Synology NAS device questions

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

I am new to the Plex concept and am exploring my options. I have a few questions:
Is the Synology device considered a superior option rather than just using a dedicated computer? Are their any other devices to consider?

If my existing computer is 4 years old do I need to replace it As well as purchasing my Synology device?

If I have about 1500-2000 DVDS and Blu-ray’s, what Synology model would you suggest?

Any other advice would be appreciated. Thanks

2

I have Synology NAS units… I use them as Network Attached Storage so I don’t run applications on them other then the ones necessary for Administration.

I use Windows 7 systems to run PMS and they work great…

I find it easier to maintain the Plex environment for the user in this configuration.

All the media is on the NAS units, PMS servers serve it up.

Since your new I would use what you have and test things out…
Check the support pages before you get too invested.
Get the configuration right and your off and running.

3

Ditto. Same set up. PC based server with Synology NAS for storage.

In my experience a dedicated PC is the superior option for the server side of things.

The computer I’m using for the server is a laptop that’s about 8 years old. It’s not the age of the equipment that’s the primary issue. It’s whether it has the horsepower to meet your demand. In my case, no 4K streaming and usually only 1 device at a time. The PC barely breaks a sweat.

4

Any suggestions on a synology model that transcodes 4 k and has a larger storage capacity for about 2000 movies?

5

You could use https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/nas_selector
Some thoughts:

Performance and Transcoding

Even a NAS with an Intel CPU will get to its limits when it comes to transcoding 4K. There’s a chance you can get it to work in combination with a Plex Pass if the built-in CPU supports Plex’ HW accelerated transcoding (usually using Intel’s Quick Sync Video feature).

If you want to transcode 4K content using only the CPU, you’ll need a processor with a passmark score of approx. 17000. For reference… Synology’s DS218+ and DS218 play have a Celeron processor with a PassMark of approx. 1350 (no digits missing).

There’s a list of current NAS models and their transcoding capabilities linked in this support article (bottom of the page). If you want to do this only with a NAS – check it out and find a model that has acceptable 1080p transcoding capabilities (or consider to invest in a Plex Pass instead).

Capacity

Depends on too many factors to give you a straight answer…

  • If you consider optimizing all your videos you need to plan with approx. 2 GB per DVD and 8-10 GB per Blu-Ray.
  • If you want to maintain the movies in the best available quality (raw re-muxes from your discs) you need to consider approx. 6-8 GB per DVD and 20-35 GB per Blu-Ray.

4K content will be significantly bigger (with discs starting at 50 GB and going up to 100 GB).
These numbers will also vary based on if you only use the main feature film or also extras from those discs.

Another factor is if you consider the disc to be a sufficient backup. In case your NAS fails you would need to re-rip the files from your discs – with 2000 discs that will take a while.
If you want to store a backup of your files on your NAS or use it in RAID mode to mirror the data, you’ll need to consider doubling the required NAS capacity.

6

Nowadays transcoding is becoming less and less relevant
If your local network (wired Gigabit preferred) and the devices where you are going to play your files support it, direct play is the way to go.
4K HDR trancoding is nonsense so there is no point to have the hardware for it.

With direct play, you can focus on the steaming capabilities of the NAS. Any medium range Synology NAS will do the job (just avoid the entry level models), just focus on number of bays and capacity of the HDD

7

Thanks for your reply. Being new to plex and computer lingo, please explain how the ripping process works in relation to transcoding.

  1. I am unclear as to how and when transcoding happens.
  2. Are there different ways to upload movies to the server for better playback?
  3. Does the NAS device transcode the movie when it is being ripped?
  4. How does plex plus help in transcoding and better performance?
  5. What is the relation between transcoding and direct play?
  6. Basically I am purchasing a NAS unit to provide the best storage and playback experience and performance for plex. I am thinking that transcoding has a big part of this.
    Thanks for your help
8

Prologue

It’s all a kind of trade-off between best-possible quality vs. best-possible compatibility (which include storage efficiency).
You can create files from your discs, targeting to maintain their original quality (e.g. using MakeMKV). That will give you the same quality the files were stored on that disc.

If you want to avoid/limit transcoding or storage capacity is an issue, you might want to subsequently optimize the files.
When it comes to DVD source material, this can be beneficial for 2 reasons:

  1. DVD material is using an age-old codec (mostly MPEG2… theoretically even MPEG1). That material is stored very inefficiently (from today’s viewing point) – re-encoding/transcoding it to a modern format (e.g. h264 or h265) will significantly reduce the required storage
  2. Less and less players directly support playback of that old codecs – so by re-encoding/transcoding it, you reduce the need for your Plex Media Server to pre-digest the video for those clients

With Blu-Ray sourced materials it’s slightly different. Blu-Rays already use a modern codec (mostly h264)… reasons for transcoding will likely be:

  1. Blu-Ray videos provide great quality but in consequence also need a lot of space… if storage is an issue, you might want to optimize the video to a lower bitrate to provide a better quality/disc space ratio
  2. Some (few) players have restrictions as for the quality of material they can play – e.g. there’s TVs that only play media up to a certain bitrate – if you want to avoid transcoding, you might want to optimize the videos to a lower bitrate upfront
  3. If you have a weak network, reducing the bitrate can help getting the videos through the available bandwidth (this is mainly true for flaky WIFIs which by name have a great bandwidth but in reality are impacted by tons of factors)
  4. Some players cannot deal with certain elements of Blu-Ray materials – this can range from certain audio codecs (mostly DTS) or subtitles (PGS image based subtitles) – so you can remove the “hurdle” of this causing a transcode by converting those parts of your movies upfront.

As for your questions…

1. I am unclear as to how and when transcoding happens

When you trigger a playback, your Plex Media Server will check what formats/codecs the client/player can deal with and compare that to the media characteristics of your file. If things match, Plex will provide the video/audio/subtitle components as-is to your player… no transcoding is going to happen.
If there’s a mismatch, Plex will try to transcode that material to meet the requirements of the client. This means the Plex Media Server will transcode the media to provide it to the client/player in a way it can deal with.

2. Are there different ways to upload movies to the server for better playback?

There’s no differences in how to upload the files. It’s all up to how you prepare your files before uploading them (see “prologue”).

3. Does the NAS device transcode the movie when it is being ripped?

No… the NAS device will do nothing to your files. It’ll just store them.
Plex will do the transcoding “just in time” and whenever it is needed.
Plex has an option to “optimize” files – however that’ll give you multiple versions of the same video.

4. How does plex plus help in transcoding and better performance?

I suppose you’re referring to a “Plex Pass” membership? If you have an active Plex Pass, this will allow you to use “Hardware Accelerated Streaming”.
Usually, all transcoding is happening through software and therefore using the CPU of your device. If the device running your Plex Media Server has a CPUs with a compatible integrated graphics card or a supported dedicated graphics card it can delegate the job of transcoding a video to that GPU instead. This will reduce the load of your CPU.

5. What is the relation between transcoding and direct play?

  • Direct play = media being played as-is
  • Direct stream = Plex is putting the media streams as-is in a new container (re-muxing); this can be required if the playback device can deal with all the media content but doesn’t know/support the file format (e.g. MKV). Re-muxing has very little impact on your CPU
  • Transcoding = well… see “prologue” section :wink:

6. Basically I am purchasing a NAS unit to provide the best storage and playback experience and performance for plex. I am thinking that transcoding has a big part of this

You’re right. In the end it comes down to your preferences and media-quality strategy. And of course there’s the consideration of what devices you’re planning to stream your media to:

  • if you plan to stream mostly through a browser – expect much transcoding
  • if you plan to stream mostly to Desktop players / Plex Media Player or dedicated streaming boxes such as Nvidia SHIELD, Apple TV or newer Roku models, there should be much less need for transcoding
  • if you plan to stream mostly to smart TVs – expect more transcoding
  • if you plan to stream to older set top boxes or built-in Android TV apps – there’ll be some need for transcoding

Long story short… you have a lot of that in your own hands. By spending some time into planning this, you can actively contribute to improve your future Plex experience :slight_smile:

If you foresee the need of transcoding, you can

  • consider buying a Plex Pass and a device that’s capable to support hardware transcoding (see the reference list in the “NAS Compatibility List” article)
  • spend some extra time in preparing your media by transcoding it before adding it to Plex to a format that’ll suit your playback devices – e.g. using Handbrake

Edit:
added some links and fixed a typo

9

You have been so kind in taking time to respond to my questions. I will be setting up my system to stream my movies to Roku and Apple tv devices in my home and to my 6 children. I utilize VUDU for all my current movies but want to upload about 1500 older DVDS and Blu-ray’s to be available to stream.

I am considering the Qnap unit TVS 872XT which will be able to handle multiple streaming of movies and be able to store them as well. My biggest concern is purchasing the right unit so that at least 3-4 people can stream at the same time. I am also conserved about buying a unit that will be able to handle 4 K. Am I headed in the right direction?

10

That should be possible.

Some considerations:

  • With 3-4 parallel streams, you should also keep your home network as possible limiting factor in mind.
  • To streamline things… consider to create mp4/h264 versions of the videos from your DVDs with AAC/AC3 audio (e.g. using Handbrake).

With 6 children… you might want to look into setting up a “Plex Home” and give your children “managed users” so you can control what they see (if they are young you might not want to share your horror collection or movies rated R with them)
https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/features/plex-home/ (related support articles also have a nice Simpsons-themed example)

As for 4K… that’s on a totally different page and might be too much for your future NAS (at least when it comes to playing more than 1 stream).

11

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