I run a QNAP TVS-871 16GB stacked full with 8x8TB Western Digital RED drives.
I shelled out though and got the TVS-871-i7-16G: Quad-core Intel Core i7-4790S 3.2 GHz (Turbo boost to 4 GHz) version.
This thing is running on my Virgin 200Mb/s download, 11Mb/s upload internet connection.
I’ve wired the house with CAT-7 cable, completely replaced all the CAT-5e I was using. I also replaced my network switches with small 8-port TP-Link units.
My Sony TV has Android built-in with a Plex client, but I find the Xbox One client to be far superior.
As for clients, look at the Plex web site, there are clients for:
iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Roku, Apple TV, nVidia SHIELD, Android TV, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and XBox 360 (I still have two 360’s I use in spare locations in the house).
The NAS is connected using 4x1Gb ports teamed up, with options to add 2 10Gb ports if I find I need to at any point. This I foresee as a possibility when I want to send 4K video around later…but it’s a future-resistant thing (never say future-proof - no such thing).
I also have wireless ac routers in the house, and I have a 4G connected tablet as my phone if I really can’t find a WIFI connection.
The server transcodes nearly anything on the fly, and it’s usually the connection that lets me down, so for the really big stuff (like recently a certain Star Wars blu-ray unconverted-but-packaged into an MKV file) I keep 4 different copies so I can stream it to anything from my tablet/phone if I’m walking to the shops, or I can download to a device with some decent memory directly and have it play locally on that device. Plex will handle conversion for you for download.
You also have the ability to set the outbound data limits, so Plex will transcode for you on the fly if, for example, your nephew wants to watch those episodes of Doctor Who at your sister’s house on weekends before she wakes up. It can also be used to ensure the server is prepared for any sharing you might do, in case said nephew has a said cousin who wants to watch some Disney movie at the same time.
So far the only bad message I’ve ever gotten was from a client, and it was always ‘your connection speed is not fast enough to play at this data rate’ (or something similar). Typically, that lasts a couple of seconds and before you know it I watch the next half hour of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (all bought legally and on the semi-sealed dust-free cabinet/shelf, thank you) without any problems.
That enough information for you? I know I shelled out, but with that amount of data space and a Core i7 of that spec tucked neatly into an aired but designed-against-dust cabinet behind the wall mounted TV (where I also wall-mounted the XBox One, 360 and Virgin TiVo, along with a Logitech hub controlled by both a Logitech Elite setup with RF and IT and devices by RF-IR which has just had Amazon Echo’s Alexa voice control added in (yes, the UK is in there as well now).
So now I’m enjoying setting up IFTTT commands to go with Echo/Alexa’s Logitech control with a Logitech THX surround system (which booms, by the way - I don’t need a 2K+ sound system to enjoy my movies in a house) with a NAS that can even output 4K directly if I so choose.
Oh, and now I’ve shown off a bit, I also run two virtual machines on the TVS-871, as whilst Plex is running it’s also capable of running an ARK: Survival Evolved server and a spare server I use for screwing around with (not literally).
Lastly, there’s an absolute b*ttload of software available for the QNAP TVS-871 (or maybe better now, I’ve had it a little while and I’m still awaiting the 4.3 version which will go 64-bit OS instead of its current 32-bit OS - I mean, how awesome is it going to be when it goes 64-bit. It’s already been in testing for months and months so should be ready very soon).
