Considering Synology, Qnap and Drobo to replace my Drobo 5D. As some personal data is stored there as well, I’d prefer to have a single or even double redundancy support. What should be the recommended hardware configuration (processor, memory, network interface) for a smooth streaming? What else should I need to know?
If you have a good Internet connection before spending hundreds on hardware just for Plex you really should look at Plex Cloud . It has a limit of three simultaneous transcodes which should suit most domestic arrangements although probably not those who share their libraries with friends & relatives. The only cost on top of Plex Pass is $10/month for G Suite Business for unlimited Google Drive storage.
Plex Cloud does an outstanding job of transcoding 4K. I uploaded a 65GB 60Mbps 4K UHD Blu-ray rip & this happily plays on all my devices (Roku 3, Roku Ultra, iPhone 6s Plus, Amazon Fire TV 4K, web app on my Retina MacBook Pro etc). It even plays nicely on the iPhone on 3G/4G cellular when away from WiFi.
Plex Cloud is a game changer.
Anyone thinking of buying hardware for their own Plex Server should think again. provided you have a decent Internet connection Plex Cloud can provide a better Plex experience than local hardware & the cost saving is enormous.
@nigelpb said:
If you have a good Internet connection before spending hundreds on hardware just for Plex you really should look at Plex Cloud . It has a limit of three simultaneous transcodes which should suit most domestic arrangements although probably not those who share their libraries with friends & relatives. The only cost on top of Plex Pass is $10/month for G Suite Business for unlimited Google Drive storage.Plex Cloud does an outstanding job of transcoding 4K. I uploaded a 65GB 60Mbps 4K UHD Blu-ray rip & this happily plays on all my devices (Roku 3, Roku Ultra, iPhone 6s Plus, Amazon Fire TV 4K, web app on my Retina MacBook Pro etc). It even plays nicely on the iPhone on 3G/4G cellular when away from WiFi.
Plex Cloud is a game changer.Anyone thinking of buying hardware for their own Plex Server should think again. provided you have a decent Internet connection Plex Cloud can provide a better Plex experience than local hardware & the cost saving is enormous.
This Question gets asked every week. Do a search for NAS or synology or Qnap and give a budget
@nigelpb said:
If you have a good Internet connection before spending hundreds on hardware just for Plex you really should look at Plex Cloud . It has a limit of three simultaneous transcodes which should suit most domestic arrangements although probably not those who share their libraries with friends & relatives. The only cost on top of Plex Pass is $10/month for G Suite Business for unlimited Google Drive storage.
Thanks. My reason to have NAS is that I also need to keep my personal files such as Ableton projects and film scans.
@spikemixture said:
@nigelpb said:
If you have a good Internet connection before spending hundreds on hardware just for Plex you really should look at Plex Cloud . It has a limit of three simultaneous transcodes which should suit most domestic arrangements although probably not those who share their libraries with friends & relatives. The only cost on top of Plex Pass is $10/month for G Suite Business for unlimited Google Drive storage.Plex Cloud does an outstanding job of transcoding 4K. I uploaded a 65GB 60Mbps 4K UHD Blu-ray rip & this happily plays on all my devices (Roku 3, Roku Ultra, iPhone 6s Plus, Amazon Fire TV 4K, web app on my Retina MacBook Pro etc). It even plays nicely on the iPhone on 3G/4G cellular when away from WiFi.
Plex Cloud is a game changer.Anyone thinking of buying hardware for their own Plex Server should think again. provided you have a decent Internet connection Plex Cloud can provide a better Plex experience than local hardware & the cost saving is enormous.
This Question gets asked every week. Do a search for NAS or synology or Qnap and give a budget
Why not making a sticky note / FAQ article if so? (I’ll do the searches now)
@breakphreak@gmail.com said:
@nigelpb said:
If you have a good Internet connection before spending hundreds on hardware just for Plex you really should look at Plex Cloud . It has a limit of three simultaneous transcodes which should suit most domestic arrangements although probably not those who share their libraries with friends & relatives. The only cost on top of Plex Pass is $10/month for G Suite Business for unlimited Google Drive storage.Thanks. My reason to have NAS is that I also need to keep my personal files such as Ableton projects and film scans.
The file sizes of Movies & TV Shows is enormous compared to your personal data. You already have your Drobo so why not just use that for personal files & use Plex Cloud?
I have DAS Drobo, not NAS.
My personal data includes analog film scans and audio music projects/recordings, so it’s not very small 
I’d definitely advise 2-drives’ worth of redundancy in 2017. Anything less is giving a false sense of security. You’re setting yourself up for unpleasantness should a drive fail and you try to resilver with zero redundancy left. RAID5 is like feeling safe owning a fire extinguisher that only has 1 second’s worth of contents.
If you plan on transcoding on your NAS, I’d advise against buying an off-the-shelf consumer NAS and instead building one yourself with sufficient horsepower. A modernized version of mine can support 6 drives and can be done for under $800 sans drives.
thanks! got myself QNAP with double redundancy
