Will the QNAP TS-431P 4-bay Personal Cloud NAS work as a good Plex server?

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

I have never done anything with NAS, I’m looking to set one up for my Plex server along with other things.

Will the QNAP TS-431P 4-bay Personal Cloud NAS work as a good Plex server?

newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822107533&ignorebbr=1

2

For storage, yes.
For transcoding anything - absolutely not (Plex Nas compatibility guide even tells you transcoding not supported - see link below)
For direct play - sure. (the reason Plex was invented was so you wouldn’t have to figure out what video types to store to be able to direct play to specfic devices though)

ARM processors, imo, and many other opinions, are crap for transcoding.

But, don’t take my word,
Reference the many articles regarding this question of NAS as a server.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/sections/200286217-NAS-Devices

3

Whilst this topic is a little old, I just wanted to advise those that may stumble across this as to my experience. I have one of these NAS’s, I purchased it as a complete novice and as an entry level. In other areas I have certainly found it’s limitations. But it was certainly highlighted when I tried using it as a PLEX server. It was certainly easy to set up, but once I connected my TV and started watching my collection, I started seeing the BUFFERING message a lot. In an effort to resolve this I tried the following;

  • Removed all unnecessary applications and shut down everything not required.

  • Moved the QNAP to directly connected to my TV

But I still kept getting the BUFFERING message. So I dug out one of my Raspberry Pi 3 B+ and set it up as my PLEX server, worked great and no more BUFFERING messages.

The TS-431P is just not up to the job. It is an entry level NAS and nothing more.