User story: First started using Plex about 3 years ago, with PMS (exclusively) on this machine.
The two (SHR’d) 16TB IronWolf HDD’s are finally almost full + it doesn’t make economic sense to buy beefier HDDs (+ have several other big TB HDDs lying around) = it is time to upgrade from a 2-bay NAS! Use case specifics: From a performance/experience perspective, the DS218+ has been able to handle my needs just fine. I share my libraries with 10 or so active users around the US (I’m in California); at most I have 4 concurrent streams and that works. Many clients in the mix (Chromecast, Roku, various smart TVs, browser), so transcoding is definitely used often. Majority of content is 1080p; I have no 4K content currently but would prefer to “future-proof” with a NAS selection that can handle it.
Rationale for making a new post: I know there are many various guides/discussions about HW transcoding and DSM migration, but I couldn’t find any single place that linked these subjects together with advice about NAS selection specifically + any discussion around why no recent Syno model seems to support HW transcode.
My main reasons for this post / high-level concerns around upgrading the NAS are two(and-a-half)-fold:
Upgrading to DSM 7 - Scary! Risky! Potentially fatal?
HW Transcode Support - Definitely want (to continue to use) it, but what’s up with no model after 2020 supporting it?
Per this amazing (‘Official’ Plex-maintained) spreadsheet, scroll down to Manufacturer ‘Synology’, you’ll see that no model after 2020 shows any HW transcode support in the right-hand columns.
I’m hoping that veterans/experts in the space can point to some kind of high-level trend / Syno business decision / underlying (technical) cause for only 3+yo Syno boxes being capable of HW transcode. For example, maybe it isn’t Syno-related at all but the underlying CPU architecture that causes issue?
NAS Selection - How to best evaluate? (beyond reviewing that spreadsheet)
Don’t want something that will perform worse than my current! (See above about HW transcode)
Have been reviewing that spreadsheet / some articles about best picks, and currently eyeing the DS920+
With that high-level out of the way, some deeper dives into my assumptions and specific worries:
Migrating to DSM 7.x
Assumption: Upgrading the NAS will require migrating to DSM 7.x.
Rationale: I would not want to migrate to any model older than 2019, and I suspect any new Syno would ship with DSM 7.x
Assumption: Migrating from DSM 6 to 7 is risky, fraught with peril, and many who have attempted it before have failed and rendered their PMS unusable.
Rationale: Having been a lurker of these forums, I have heard horror stories of botched upgrades.
Looking for an assurance from a Ninja of the flavor, “as of current [PMS, DSM version] state, it is possible to perform migration of a PMS from DSM 6 to 7 with no issue, provided you follow all the instructions carefully” OR knowledge of known issues for [particular circumstances]
TV Library upgrade: still using Legacy (Plex Series Scanner; The TVDB Agent), will I be forced to upgrade my library when i migrate to DSM 7?
Suspect the answer is no, BUT I essentially have the same question as for the DSM 6 to 7 migration: “is this known to work flawlessly yet, or is there still a lot of inherent risk?” - though I think that may be for another post
NAS Selection / Migration
Is there anything else (concerns, gotchas) I should be considering for the actual “migration” from the old machine to the new one? OR is this a true statement: effectively, migrating from old to new machine will be the DSM upgrade procedure / they are the same thing.
True/False: If I want a Syno NAS with HW transcode support, I will have to go with one of these models (this is from that same spreadsheet linked above, but cropped to include only 2018+ models with more than 2 bays that offer some HW transcode) - this is also just kind of another way of asking my high-level question above about no recent model Syno support.
Seeing zero response or engagement on this post after 1.5 months; I can’t imagine it’s because of lack of interest or relevance? Maybe OP is just too verbose and all over the place
TLDR1: Is there a reason there are few/no recent (~within 4yr) Synology >2bay offerings that support HW transcoding?
TLDR2: Should I stop holding out for same, and if I want 2+ bay w HW transcoding, consider migrating to a different NAS ecosystem?
Sorry I missed this. October was “hell month” for me. November is slowly calming down. This fell through the cracks, I’m sorry.
You missed a few models from the NAS Compatibility Guide
– DS220+ (2-bay J4025)
– DS423+ (4-bay J4125) – MUCH BETTER and adds two bays of future proofness
– DS224+ (2-bay J4125)
You’re looking to future proof. I would add the extra bays NOW. Upgrading the whole chassis later is expensive.
Upgrading to DSM 7 is well defined (has been for quite some time now). As long as you don’t panic and start deleting things, everything can be migrated from DSM 6 → DSM 7
As usual, @ChuckPa you are much better late than never thank you much for this!!
I don’t know how I missed the DS423+ - was that recently added to the gSheet? I last perused it in late Sept or so when I wrote this post.
At any rate, I have already gone ahead and ordered the new NAS and am excited to begin the migration.
I am beginning to review the guide(s), but I’m not seeing anything specifically about migrating from one Synology NAS to another - is there anything I should be particular aware of in this case? Or really what I want to know is, are there steps I should be performing in a particular order?
Specifically, I’m unfamiliar with how to migrate my two RAIDed (SHR) HDDs over with respect to how Synology will treat them. Is it as simple as safely ejecting (power down) them from the old NAS and slotting them into the new? And then slot in two more HDDs and expand the storage pool to include them?
This would be assuming the new NAS is still on DSM 6. If it already has 7, I suspect it will be more complicated…
Relocate the drives into the new NAS (presume this is what you want ?)
Startup the new NAS
Open the Syno Assistant to find the new NAS and open the DSM desktop
– It will install DSM 7 (for the new system) on the HDDs.
– It will preserve the DSM 6 HDD config and your installed apps in the process
– It might want you to upgrade some apps – Do that.
This will take you a bit.
Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll give you some “light reading material”
This is exactly what I needed (THANK YOU!) but one last question, what is the “Syno[logy] Assistant” ? Is this something built-into their NAS or a separate tool? I don’t think I’ve used this before, will do some googling…
Ah, found it here… sounds fairly straightforward to download and use
If you’ve setup a DHCP reservation in your modem router and the IP address of the Syno is fixed / known to you, then open it directly via http://IP.addr.of.syno:5000
The NAS-resident part of the assistant will jump in at port 5000 just like the desktop does.
If you don’t know the IP address (they can change) you can use their tool to help you get right into it.
As you read this, you’ll notice there is a race condition
– You need to grant “PlexMediaServer” Full Control of the Plex shared folder (and all sub-folders and files) for your DSM 6 installation to migrate to DSM 7.
– You’ve not yet installed the DSM 7 app so there is NO ‘PlexMediaServer’ user yet.
Under normal circumstances where the Plex shared folder has the default ACLs, I can detect this and show the correct info/errors in the final popup message as the install exits ( DSM only gives me one way to communicate installation errors ).
If I cannot detect everything correctly, the DSM 7 installation will proceed AS IF a new fresh install and completely ignore DSM 6 Plex shared folder.
– This is where we have to take a 1/2 step back and redo it.
The whole process, inclusive of half step back is:
Install the DSM 7 app
– If it installs quickly then it likely failed without seeing the Plex shared folder.
– if it issues an error then it knows it fails and you need grant permissions.
Confirm you still have Plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server
( Nothing gets deleted by the installer unless you tell it to so don’t panic )
With confirmation “Plex” shared folder still has all the DSM 6 Plex
– Uninstall the DSM 7 Plex app; Uninstall (new menu selections) with the ERASE radio button option. This ONLY REMOVES the errant/empty DSM 7 data
Now use File Station → Plex share → Properties → Permissions
– As I show in the how-to, grant all ADMINISTRATIVE, READ, and WRITE permissions to the new “PlexMediaServer” SystemInternalUser.
– This will take a bit to complete (depends on how much you have indexed in Plex)
When you install the DSM 7 SPK file again, Now it will sit there silently at “Installing” as it does all the work.
– Don’t interrupt it.
– Best not to refresh the page (you’ll not know when it’s done)
In a new tab, open the syno desktop. Plex share – Watch for “Migration.log”
– In Migration.log, you’ll be able to follow the progress.
– When “Cleaning” is completed, you’re all done
In all this, it’s of paramount importance you not forget the “Apply to this folder, sub-folders, and files” when granting permissions.
Read this – Most users will want to start at “Scenario 2, Step 5”
The How-To also covers other configurations where the Plex shared folder gets split or encrypted (DSM 6)
thank you much for this!!
