Question: I have a I’m looking for the ultimate NAS set up for Plex (and nothing else) 
Requirements: NAS. Something quiet and a small(ish) form factor.
Background: I have tried a lot of configurations: Windows 10, Mac OS and Synology DS1815+ and DS1817+. Performance wise I was happy with Windows 10 (taking advantage of hardware acceleration, etc.). But in terms of convenience I was happy with the Synology (it was reliable, no nagging from Microsoft to update, no need to wake on LAN, etc.). However I miss the performance of a full on desktop.
I like to have 1080p/4k at the highest bitrate but most importantly being able to scrub forward and backward. Fast forwarding on the Synology is pretty much a crappy or nonexistent experience.
I been looking at the WD Diskless My Cloud Pro Series PR4100, but it seems like reviews on Amazon related to Plex are limited to 4 reviews.
I don’t care how much it costs. If it is reliable, quiet and doesn’t consume a lot of electricity (so I can just keep it running 24x7) then that is a win for me. I don’t want to build a custom PC unless there is a build list that I can just copy that works for sure (I don’t want to spend days/weeks w/ trial and error). This is why I’m going towards the NAS route.
I hope my post makes sense! Thanks.
If you want the NAS to be the server probably your only option are the 2-3000 dollars Qnap with i7’s .
I am confused here !
Do u have the Synology 1815+ and 1817+ (cos that’s what I have).
I have those as data server and backup with a Skull NUC running win10 as the server.
That has served 7 remote clients but I don’t have any 4k currently.
I find it hard to see difference between 720p and 1080p let alone 2160p
I have both a DS1815+ and a QNAP TVS-1282 (i7-6700 w/ 32 GB) model.
The DiskStation can shovel the bits but it can’t transcode.
The QNAP can shovel more bits, LACP works, has independent SSD (M.2 and 2.5"), plus can do H.265 (4K not UHG) 8 bit Hardware transcodes. … but at a price.
My DiskStation now serves as the offline backup for the QNAP. It sits there, drives spun down, until backups run and there’s a need. I would put it offsite but my upload is abysmal (150 KB/sec)
Comparing USD for USD. I got a lot more hardware in the QNAP. I have features Synology can’t dream of yet. Full virtualization is one of them (which is perfect for my duties here at Plex). The Synology has the pretty UI but I compared:
- Hardware (winner: QNAP)
- Support ( winner: HANDS DOWN QNAP… they actually will use TeamViewer)
- NAS features. Enough to fill a post.
I can go on but at the end of the day, being able to save up and buy only one, $900 USD for the 1815+ (Atom CPU) versus almost $3000 for my QNAP, with all the extras (512 GB 2.5 SSD & 1TB M.2 SSD for the OS).
For Plex transcoding, When HW transcode kicks in, it sits at 3% CPU load for 30-40 Mbps -> iPad conversion. Audio transcode is the only thing which will use CPU (for now)
spikemixture - Do you have the Skull Canyon connected directly to the TV or as the server? If I am to understand your config correctly the Synology acts purely as a storage mechanism right? Either way, I had not considered your set up. I’d like to have multiple clients connected so I assume your NUC is headless.
ChuckPA - thank you so much for sharing your set up. I never considered QNAP but your vote of confidence has gotten me to seriously look at this. Any benefit in going to 64GB RAM or 32GB is more than sufficient? For storage you only went with SSDs. While I’ll also mimic your setup for SSD+OS, what is performance like for HDD (which is a path I’ll likely go considering the size of my library)?
Thank you guys so much for replying 
Using 8x WD/HGST 7200 rpm Red pro,
RAW read from the array is:
[/share/CACHEDEV2_DATA] # dd if=/dev/mapper/cachedev2 of=/dev/null bs=1M count=10240
10240+0 records in
10240+0 records out
10737418240 bytes (10.0GB) copied, 7.075026 seconds, 1.4GB/s
[/share/CACHEDEV2_DATA] #
Reading the file itself (system othrwise quiet)
[/share/CACHEDEV2_DATA/uhd/ten-bit/Chappie (2015) [uhd]] # dd if=Chappie\ \(2015\).mkv of=>
49581+1 records in
49581+1 records out
51989725754 bytes (48.4GB) copied, 53.358506 seconds, 929.2MB/s
Regarding memory, unless you’re running a business , multiple big VMs concurrently and PMS transcoding, I think 32 GB would be enough. That said, LOOK at the pride delta. The price to upgrade after the fact is painful. 16 GB DIMMS are too expensive
You definitely need to try the QTS simulator and the Synology simulators. Get to know each and compare that way also
@danchoe said:
spikemixture - Do you have the Skull Canyon connected directly to the TV or as the server? If I am to understand your config correctly the Synology acts purely as a storage mechanism right? Either way, I had not considered your set up. I’d like to have multiple clients connected so I assume your NUC is headless.
Thank you guys so much for replying 
The NUC is not connected to a TV , It is on my network as a server only and does nothing else - I connect via RDP
And yes my NAS is for storage and I run docker, sonaar , radaar , transmission and nzbget (my second NAS has my media duplicated)
I locally have Roku3 and Roku 4, Xbox one S, Shield 16gb , Shield Pro, Apple TV4 , Chromecast and several android phones.
Remotely ATV4, android boxes running various versions of plex, PC’s and macs running IE and safari, Roku 3’s, Chromecast , Samsung and LG Tv’s .
For under the price of the i7 Qnaps you can get a 1815+ or 1817+ AND a SKUll nuc with 16gb Ram and 250gb SSD .
That way you have 2 upgrade paths !!??
Also the CPU passmarks are very close with one qnap being 10,037 and the other and the nuc very close in the 9588 and 9798 mark respectively.
