I would like to build a NAS server myself but I don’t know exactly what configuration would do the trick.
I plan to use Linux as the OS for the system, I want to use Plex as the Media Center and I would have about 2 to 3 users.
Here are my few questions:
Which Linux distro do you recommend? (I’ve already used Pop os and Ubuntu, but I don’t know if they are the best OS for a NAS)
Otherwise is FreeNas interesting and simple enough to use to configure your NAS?
What kind of configuration do I need if I want to play 4k HDR media? Otherwise, what are the components most used by Plex ?
I was thinking about a Ryzen 3 3200G, with 8Go of RAM (or 4Go), with a MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX and a 300W PSU.
If i can have a cheaper alternative, feel free to let me know.
I use ubuntu. 8 drives in case. Space to add 4 more (will need sata controller)
Also run windows domain controller, pihole, and crashplan backup vms.
Disks are set up as iscsi and mounted to domain controller. Drive map as shares to windows ( ofr our workstations) and also map as nfs to plex media server on separate box and as nfs to backup vm.
I do the windows thing to the media drives as manipulating and managing the shares easier for me and wife. You could skip all the windows stuff and simlly share as nfs.
If you plan to run Plex Media Server on the NAS, note that Plex does not yet support AMD GPUs for hardware accelerated transcoding when running a Linux OS. Intel QSV and Nvidia only.
If you go with an AMD CPU and Linux OS, you’ll need a Nvidia GPU to take advantage of hardware accelerated transcoding.
An equivalent Intel i3/i5 7th+ Gen may cost less than the AMD 3200G + video card (7th gen & newer Intel supports HEVC 10-bit video. Earlier generations supported HEVC 8-bit or did not support HEVC at all).
Given your need to support 2 - 3 users, you may not need to worry about using hardware accelerated transcoding. It depends if you need to transcode 4K video.
Hopefully you and your users will be direct playing / direct streaming the video, which requires very little CPU processing power.
If you do need to transcode video, the Ryzen 3 3200G will transcode multiple 1080p video streams. See the What Kind of CPU do I need for my Server? support article.
The Ryzen 3200G CPU will not transcode 4K video, as a Passmark of 17000 is needed for 4K HDR video. If you’re running a Linux OS, you cannot take advantage of the GPU to assist with transcoding.
That is why I mentioned Intel. The i3 cannot transcode 4K HDR video on the CPU either. However, with hardware acceleration you can transcode it using the on-board graphics processor.
Caveat: I’m not a FreeNAS user. Others can will correct me if I’m providing incorrect or misleading info.
From what I can find, FreeNAS does not currently support hardware acceleration on any platform. It will support hardware acceleration in an upcoming release. See the below post. Note that the ixsystems thread mentions Intel, but not AMD or Nvidia GPUs.
