spent a pretty penny on the smaller Drobo in the picture… but it’s also got two open bays in it. By the time I need something there, drive prices will have dropped and I can just pop them in. It’s a big investment up front, but when she’s full and done the cost will have leveled out. That whole setup (and I overdid it, by throwing in the SSD accellerator) cost around $1,400. It’s got 16tb of (RAID duplicated) space as it currently sits with 3 8tb drives in it. The box was $500, and each drive was around $275, all Amazon. One of the drives can fail and I shouldn’t lose anything as long as I replace it quickly.
Everyone has their preferred brand and setup for NAS. The point is if you get into RAID and the like, you can achieve backing up your data without needing double the space. It spreads out the info on the multiple drives, and the space savings starts with 3 drives as then it can spread it out 2x across the 3.
Drobo has a pretty cool drive calculator to show how it all works: http://www.drobo.com/storage-products/capacity-calculator/
If you’re running RAID 5 (single drive failure) on any NAS, then the calculations and science should hold nearly true for any brand you buy.
It sounds like you could benefit in the long run for looking at some of these options.
@KarlDag said:
Depending on your usage, a Nvidia shield pro could be a very good solution for a Plex Media server under 300$. With its HW it can transcodes 3-4 file at once. Just look at the support documents for its limitations.
D’oh. Hadn’t thought of that…Awesome idea
I’m just a bit unsure about his storage… can the shield support 4 HDD on a USB hub? Not sure about that.
EDIT I guess he could just share the storage from his PC. That’s actually how I tested my own Shield’s server.
Assuming I can use my current Anker hub to connect my external hard drives, will I still be able to write data to them? Will my computer see them as individual drives like it does now? Am I merely reframing the same question you asked? o:)
Ignoring the router info, here is what an amazon reviewer wrote:
It functions as a PLEX server using my USB hard drive which is connected to my router and set up as an NAS. For those looking to use an external hard drive with it, unless you format the hard drive as a system drive, you cannot move media over form a computer through the network to the external drive connected to the Shield. It’s not an Nvidia problem, its an android problem apparently. I just connected to my router and set it up that way.
Another Amazon reviewer said I cannot write to the external drives:
_Bought 100% to play 4K movies on Plex. What a complete POS and waste of my time. Bought the 500GB Pro. WTF if you add an external drive and keep it as a removable drive it is READ ONLY!!! Yes you read that correctly and this is backed up with Nvidia customer support. They actually suggested as a real solution that I just move the drive to my office PC every time I want to add a file!!! _
You can’t. But you shouldn’t have to. Leave the hard drives on your PC, and point the Shield Plex Server to them over the network (samba share). You can still do all your ripping and downloading on the PC, Plex will do the transcoding stuff on the Shield.
@KarlDag said:
You can’t. But you shouldn’t have to. Leave the hard drives on your PC, and point the Shield Plex Server to them over the network (samba share). You can still do all your ripping and downloading on the PC, Plex will do the transcoding stuff on the Shield.
Rando, Thanks for explaining that one does not need to have double storage on a NAS. I’m sure you are right about that setup being best long-term and I’m jealous of your system. However, the ease and low price of the Nvidia has drawn me in. (I can use the extra money towards an OLED TV I want in some distant future. )
I think what is being missed in the suggestions is you DON’T have a PC to connect the drives to, to even map them in the first place. Doing it with the laptop will always be messy.
The drawbacks you discovered with using that Anker hub is a real pity. The shield would have been a great option.
@HitsVille said:
I think what is being missed in the suggestions is you DON’T have a PC to connect the drives to, to even map them in the first place. Doing it with the laptop will always be messy.
The drawbacks you discovered with using that Anker hub is a real pity. The shield would have been a great option.
Also to add… I have several NAS devices, none of which run Plex. They are purely storage. As @Xhaka states, each device, no matter how many drives it has behaves as a single source.
Instead of selecting a drive, you just point the path to the network folder.
It’s also nice to have my drives in a back room, and out of sight… with the router and the spiderweb of cables I have.
@HitsVille said:
I think what is being missed in the suggestions is you DON’T have a PC to connect the drives to, to even map them in the first place. Doing it with the laptop will always be messy.
The drawbacks you discovered with using that Anker hub is a real pity. The shield would have been a great option.
I didn’t miss it. Messy? Sure. But that’s his setup right now, so it doesn’t seem to bother him so much… The Shield would simply give him more horsepower for very cheap. Of course there are plenty of alternatives, depends on his needs and budget.
@HitsVille said:
I think what is being missed in the suggestions is you DON’T have a PC to connect the drives to, to even map them in the first place. Doing it with the laptop will always be messy.
The drawbacks you discovered with using that Anker hub is a real pity. The shield would have been a great option.
I didn’t miss it. Messy? Sure. But that’s his setup right now, so it doesn’t seem to bother him so much… The Shield would simply give him more horsepower for very cheap. Of course there are plenty of alternatives, depends on his needs and budget.
Agreed but @UnicornWasher mentions imminent plans to add more drives. So messy will just get worse via a laptop.
However I’m clearly missing something here. In these days or hardware transcoding… why the need for the shield. If the setup still relies on a laptop (with more than capable CPU) with lots of USB drives hanging out of it how does the shield become an “upgrade”? There are plently of drawbacks with Kelly’s current setup.
Horsepower isn’t one of them as far as I can see.
@HitsVille said:
I think what is being missed in the suggestions is you DON’T have a PC to connect the drives to, to even map them in the first place. Doing it with the laptop will always be messy.
The drawbacks you discovered with using that Anker hub is a real pity. The shield would have been a great option.
I didn’t miss it. Messy? Sure. But that’s his setup right now, so it doesn’t seem to bother him so much… The Shield would simply give him more horsepower for very cheap. Of course there are plenty of alternatives, depends on his needs and budget.
Agreed but @UnicornWasher mentions imminent plans to add more drives. So messy will just get worse via a laptop.
However I’m clearly missing something here. In these days or hardware transcoding… why the need for the shield. If the setup still relies on a laptop (with more than capable CPU) with lots of USB drives hanging out of it how does the shield become an “upgrade”? There are plently of drawbacks with Kelly’s current setup.
Horsepower isn’t one of them as far as I can see.
To be quite honest I’m getting confused as to the point of this thread
I guess my point was that the ShieldTV would act as a Plex Server and free up his laptop’s CPU to use PlayOn and whatever else tasks he does on it that cause Plex to stutter. Also, the Shield has 10bit HEVC HW acceleration support, so he could start using that format and reduce his file size, lowering storage requirements.
@AmazingRando24 said:
Also to add… I have several NAS devices, none of which run Plex. They are purely storage. As @Xhaka states, each device, no matter how many drives it has behaves as a single source.
Instead of selecting a drive, you just point the path to the network folder.
It’s also nice to have my drives in a back room, and out of sight… with the router and the spiderweb of cables I have.
LOL, I “try” to hide all my cables behind furniture. You and @Xhaka make a compelling argument for NAS. It is almost ridiculous how many external drives I have. I just lacked foresight and I had no idea I would ever need so much storage. Right now, it is just the matter of biting the bullet for the initial investment for the long-term gain.
(I see you have Philips Hue. I LOVE my lights. <3 )
(The one thing I can attest to, as an expert, yes, it is legal to download and keep copies of media you have rightful access to.)
