So I have come full circle for my Plex Server, from an entry level NAS as my server to having my gaming PC up and running 24/7 to serve as my media server (silly, i know but it worked a dream).
I know have powered down my PC and back to my NAS, which is a Seagate and nowhere near good enough.
I am considering the 2 below but here are my requirements:
Local/remote access
up to 3 (max) streams at a time
used for photo upload and view
video streaming
the NAS will be used to also back up a local PC
I prefer the first one HS-251+ (Silent), just because its quieter and also has lower power consumption in sleep and operating modes. My only concern is it only comes with 2Gb Memory and cannot be upgraded. The TS-251 only has 2Gb too but it has the option to upgrade to 8Gb if I wanted to upgrade it. Would I need to or would the 2Gb be enough for my requirements?
I can probably help you focus that decision fairly quickly.
The HS series NAS systems have not yet been tested.
The J1900 CPU in the TS-251+ does not have HEVC HW transcoding capability.
If within budget limits, presuming 2-bay system is all you will ever need, TS-253Be else look to the TS-453Be (more bays to provide incremental upgrade potential)
Based on your stated requirements, neither of those NAS units would be good for you. To help guide your decision, take a look at the CPU requirements that Plex recommends here. With that information in hand, you can then look at QNAP’s site and figure out what will work best for you.
In regards to power consumption, no QNAP NAS will ever go into sleep mode with the Plex server running. This is a known “issue” and isn’t expected to change anytime in the near future.
it looks like the HS series is now end of life, QNAP still have it on their website but everywhere seems to be suggesting unavailable. so happy to diregard this one.
TS-251+ offers “Hardware-accelerated Transcoding”, is this different to HEVC HW transcoding.
My requirement for 2 bay only, is that it’s for personal use and i think by the time i would have to step outside of potentially 8TB (16TB with raid1), i would be looking at a new NAS anyway and i would expect storage would have come down in cost and potentially technology will have progressed further by that time.
would the TS-253Be off the Transcoding required? its seems to suggest it only has Hardware-accelerated Transcoding the same as the TS-251+.
why 4 bay if its just for personal use and I was to use larger drives. I really want to kow that the processors will do the transcoding I need and will also manage multiple streams (around 3 to 4 max)
just had a good look at the spreadsheet, very good, thanks for sharing. Nice reference tool.
so looking at the TS251+ against the TS253Be, they seem to offer the same Transcoding, both have HEVC SDR (decode Only). My question on that is, would I actually need that. I don’t tend to have 4k in my media library. Its mainly 1080p, which they seem to both deal with.
@SyntheticMood thanks for sharing. I have previously looked through this and it was becoming a difficult task, to look for the processor with a decent passmark and then finding a NAS which had it in, which was why I was hoping that maybe someone had a recommendation based on experience of one that works and tested. The once I am looking at now are around 2000, which is minimum requirements for 1080p but I would like a little more in the tank.
H264 and H265 (HEVC) are codecs, 1080p and 4k are resolutions. Both have nothing to do with each other. You can have 1080p in H265 or 4k in H264 and vice-versa.
Obviously both NASes are too weak for H265 transcoding, so there is not a huge difference there. For H264 both are fine. It depends where you get your material from. If you rip yourself you can always prioritise H264. If you get it somewhere else, H265 will probably more prominent in the future.
Still, If you have decent clients that also direct play H265 files, you have nothing to worry about anyway.
Reasons for a 4 bay
4 bay gives more options like 2 x ssd and 2x Big HD. !!
I don’t know every model by qnap but generally the more bays - a bigger and faster CPU
And you want to get an Intel or AMD CPU
@ChuckPa I got a question about the HS-251+ - it is hardware specs-wise identical to the 2GB version of the TS-251+ which has been tested by Plex (assuming the test was against the 2GB version instead of the 8GB version). So shouldn’t it work as well as a TS-251+? How does Plex decide if it can hw transcode on a system, will it look up the modell and if it’s on the list it will work and otherwise it won’t? Thx!
As @Coxeroni stated, It “asks”. To be exaxt: Plex looks for specific device files the LInux kernel creates when Quick Sync Video (QSV) transcoding hardware is present.
