NAS for mostly direct play?

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Hi, I’m looking for the best way to run a plex server.
It will mostly be used for playing my blu ray rips, in .mkv, container. Think direct play will be the best option for me.
As the best audio quality (ie dts true-hd ) is a must to me, I’m considering a Nvidia shield pro as a player, but I’m not sure, if it will be a better solution to run the plex server on the a NAS, or on the Nvidia….What would You suggest, both as the best solution for me, and what NAS…?

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I would recommend the Shield as a player especially if audio is your thing.

As a server? Not so much. ChuckPa is the Linux guy around here and he’s built some very helpful tools in case you ever have a problem with a NAS. I’ve seen too many posts around here from people who’ve had to rebuild their Shield server from scratch multiple times

You have the Plex Pass already so I’d get a NAS for the server that’s capable of hardware transcoding

This is a little cheat sheet Chuck maintains for NAS compatibility

Avoiding transcoding is always best, but not always possible. There are too many factors that go into it. Inside your network only using the Shield with the appropriate files on a capable TV…probably.

Streams outside your home with a phone, tablet, laptop, or another android device, you will be transcoding

Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it

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Thx jaysplex7, I’ll go for the shield pro (hoped there would have been an upgrade) , and look into what NAS to choose, only thing is, I think they are quite expensive…
Thx again for your suggestions :slight_smile:

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On amazon, the shield pro is $154 right now. Use it exclusively as the player
Run any server you want provided it can stream the video fast enough.
I recommend a basic ARMv8 system or better as the PMS server.

The Shield Pro will DirectPlay everything (including – which I’m doing right now – 2160P HEVC HDR + PGS subtitles)

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BTW it’s showing as 174.99 over here. Not sure if Amazon just changed it, or is showing different prices to different areas/people. I was about to hop on that 154 price!

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Thx for your reply, but what is better, I’m a bit of a noob in that concern…are the better processors, listed below, in general, from each company? …
Is it better to have a nas with a dedicated graphics, or is this only recommended when transcoding…?

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@Cafe_Diem

It must have gone up overnight. It’s still a bargain at $174 (which shows here now too) given how well it works. Stop being cheap. Hundreds on a Syno but not +$25 for a proper player ? :stuck_out_tongue: :rofl:

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@runnernorth

Clumping everything into one box means that if you want to improve something, you have that huge expense all over again.

The same is true if something breaks.
Therefore, the best approach is to break it out appropriate for you:

The primary pieces are:

  1. File server – holds the media
  2. PMS server – (obvious)
  3. Player device(s) – (obvious)

Depending on how many people are going to stream at the same time govens how big the PMS server computer is.

How much media you plan to have will drive how big the storage is.

Is this all just for your singular use or do you plan on sharing with others?
( You didn’t state that in your opening post )

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LOL my situation is different, I’m already using the previous model Shield, so I just can’t justify $175 for what is essentially a relatively minor upgrade and new remote.

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I must say, that It’s very kind of you, to take your time to advise me and others :pray:
Well, I have around 5 TB blu ray rips, most in 1080p, but the 4k is increasing. They are all ripped with makemkv, subtitles put inside the “movie-name-folder”,

I have an oooold mac mini, +10y, used it as my PMS, with usb 3.0 hdd hooked up to the mini. But it doesn’t work anymore, too many bugs, so that’s why I’m in the market for a new hardware solution.

I want the Shield, as it can play the lossless audio from my mkvs.

It makes sense, that you say it’s best to split the “tasks” up, in more pieces.
As fileserver and PMS, as I understand you, it’s best to buy a NAS, with a processor, equal or better than the ARMv8, right ?

But then the question is, which one :-))) - it’s a f…… jungle to choose one, imo.

Saw a YT video, from NASCompares, he tested a qnap tvs-h874, sounds great, I want(ed) one, but jesus, that’s too much, to put in a NAS, around 2k usd, without storage :))))
So my next/the actual question is, what NAS to choose, for me ?

Oh, and I do have 2 adult children, they did/will connect to the PMS, and stream from it, so theoretically, max 3 streams at the same time.

Found a used qnap ts-h886, intel xeon d-1622, will it work as PMS ?
cannot find it in the sheet, provided earlier in this thread, is it because it doesn’t have a gpu built in ?
Kindly Jan

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@runnernorth

  1. For the NAS
  • Yes, ARMv8 if you’re running 50TB or less and ONLY A FILE SERVER
  • However, bigger (i5/i7) as you get larger – OR – use a converged product like TrueNAS)

  1. QNAP’s TVS - “H” series are QuTS (ZFS).
    – ZFS is not HDD friendly
    – ZFS (which QuTS uses) is very wasteful of HDD space compared to QTS

  2. Splitting up tasks
    – If you have a “medium” processor in the NAS,

  • AND
    – If you have smarter devices (Nvidia Shield, FireTV Max, etc) which can direct play
  • THEN
    A medium processor , like the one in the TS-h886 will work great.

The Xeon has plenty of power to run the NAS and PMS – but no HW transcoding.
The players can handle that .

You get DirectStream or DirectPlay (mostly).

The TS-h886 will run QTS or QuTS. For media (Plex) use, I recommend QTS.
QuTS is a lot more complicated and wasteful

Thank you for noticing I’d misplaced the TS-h886 in the guide. I’ve fixed that.

The TS-h886 will run PMS quite well. There is no hardware transcoding but otherwise PMS and QTS will be very nice on it.

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Happy new year.
Thx for your reply.
I think I’ll look into/at a “Truenas”, a i5 or i7 processor, don’t want to buy the TS-h866, as it doesn’t have a i5/i7.
I’ll try to read up, on how to build a Truenas, don’t have ANY experience in that regard.
I’m sure, I’ll be back, with some more questions.

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