For several weeks now my Synology DS716 + II NAS containing two WD RED 2TB drives in RAID1 have been very much in demand.
And it generates noises (scratching) of the hard drives as if there were read or write access by period of 5mins every 15mins I would say.
I have found several forums with the same kind of symptoms but no concrete solution. I looked on the file caching side, tried to disable the IPTV function via xTeve but nothing helps.
I have attached the logs of my Plex server, I hope you can help me because the server is in my living room cabinet below the TV in the long run it becomes annoying.
I am not aware of any way to completely prevent Plex from reading & writing to storage.
Youâll find forum posts where people attempt to disable Plexâs logging, but that wonât stop ALL periodic activity.
The best alternatives Iâm aware of are to put the Plex Data/Database on silent SSDs (if you have enough slots for this) or to move the PMS and/or NAS to the garage/basement.
With or without Plex my Synology drive access was pretty constant so⊠I moved it. Ran some wires to keep it in the basement instead. In my case, I upgraded to some Seagate drives that evidently have a reputation for noisy arms⊠was very distracting.
Iâve seen some folks in the r/synology subreddit post some creative noise reduction projects to reduce noise but still allow heat management. That might be useful to look into if moving the server itself isnât an option.
When first ingesting media into Plex, there is a sequence of events.
For Movies and Television Series
Initial scan and match â where metadata is retrieve. This is very high activity.
Thumbnail generation â where each file is read and thumbnails created.
Deep Analysis â which is performed during maintenance â where PMS reads the entire file to determine all the streaming requirements so it can automatically adjust bit rate if/when needed during playback.
For Music, the process is largely the same except analysis will occur for fingerprinting and loudness analysis.
Regarding drives:
WD Red are rotationally the quietest at the expense of I/O performance.
WD Red Pro are noisier because of the increased rotation speed (7200 RPM vs 5400 RPM) and seek speed of the heads.
Regarding the âscratchingâ, this does not sound right.
My first thought is that the drive retaining clips (one on each side of the tray) are not tight/ locked properly into place. They will rattle pretty loudly during drive activity when theyâre not secure.
I have had Synology trays ârattleâ because the springs & clips were bad. When that happens, it will drive you nuts. To test for this, press against the drive door (be careful not to accidentally open it) when active. If it quiets down, replace the tray.
EDIT:
PS:
I have some HGST (being rotated out), WD Red Pro (also rotating out) all in favor of WD Gold (Enterprise).
HGST is by far the noisiest. WD Red Pro is next. WD Gold is near silent even when accessing. Reason for this is the engineering. Red/Red Pro drives have a limit of 16 per rack due to vibration. Gold (Enterprise) have no such limit. They are that quiet and vibration free.
Thank you for your answer, unfortunately it is a Synology DS716+II NAS with just two slots already filled.
No place for an SSD except in USB but it would surprise me that it works.
But what I donât understand with this constant access problem is that the problem did not exist a few weeks / months ago.
As you said the activityt may very well come from the DSM and therefore no plex.
And I also tried to physically move the NAs from the TV stand in which it is currently located to put it on the ground on the tiled floor in the open air. Although he has always been in the TV stand for almost 5 years.
I will keep you posted on my different tests and the results.
5 years is a pretty long time for a hard drive, Iâd suggest wear and tear are working their way through the drives, oil on the drive mech etc will be largely gone by now. Iâm sure theyâre fine, but as drives get old, they get louder.
Also check Settings â Library â Library Scan Interval. Just for reference, I leave at 6 hours.
Deep Analysis is also very reading âaggressiveâ, so schedule it to the hours youâre not home.
