Storage/Setup Advice

General Discussions
1

Hi Plex community,

Im not sure where to start or how to exactly get my questions and concerns out, because i do have quite a few of them, so please bare with me.

Im relatively new to Plex, its a phenomenal program and i see it being part of me and my families life forever, BUT now that im building quite an impressive collection (so i think) and worked hard on collecting my 6tb external hard drive is almost full !!! i want to figure out a proper setup and backup so that i dont hate myself forever if i lose the collection due to hard drive failure. Im not sure where to start but what i would like if possible is to explain my situation, tech specs, hardware and any needed info to get me set in the right direction.

All i know about hard drive storage is copy paste your media into this hard drive for safe keeping. I dont know how to set up mirror backups, 2nd backups, Virtual machines, FreeNAS or none of that. To try and summarize i will list of the things id like to learn/accomplish in the best way possible without spending tons of money and a relatively easy safe way to do it, but i am willing to spend money on hardware worth it to provide the best performance and storage options.

Please feel free to ask if i leave anything out or i said something that doesn’t make sense lol.

  1. Thought about online backup (cloud services like Crashplan), not sure if i can trust that, privacy etc.
  2. Hard drive types, setup and way of storing…NAS box connected directly to router (expensive it seems) or use my main rig and throw in some more hard drives ? it runs 24/7 as a gaming pc/plex server/living room entertainment pc direct HDMI connection to TV streaming PLEX through Plex media player windows.

Uses: home wifi streaming on many devices, remote streaming on vacation/family.

My Rig specs:

i7 2600k 2nd gen
Asus Z68 mobo
128gb SSD OS drive
(OLD 1.4 TB HDD)
16 GB ddr3 ram
EVGA GTX 1070 FTW
EVGA 750 PSU fully modual
Netgear Nighthawk AC1900
Windows 10
USB External WD 6TB (all PLEX media is stored here, almost out of space !)
Internet connection : FIOS 150mb down and 150mb up.

(i plan on spending a pretty penny on a new rig soon and making this main system above the PLEX dedicated server !)

Thank you ALL for any advice, feedback, and pointers ! :slight_smile:

3

Thank you trumpy81 for your reply and great advice !

If you dont mind i do have some further details id like to share and answer so i can understand fully. I was thinking the same thing about just adding hard drives, but i have almost 6 TB of media i need to save somewhere as a backup and another 6 TB + of free space for future media, not just on my external because they seem to have higher failure rates and i just need to safeguard all my private files. (i decided against online backup, i dont trust them)

The Synology DS1815 looks amazing !! I wish i could pick one up today ! unfortunately its pricey and i plan on putting heavy money into a new main custom gaming/work desktop PC because this rig i have now even though it still runs decent is 6 + years old and its time to upgrade. Sadly i wont be able to pay for the Synology NAS at almost $900 bucks + another $400+ for Western digital RED NAS drives, which i think are the best for this purpose. I am paying out of pocket for an upcoming surgery im going to have which has pretty much drained my wallet lol (go to hell insurance company =(( )

I would like to turn this PC i currently have into a simple server with more hard drives because it would be most cost efficent now, and i plan on turning this entire machine in dedicated plex server, it should be able to handle im hoping 3+ 1080p HD streams (remote). However eventually i will need to expand to the Synology you mentioned or some kind of small server rack ? When that time comes i can take out the new NAS hard drives i buy now and put them in the one dedicated server so the hard drives wont be wasted money. I like monitoring and want to be able to remotely watch and control my server from my main rig (new pc). I apologize if im giving too much or irrelevant information im not trying to write a story i promise, but i like to be thorough :))

Another problem im facing is if my VPN is on (NordVPN) , it messes up my remote access to plex but i love their service so im torn on how to fix this :confused: so im having to constantly turn vpn on and off because it runs on my main machine the only one i have right now.

My current motherboard and Pc case:

(hopefully its good enough to turn into a mini NAS so its i7 can do any necessary trancoding, for the most part on my home wifi everything is direct play and the CPU is never at load, i only notice heavy loads at times from remote streaming from this machine, most of my collection are high res-bluray movies)

CASE: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100

MOBO: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

Thank you once again trumpy81 you have been very helpful and so have your links but im still learning the basics of proper NAS and hard drive lingo/server managment/setups etc. So i may need to holler at yeah a few more times =))

5

I would be careful about taking drives that have existing data on them and expecting them to work on a NAS. While I don’t have first hand knowledge of how Synology or QNAP do things, Asustor requires drives to be initialized for the OS prior to using them in the machine. Which wipes all the data off of the drives.

I have heard from other sources, that this can also be the case for Synology and QNAP, but as I said, I can’t verify it.

Also, don’t discount Asustor as a potential manufacturer either. The AS-7008T or AS7010T both have a pretty hefty CPU in them, which can be upgraded to i5’s or i7’s. And come with 8 or 10 bays each, respectively.

Since you won’t be buying a NAS now, though… All of this is just info for later on, should you decide to go that route. I’ve run my AS-7004T now for over 18 months and it is truly a beast. It’s taken everything I’ve handed it and performed beyond my original expectations. Asustor hasn’t got the name either of the other two, but hey have been gaining some traction. And they make a solid product.

/off soapbox

6

@trumpy81 said:
Your plan is a good one, add the drives to the current PC, then at a later date buy the NAS and transfer the drives to it. That will work and I’d recommend it if it works for you.

For your next PC, you really don’t need to spend a lot of money. With the new Intel series 7 processors, most have a GPU built-in, so you really don’t need to waste mega dollars on a 1080 GTX in order to game, even at 4K. If you are frugal in other ways, you can still have a mega PC, but at about half the cost.

For the drives, I’d recommend going with RED Pro’s, simply because you have 4x SATA 1 ports and the extra speed of the 7200rpm RED Pro drives would help to boost the transfer speeds a little, or at least reduce the access times on those ports. You have two other SATA 2 ports and you could use the 5400rpm RED drives on those. That would balance things nicely I would think.

As for VPN, you can add your VPN local IP address to Plex in settings->server->network->List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth, but I can’t guarantee things will work any better and I am not fluent enough with VPN to give you any real advice on that.

As for the Mini-NAS, I would suggest you stick with Windows or Linux. That will give you much more flexibility as far as how you can use the PC. Treat it like any other Windows/Linux machine, add programs etc. etc. where if you dedicate it to being a NAS, you wont be able to use PMP (Plex Media Player) on it and you will need to add a Plex client (Apple TV 4, Roku 4 etc…) of some sort in order to watch your videos etc.

Once again trumpy81 sound advice, i appreciate you taking the time to explain things, man i have alot of learning to do when it comes to storage, like i said ive always had just 1 large hard drive or 2 at most and use partitions and stuff so like raid o to raid 10, no idea what that means and all the other stuff along with it is going to take some time, but i am still in process of learning it and watching videos.

As for the VPN, wow im shocked, you are the first person to even mention this existed, all of the forums i found had much more heavily complex instructions, which im not afraid of a challenge, however i am afraid of tinkering too hard with plex and switching around my hard drives and experimenting with much out of my comfort zone because i have not safeguarded my collection yet ! lol im happy you gave me that information im goin to try it out !! i hope it simple allows remote access for plex to use my original ISP internet speed and bypass the vpn all together but ALL other traffic runs through the VPN when active. I dont think my ISP will give me any crap over my media over PLEX and remote access ? its encrypted right ?

i love the sound of the RED Pros, it might hurt in the pants a little more but well worth it in the long run ! lol im gonna have a look at maybe getting 2x 4 TB WD RED Pros 7200 rpm. I do have access time and loading times waiting for the external to get moving, im sure its a 5400 rpm or worse, pretty sure its not meant to be running and spinning 24/7 for Plex media. i will set them according to the ports you mentioned on my motherboard.

My next pc i dont intend of getting a new GPU … my current 1070 FTW is plenty i will transfer it to my new machine to save money. However i do want top notch i7 , great motherboard 16 gb ram , maybe a 512 SSD OS and custom liquid cooling loop for cpu. im not sure which factor to go, x99 or just wait for Skylake someone mentioned. All having some beautiful craftsmanship and eyecandy. im 30 im not 12 years old i know but i like to think it will be very tastefully badass, i like what i like. =))

Yes, once this pc is my NAS i will keep windows or windows server on it or something light and access it remotely with my main new pc via team viewer or something, ive also heard of running plex througha virtual machine, which would totally bypass the vpn ? im not sure still gotta research and find out. =))

Thank you all for helping me out, im floored by the help from fellow PLEXER’s. ^:)^

7

@MikeG6.5 said:
I would be careful about taking drives that have existing data on them and expecting them to work on a NAS. While I don’t have first hand knowledge of how Synology or QNAP do things, Asustor requires drives to be initialized for the OS prior to using them in the machine. Which wipes all the data off of the drives.

I have heard from other sources, that this can also be the case for Synology and QNAP, but as I said, I can’t verify it.

Also, don’t discount Asustor as a potential manufacturer either. The AS-7008T or AS7010T both have a pretty hefty CPU in them, which can be upgraded to i5’s or i7’s. And come with 8 or 10 bays each, respectively.

Since you won’t be buying a NAS now, though… All of this is just info for later on, should you decide to go that route. I’ve run my AS-7004T now for over 18 months and it is truly a beast. It’s taken everything I’ve handed it and performed beyond my original expectations. Asustor hasn’t got the name either of the other two, but hey have been gaining some traction. And they make a solid product.

/off soapbox

Thank you MikeG6.5 for your response and info, i appreciate the advice. i will just have to make sure and research which ever NAS i get when i reach big boy status lol and make sure it will not formatt the drive, and just make sure i somehow back it up incase that happens, thank you for the warning.

As for the AS-7008T The model and brand look great ! i personally never heard of the brand, but i also know nothing about this specific market. It looks impressive, and i never knew you could have an i7 in these because these NAS plex servers people always say they are not powerful enough. Im thinking why would i buy a NAS when i can just turn my old i7 rig into a dedicated server that can handle high loads, well this NAS has changed my mind , also ofcourse its more convenient, its made to run 24/7 and has convenient easy to use hot swap bays instead having to open case and grab a screw driver. It also looks pretty damn cool, and profession. Im sure they are many other technical perks i have not fully grasped yet. I just like having like a command area, where i can control and access everything from where my main office will be in the house. (more on that layout later hahah).

i appreciate the suggestion and i will keep this information for possible early future purchase, maybe sooner than later, if i sell my dogs or something jk lmao i wouldn’t do that, unless it was on sale. :))

9

Did someone seriously suggest that a iGPU can handle 4K gaming? Wow. OP, a iGPU cannot handle 4K gaming at all.

10

@danjames92 said:
Did someone seriously suggest that a iGPU can handle 4K gaming? Wow. OP, a iGPU cannot handle 4K gaming at all.

Yeah i was confused with this statement, i was like did i miss something have iGPU’s come that far ? There is no way you ever want to use built in video/ipgu’s for true HD 2k+ gaming, i dont think that is even possible and dedicated is ALWAYS the way to go.

12

@trumpy81 said:
Hmmm … I did say that didn’t I … I meant to say unless you want to game at 4K. Ooops!! :))

We all make mistakes. Thanks for the help, im going to do some pdpicker.com monitoring on some RED NAS pros, cant make a choice of either buying x2 4tb pros … or 1 tb red pro NAS drives. lol

14

@trumpy81 said:
Yeah it can be a tough call when weighing benefits against cost. Many folk swear by Red Pro’s and yet others say Reds are better based on cost etc.

Don’t discount Seagate, their 4TB drives are very reliable, some of the other sizes not so much, but then anything mechanical is going to break sooner or later.

And don’t rule out HGST either, they seem to be the most reliable in the 4TB size range.

It’s a mixed bag with other sizes from all manufacturers though.

Yeah its tough because for x2 4 tb red pros im looking at $300 ! which my collection will take up most of the brand new bought hard drives and still need extra drives to save new data/content not relying on the external lol what i really need is 4 of them, but baby steps its a stretch getting 2 now.

I have heard by many people that Segate is horrible and not reliable so i did not even consider them. Im glad to hear there are other options.

I never had any experience with HGST ive only vaguely heard of them but will look into them.

Its hard because i want the drives i choose to be the best possible drive (red pros at 7200 rpm) because i plan to invest into them for a future server NAS/rack. Im not just buying extra storage space for my daily pc needs. So i heard i need to stick with the exact same models and SIZES hard drives otherwise i could run into problems in the future. :open_mouth:

16

@trumpy81 said:
Yeah if you are considering a NAS and RAID etc. then it is best to stick with the same size, but you can mix and match models and manufacturers without any issues.

You’re lucky you don’t live downunder then, 2 x 4TB Red Pro’s will set you back roughly $650.00 AUD here. 2x 4TB Red’s will sting you $480.00 AUD. The cost of living on a big island in the middle of nowhere … :))

HGST were Toshiba, but they are owned by WD now. They are still a good drive, WD hasn’t messed with them too much … :))

haha nice ! i have a friend of mine going to University in Australia. Yeah i probably should stop complaining about price now, lol ! thats insane !!!

thats the problem i intend on having a big NAS/ugraded server in a few years or so , i dont want to collect different types of hard drives and then have to start over buying if i do want a NAS, which at this point im using this pc as a temporary custom made NAS. so im not sure which route im going to take, but most likely server rack/NAS once i get really serious into it.

Thanks again for your help, you guys are awesome. ^:)^