Hello, i have built a HTPC with a kind of strange storage setup. The specs is intel core i5 4440, 8gb ram, 500w psu and a single 8tb disk, a 2tb disk, a 1tb disk and a 60GB ssd disk for windows. I really regret buying a 8tb disk since its making way to much noice. If i were to upgrade my storage, should i just go for 4x 4tb WD red disk´s? If so is there anyway i can Raid them? my motherboard doesn’t support raid, so it has to be a software raid. I also prefer using windows 
Also i am wondering if i would be able to transcode 4k to a single device with intel core i5 4460, 8gb ram. Or should it be able to play direct to my samsung UHD 4k tv?
@trumpy81 said:
Going with 4 x 4TB WD Red would be the way to go, if you are not happy with the 8TB drive.Do you have the 8TB properly isolated from the mounts?
If you isolate the drive from the mount that will quieten it down for sure. I’m not sure by how much though, but worth doing if you want to save some money.
Are you sure your MB doesn’t support RAID? You most likely have to turn RAID on in the BIOS. Your Users Manual should have details on where to find the appropriate option in the BIOS and it should also show which SATA connectors to use.
As for 4K transcoding, most likely not, at least it wont be fast enough for use with Plex. In order to Direct Play 4K on your Samsung, you will have to make sure the file is compatible with the TV and it’s format requirements. Your Samsung may or may not support HEVC (H.265) so you will need to check your Samsung Users Manual or website.
If in doubt, then make sure the 4K video is using H.264 and try to choose a 2 channel audio track. Your Samsung is not going to play multi-channel audio unless you have a multi-channel receiver in the mix and even then, it may still require transcoding.
The i5 should be able to handle audio transcoding though.
Support Home | Official Samsung Support US My TV is supporting this specs. Pretty sure my motherboard dosent support raid , its a cheap 1150 MSI motherboard. Also according to MSI website, the motherboard dosent support it.
Check out unRaid, seems like it might suit your needs…
@trumpy81 said:
If the MB doesn’t support RAID, you could add a PCIe RAID card, but that may get expensive. It might be cheaper to swap MB’s to one that supports RAID, although TBH, built-in RAID is not that great, it can be difficult to rebuild the RAID if a drive fails.A 4 Bay NAS would be better, storage wise. Most 4 Bay NAS will run Plex and support RAID of course, but you will not be able to transcode on most of them unless you want to spend a lot of money and even then transcoding is not guaranteed.
An inexpensive 4 Bay NAS together with your current PC should work well together with Plex on the PC and your files on the NAS. Your PC should give you two transcoded 1080p streams simultaneously, but may struggle with 4K transcoding.
Your Samsung should support H.265 (HEVC) and 4K, but that does not necessarily mean it will support them via Plex I’m afraid. There are some Samsung models that support 4K but refuse to playback H.265 @ 4K, I’m not entirely sure why, it may have something to do with the Plex app which is developed by a third party, Rene (orca) van Osta.
You can check that out in the Samsung TV forum though: https://forums.plex.tv/categories/samsung-smart-hub
Rene is a regular visitor to the above forum.
Ye, i donated to orca yesterday. I have been looking on eBay for a used raid card, but i am unsure hos stable those cards. The best way for me is to make a nas out of my specs, since it will probebly be a strong nas when it comes to transcoding. Also if i decide to stick with Windows, should i upgrade to 16gb ram for 24/7 running? I Also transcoding the files on a harddrive, should i rather have both Plex and the transcoding on an ssd? I have a 240gb laying around, but is it worth the hours it take too re install Windows and set up plex again.
And last question. Windows 7 or windows 10 for 24/7 running plex?
@Neodude said:
Check out unRaid, seems like it might suit your needs…
@Neodude said:
Check out unRaid, seems like it might suit your needs…
Have been reading a bit, but haven’t really made up a conclusion for What is it yet. Could you give me a short sunmary?
Basically it allows you to use a bunch of HDDs as storage with a parity disk providing protection. Doesn’t require RAID controllers at all (as it’s not really RAID). It does so much more too. There’s loads of addons and plugins available too which make the system very versatile. Here’s the main dash view of my setup, gives you a good idea of what is possible…
This is a good write up too…
http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID_6/Overview#Parity-Protected_Array
@Neodude said:
Basically it allows you to use a bunch of HDDs as storage with a parity disk providing protection. Doesn’t require RAID controllers at all (as it’s not really RAID). It does so much more too. There’s loads of addons and plugins available too which make the system very versatile. Here’s the main dash view of my setup, gives you a good idea of what is possible…
looks really Nice, but i guess i need clean disks to set it up? Or if not unraid will wipe them? Currently have 11tb of Storage which is filled up. Also i dont drown in sata outputs, so it might need some planning.
Also is there any performance gain when using unraid? In form of read/write speed? Last but not least, how does the program handle a dead/dying disk?
Thank you all for much hjelp so far. Many people are giving up on htpcs in 2016, but il rather make the best of it. I love trying different configs and getting the most performance out of my current setup. Also a lot of fun involved in setting up a system like this, especially if it works with no stutter or lagg at all 24/7
@trumpy81 said:
@dent^ said:
Ye, i donated to orca yesterday. I have been looking on eBay for a used raid card, but i am unsure hos stable those cards. The best way for me is to make a nas out of my specs, since it will probebly be a strong nas when it comes to transcoding. Also if i decide to stick with Windows, should i upgrade to 16gb ram for 24/7 running? I Also transcoding the files on a harddrive, should i rather have both Plex and the transcoding on an ssd? I have a 240gb laying around, but is it worth the hours it take too re install Windows and set up plex again.And last question. Windows 7 or windows 10 for 24/7 running plex?
How stable a RAID card is depends on the RAID card. Most are quite stable though.
Plex does NOT require a lot of RAM, you can add it if you wish, but it wont help where Plex is concerned.
If you have an SSD laying around then put it to use. It’s not going to make much difference, but it certainly cannot hurt. Use it for the OS only though and not for storage.
If you want to stay up to date, then Win 10. You can certainly run Win 7 if you wish.
If you are thinking about turning the PC into a NAS, then consider using XPEnology which is Synology DSM for a PC. Synology being a manufacturer of real NAS.
If you go with unRAID then you should bone up on your Linux skills … :))
Linux skills… have only used it a few times on school. Is it possible to run unraid on Windows 10? Regarding Linux, i have only been messing around with hirens CD. If i remember correctly we were using somthing called “ghost” to do some backup. So i can’t really say that i have a good Linux background…
@trumpy81 said:
unRAID uses Linux the same as DSM, both are OS’s, like Windows. You do not use Windows at all if you are running either unRAID or XPEnology.Note: You will need another computer with a browser to access either NAS OS. You will not be able to use your current PC, as a PC, after you convert it to a NAS.
Ah i See, What Linux should i run? Also from What i have heard it light be a bit strugle with drivers etc on Linux?
@trumpy81 said:
No, you are NOT getting the picture here. unRAID and DSM are built using Linux, so they ARE Linux. Everything you need comes with unRAID or XPEnology, that is all that you install on your system drive, nothing else.And like I said, once you have installed unRAID or XPEnology, you can then only access them by using a browser on another computer, they do not have an interface like Windows does, you can only access their interface using a browser on another computer.
TBH, I think you should stick with what you know and that is Windows. Setting up and using either unRAID or DSM can be daunting to say the least and if you don’t have an understanding of Linux and computers in general, you might run into some major hurdles along the way.
I do recommend that you look into buying a NAS for your storage needs though. I am biased towards the Synology range, but any reputable brand would suffice. QNAP and Netgear both offer some nice models.
Running PMS on your PC and using a NAS is probably the best way for you to go. You can start with a 2 Bay NAS if you prefer, but I would recommend a 4 Bay if you are going to ‘collect’ and keep a lot of Movies and TV Shows etc…
I personally have an 8 Bay NAS, but I only have 6000 Movies and 133 TV Shows (about 10000 episodes) and the NAS, with 8 x 4TB HDD’s is about 2/3rds full, just to give you some idea how things can get out of hand :))
okey i see, so i need to configure it remote. I want less devices, so if i could make a two in one box. Plex media server and NAS. Also i am trying to be a bit future proof regarding the windows 10 HDR support with nvidia pascal graphic cards. As for now the encryption on 4k blu ray is still working, but as we all know someone is going to crack it. And if plex doesn’t support 4k HDR through orca´s app on samsung 2015 models(or does it :)?). I would like to rather use the PC instead. Tired of buying new devices all the time. Thats why i would like to use the PC for what its worth.
@trumpy81 said:
Note: You will need another computer with a browser to access either NAS OS. You will not be able to use your current PC, as a PC, after you convert it to a NAS.
On the contrary, I’m posting this from Windows 10 which is running on the same machine as unRAID. I also have OSX running. Both running as Virtual Machines within unRAID, both with their own dedicated Graphics Card and USB Card.
From my one box, I run Windows 10, OSX, Ubuntu, Plex Server, Couch Potato, Sonarr, NZBget, Deluge, Crashplan and lots more. I can play games on my Win10 VM while the wife does college work on the OSX VM, at the same time as Plex is serving media around the house.
…although, I did spend 4 grand on it 
Also, the latest version of unRAID allows the standard Web Interface to be shown in the console.
@trumpy81 said:
@Dent^ OK, so what you need is to swap the MB for one that supports RAID or you can simply forget about RAID and just make sure you back things up.
Not sure you meant this how it came across so I just want to clarify for @dent^ , but having a backup is far more important than having a RAID setup. RAID can be a great thing, but having a backup as well (or instead of) is far more important.
Also, software RAID on your motherboard is crap (barely a step up from the “RAID” that is built into Windows). Go with a good backup of your data until you can save up for a decent RAID card and add more drives.
@adamskoog said:
@trumpy81 said:
@Dent^ OK, so what you need is to swap the MB for one that supports RAID or you can simply forget about RAID and just make sure you back things up.Not sure you meant this how it came across so I just want to clarify for @dent^ , but having a backup is far more important than having a RAID setup. RAID can be a great thing, but having a backup as well (or instead of) is far more important.
Also, software RAID on your motherboard is crap (barely a step up from the “RAID” that is built into Windows). Go with a good backup of your data until you can save up for a decent RAID card and add more drives.
having a backup for 11tb growing will be f… expensive, but il see what i can do. I have seen some enterprise raid cards on eBay that can we flashed with custom firmware/consumer firmware is that something to go for?
A fast ninja question. Does anyone know if plex supports HDR?.
@Neodude said:
Basically it allows you to use a bunch of HDDs as storage with a parity disk providing protection. Doesn’t require RAID controllers at all (as it’s not really RAID). It does so much more too. There’s loads of addons and plugins available too which make the system very versatile. Here’s the main dash view of my setup, gives you a good idea of what is possible…
One question, if i lets say have 6 data ports. 1 goes for SSD, the 4 others goes for storage, will it me possible to add a fifth drive without wiping the other 4 which are in raid?
@dent^ said:
having a backup for 11tb growing will be f… expensive, but il see what i can do. I have seen some enterprise raid cards on eBay that can we flashed with custom firmware/consumer firmware is that something to go for?
As I said, do the backup before RAID, if it’s the difference between a RAID setup and a straight copy backup, do the backup. RAID is NOT backup. I really can’t emphasize this enough. A power outage and not having your machine shutdown properly, thus corrupting the RAID array will make you wish you had backups really fast.
RAID is a protection against downtime if you have a high uptime requirement, it does a good job, but there are many ways that it can fail and leave you stranded.
My backups go to my cheaper drives (mostly the green drives), since storage access speed isn’t a high priority and they sit spun down unless there is an active backup. Hopefully you figure out the right way to go that works for you, but after 10+ years in IT and dealing with issues like this I’ve put my backup first and not bothered with a RAID setup yet since uptime is not that big of a priority versus the cost that I would have to expend up front to do that on top of having a good backup of my data.
@dent^ said:
One question, if i lets say have 6 data ports. 1 goes for SSD, the 4 others goes for storage, will it me possible to add a fifth drive without wiping the other 4 which are in raid?
Absolutely, because there is no RAID. One (or 2) of your HDDs are designated as parity and it’s these that provide the protection. You can add as many data drives as you want after that. 1 Parity drive will provide protection for a single drive failure, 2 parity drives will provide protection for 2 drive failures. Also, because it’s not RAID, if you DO lose a drive only the data on that particular drive is lost.
@adamskoog said:
@dent^ said:
having a backup for 11tb growing will be f… expensive, but il see what i can do. I have seen some enterprise raid cards on eBay that can we flashed with custom firmware/consumer firmware is that something to go for?As I said, do the backup before RAID, if it’s the difference between a RAID setup and a straight copy backup, do the backup. RAID is NOT backup. I really can’t emphasize this enough. A power outage and not having your machine shutdown properly, thus corrupting the RAID array will make you wish you had backups really fast.
RAID is a protection against downtime if you have a high uptime requirement, it does a good job, but there are many ways that it can fail and leave you stranded.
My backups go to my cheaper drives (mostly the green drives), since storage access speed isn’t a high priority and they sit spun down unless there is an active backup. Hopefully you figure out the right way to go that works for you, but after 10+ years in IT and dealing with issues like this I’ve put my backup first and not bothered with a RAID setup yet since uptime is not that big of a priority versus the cost that I would have to expend up front to do that on top of having a good backup of my data.
I have been reading a bit now and i might have made up a conclusion. If everything goes well this weekend regarding direct playback on my tv etc. I will ditch windows and install linux or something. Also i thought about going for this raid card (i might be able to pick one off cheap) https://www.amazon.com/LSI-SAS9220-8i-PCI-Express-Controller-46C8933/dp/B00DV5AY2U
Lets say i run 5 drives in Raid 5. If one drive fail, and i exchange it will my raid start building up again without any loss? or am i being wrong? Would love some inputs on these thoughts 
The RAID-5 disk drive array is one of the most prevalent means of providing mass data storage within a fault tolerant repository. In short, this means that if any member of the array, that is, any one of the hard disk drives in the array suffers a complete failure, no data is lost: the drive failure has been “tolerated” (the RAID-5 becomes degraded to RAID-0). Other expressions for “fault tolerant” common within this context are "enhanced data
Or maybe i should go for raid 5 in Windows 10?
Seems pretty easy, not much performance gain, but seems more stable than an old raid card that can die.
https://www.pcsteps.com/738-software-raid-windows-storage-pools/#How_to_rebuild_the_software_RAID_5
