How do you define "enterprise level storage solutions"? I hope you're not talking about Promise.
One benefit of a NAS for me is given you're not addressing the file system directly it becomes OS independent.
In other words it can be accessed by any device making it easy to (for example) switch from OSX to Windows PMS without formatting your storage.
I do not however expect to be running plex on the NAS itself and do see the argument surround NAS vs DAS and the costs involved. IMO if money isn't an issue then get a NAS and a HTPC. Else get a HTPC with some DAS.
You could even build your own NAS with the specs you desire and run something like Freenas or Unraid. (another can of worms opened)
How do you define "enterprise level storage solutions"? I hope you're not talking about Promise.
One benefit of a NAS for me is given you're not addressing the file system directly it becomes OS independent.
In other words it can be accessed by any device making it easy to (for example) switch from OSX to Windows PMS without formatting your storage.
I do not however expect to be running plex on the NAS itself and do see the argument surround NAS vs DAS and the costs involved. IMO if money isn't an issue then get a NAS and a HTPC. Else get a HTPC with some DAS.
You could even build your own NAS with the specs you desire and run something like Freenas or Unraid. (another can of worms opened)
I can switch back and forth between Windows and OSX without having to reformat my storage as long as I choose an initial formating method that they'll both understand. Switching from a Windows PMS to an OSX PMS is drop dead simple and would never require reformating of an external HDD, as every version of OSX since Apple moved to Intel CPU's has been able to read drives formatted for Windows. That happened in 2008, so......
I can switch back and forth between Windows and OSX without having to reformat my storage as long as I choose an initial formating method that they'll both understand. Switching from a Windows PMS to an OSX PMS is drop dead simple and would never require reformating of an external HDD, as every version of OSX since Apple moved to Intel CPU's has been able to read drives formatted for Windows. That happened in 2008, so......
Be careful recommending solutions which are not 'easy' to implement. Formatting/writing to NTFS in mac os requires additional software and is not something average Joe would think to do.
Reading NTFS alone is not enough.
What is with all this Windows bashing? I have built plenty of Windows machines that work flawlessly. My htpc is cheaper and just as powerful, silent and small as a Mac mini.
Even a simple NAS with RAID-5 setup might be overwhelming if you are not too familiar with computers and storage. I definitely would not recommend anything more complex. I would consider a Mac Mini or Intel NUC with the RaidBank on the complex side. Mini / NUC with a consumer NAS is a bit easier but still a dedicated NAS running everything is the simplest.
It is unfortunate that the majority of inexpensive NASs are so underpowered. QNAP TS-x53 seems a bit more promising, I recently posted the below table in the QNAP TS-x51 thread. TS-x53 (J1900) is able to transcode roughly one (1) 10Mbps 1080p stream or two (2) 5Mbps 720p streams. However I'm not quite sure how much processing power the OP actually needs. Could you post your current CPU model and the CPU load under your normal usage scenario? In general you would want to avoid transcoding altogether and just Direct Play everything which requires very little cpu power. From your current cpu load figures we can then derive whether certain NAS / CPU is able to handle that load.
I think Ts-253 will be mine ! (I prefer to wait for reviews about it before buying).
I always find those back and forth between nas and htpc/server owner very interesting. "To each his own." As suggested by @dane22, I am running an intel nuc as my HTPC. The lowest model with a celeron processor and a qnap ts-559 pro running my PMS. One may say "oh no, that's too slow." Whispering voice {not really}. It all depends on your setup. I don't need any transcoding so therefore I don't need a faster processor. Why would I need to transcode when I can direct play everything. Also both the qnap and intel nuc are extremely low on power. No extra charges on my electricity bills for running them 24/7. Additionally I am running quite a lot of built-in application and services on my qnap that I utilize randomly. Running all the time is priority for me and I get that with my setup. Again it all depends on your need and your pocket size.
To answer your question: Here's the link for plex compatible devices.
I have orded a TS-253 and it will arrive to shop beginning next week (bah! they prostponed delivery from tomorrow thursday to tuesday... what am i now going to do this weekend??? jag as planning on fiddeling with the NAS ))
So if im lucky ill have a first review of it by friday next week.
I'm waiting to find sellers in France ...
Actually, I have been really interested in the QNAP TS-x51 and will no doubt post a different question in the other dedicated thread for that, but I am not equally intrigued by this Mac mini idea as well. So, it would be interesting to see if people can help me out a bit here. The device will be needed for the following tasks.
(on: 24/7)
1) Plex server. Transcoding would of course make this even better.
2) Time Machine for backup (to back up my main Mac). Can this be done on a Mac Mini?
3) Squeezebox server: I have a number of Squeezebox media devices in the home, and want a server up 24/7 for it.
Finally, the advantage of a Mac Mini could be that I could also have my PRTG Network monitor working on it 24/7. Of course, this would also require investing in a Windows emulator like Parallels as this is a Windows only application. (Which brings me to the question why I could't just use a Windows HTPC or nettop?)
For storage, the QNAP I was thinking would have been a TS-451 with 4x 6TB of HD space. This would have set me back around €1700. How can I get 4x6 TB HDs on the iMac or Windows PC in a RAID 5 format?
I have orded a TS-253 and it will arrive to shop beginning next week (bah! they prostponed delivery from tomorrow thursday to tuesday... what am i now going to do this weekend??? jag as planning on fiddeling with the NAS ))
So if im lucky ill have a first review of it by friday next week.
Hi !
Have you received your ts-253 ? What are you first judgements ?
I just ordered the QNAP TS253 pro Should be here monday. I will post my finds
I just ordered the QNAP TS253 pro Should be here monday. I will post my finds
The 2 or 8GB RAM version ? I'm looking for the 2GB in France... Very hard...
I got the 2gb as I dont plan on installing any virtual environments....
Once you get it, could you please give us a review about the product ? More particulary about the transcoding with Plex ?
Ok so I set everything up.... i just dont know what the hell im doing lol (man embarassing since I work in the IT industry)....
So how do I setup the transcoding thing... currently backing up all my photos.... in raid 1 config.
I havent loaded a movie yet... and I will have to get some 1080p videos or see if I can find some....
Also, I have a roku 3 on the way to my house, should be here on the 5th of october.... So not sure what you would like me to test since my laptop is currently wired to my pc.
I do have a chromecast I can test for wireless playback.
Will take a while for me to figure things out unless I find quick instructions lol
i bought one 2 weeks ago (2gb version but i've upgraded it 8 - Crucial CT2KIT51264BF160B )
Works fine with WD 6Tb Red, no problems so far, Raid 1... i'm not able to map another smb drive - i have a Synology and a Buffalo - kinda frustating, so Plex sees the Qnap only and the USBs, if any..
Now, the USB mount keeps the actual drive vloume name, so pay attn when you add new Plex library - if you replace the USB the library path will be different.
It's FAST!!!!, i mean fast! ~100mb/sec write, i'm impressed.
Plex, using Roku or Minix, is very nice - no stuttering or freezes. I didn't try QNAP's XBMC yet, i like the Minix one...
Transcoding seems to be ok so far, everything worked. Audio passthrough is a gamble, some work some don't... i didn't pay attn. which ones, all videos i have are mkv...
It's still new for a good review, gotta play with it for a while..
I will have to upgrade to 8gb ram since its that cheap....
I am using 2x 4TB seagate NAS drives and they are working well.
Have not done a crystal disk test, but if you guys want one I could do one I suppose
