The reason i open this topic is because i have a notebook (Acer i5 3rd gen with 6 GB RAM and SSD 520 GB) as plex server (latest version) but i wonder if it´s better to change to a 4-bay NAS Drive.
Also i don´t know anything about RAID so just want to know what model is easy and the best price/benefit . I already have the HD 4x 4 GB WD Red só i only need the NAS device.
Which one do you guys recommend for PLEX? Good one with afforrdable price?
Be careful with NAS boxes, they tend to be expensive and proprietary. Most of the NAS boxes have a proprietary software running their version of RAID controller; on which you get a 1 Yr warranty. If their NAS fails after the 1 Yr, your data will be locked, for which the manufacture will gladly assist you for a FEE. A better option would be to go with an open source version of software raid, such as can be found on Ubuntu.
There are several version of RAID, with all of them coming with some storage cost or compromise on drive speed. Personally I favor RAID-5, which takes a min of 3 drives and will net storage space of N-1. Meaning in your case of having 4 4T drives, your storage space would yield 12T approximately: (4 x 4T =16T) - 4T = 12T
Its hard to say casual use the laptop is fine but the data is not protected.
A raid array for 4 disks is better but remember raid = NOT BACKUP.
So a nas box met 4 disks is limited because they have there own OS and your stuck to that if plex drops support for them your stuck. (see on the forum some has had this happen)
To keep it short:
laptop fine for use no protection though.
Nas device sure but keep in mind its no backup and just provides fail-over protection. And is usually limited lifetime.
get a very simple nas system and keep the laptop for streaming.
Best solution zfs raids there opensource for example freenas is a very good one but its quite costly to build and usually for pro usage.
So it really depends on what you want Some people wil tell you that pre build nas are crap but they can be ok keep in mind the above.
Just wanted to clarify that, even if Plex were to drop support for a certain OS, you could still use NAS to host your media, and run a server on another machine (eg an Nvidia Shield TV).
Also, most NAS boxes tend to run customised versions of Linux; Plex might drop explicit support for a certain NAS, but it’s very unlikely it will stop supporting Linux altogether.
After all the posts, I finally decided that for my needs a laptop is fine!
My decision was based after realize that if i bought a NAS (no matter which is the brand) i will be “stuck” with them and also that i will be limited to the number of disks the NAS can support.
I own an old i5 Laptop that was not been use. so i tried and it worked fine
Of course it is for my needs… I do not use or share Plex so much.
