This looks to be about the cheapest NAS that supports Plex. All I want to do is stream to a Plex client on Xbox. I don’t need to transcod. I don’t need to stream more than 1 movie at a time. Will this do the job? Thanks
How do you know you don’t need to transcode??
I know I can stream the files to the Xbox. I can do so from my current WD MyBook via dnla no problem. I just prefer the Plex client to the standard media player.
“I Don’t Need To Transcode” - Translation:
The user will inspect every single file that enters the Plexiverse and alter it, if necessary, so it will Direct Play across every possible Client Device in the Plexiverse. Additional Software and the skills necessary to operate this software will be required and shall include, but are not limited to:
Handbrake
Xmedia Recode
MKVToolNix
MakeMKV
FileBot
I mean, I do it all the time. I don’t trust Plex with my media farther than I can throw it (I have a MAGNUM server box and it’s kinda heavy - and I’m old). I spend countless additional hours AFTER THE MEDIA ARRIVES fine tuning it so that it Direct Plays across every possible client device in my Plexiverse - and I STILL have a few (pesky) items that require transcoding until such time as they can be replaced (9 years and counting on two of them - AVI files should be illegal as they are a crime against Humanity).
Many people say they won’t be transcoding, but in the end - they will, at least a little, and nothing is more annoying than wanting to watch that file that won’t Direct Play knowing what’s going to happen.
NAS means: Network Area (attached) Storage.
NAS also means: Not A Server.
I have the old server I’m using as Network Area Storage, but in a pinch it can resume it’s server function. A quad-core 3.4Ghz box can transcode if pressed into service while I repair the AMD FX-8350 box when disaster strikes - and it’s only a matter of time.
I’m sorry but I don’t intend to stream to “every possible client device in the Plexiverse”. I want to stream to an Xbox. That is all. I know for certain that every single file I have can be streamed via dnla to the Xbox without transcoding. I am entirely happy that I will not wish to transcode. So with that in mind I just wanted to know if the ds116j would do the job.
My ancient WD MyBook Live does a perfect tjob of streaming to Xbox. It doesn’t transcode and nor do I want it to. I just prefer the Plex client and want the cheapest way of streaming (not transcoding) to that client from a NAS.
Yea, that’ll work fine - until it doesn’t - but you know how to deal with that as you have all the software and skills necessary to handle it (and if you don’t you will).
Living with Plex is fun, ain’t it?
While transcode might be a dirty word to some it generally does not take away the experience of watching a movie.
FYI I was watching a TV show last night. I was serving from an i5 NUC and was watching the CPU usage - in particular PlexTranscoder.exe
Apple tv - virtually nil
Shield TV - virtually nothing
Xbox one S - high generally over 40%.
So what does that mean? FIIK !
You have to play something, then open Plexweb, go to ‘Status’, roll over the ‘Now Playing’ box, click the ‘i’ and note what’s happening with playback on the various devices - then work on the areas that need attention to create a file that will direct play across all your devices. Sometimes this can be as easy as tweeking a device’s Plex App settings, but sometimes you have to get under the hood on the file itself and work on the streams.
Once you do that a few hundred times it’s as easy as falling off your bike. You pretty much know what needs to happen with any file and you make it happen before it ever hits the library.
I’ve got 6 files in the queue in Handbrake as we speak. I’ve been tasked with gathering the Holiday Specials for playback at the various family gatherings, have recorded several and scheduled many more, DVDs, BluRays and G-Drive links are pouring in and as they come in here at The Family Processing Station they go under the knife. I know all the quirks of all the family devices across local and remote connections so following the family ‘blueprint’ the work is soon completed and everybody Direct Plays everything.
The Seagate Personal Cloud is the cheapest NAS available that will run Plex Media Server. I am happily using a 4TB model. You do NOT need to transcode if you have a decent client. I use a Roku 3 or a Amazon Fire TV 4K. I have a collection of thousands of movies & TV shows randomly accumulated over the years & everything plays with no problems from the Seagate Personal Cloud. The only issues were with a few movies that were ISOs of DVDs & these were easily converted to mp4 with Handbrake.
People love to try & overcomplicate Plex because it does have some very clever features available but for the overwhelming majority of users who just want to watch TV shows & movies on one or two TVs at home without fuss or great expense then the simplest & cheapest option works very well indeed.
You also don’t need to transcode if you work on making your media Direct Playable before Plex even sees it. There are tons of scripts out there to do just that. And I run these scripts on my NAS which has more than enough horsepower to do them. Of course mine isn’t a low end one by any means. With 5K passmarks and a real CPU in it, it wasn’t cheap.
Some times the cheapest options are just failures waiting to happen.
