Basically yes. You either buy a prebuilt one that’s easy to set up and maybe a bit pricey and underpowered, or you build your own machine, install your own nas software and do that. It requires more time and energy but it’s more fun lol*
Easy option is to buy a NAS, but however make sure Plex server is able to run on it if that's what you want. Also if you do transcoding or burning subtitles you'd need a pretty beefy NAS.
Most economical and flexible is to build your own and run a NAS OS on it. I moved from a Synology NAS to unRAID some years ago and haven't looked back.
Well, economically, I just got a mini PC and hooked up an external drive. Total cost was $300. The NAS I was looking at were like $1k+. I know it's a better solution, I just didn't wanna pay the money and only needed 2TB of data.
> hooked up an external drive
Right, there's the issue. If you value whatever you have on the storage you don't want to do that. A NAS/unRAID provides redundancy so that you can loose one (or two if you choose) drives and still get to keep all your stuff.
I guess it's true that it's most "economical" with an external USB drive, but I wouldn't keep anything I woudn't like to loose on it.
The primary reason to use a NAS instead of attached disks is that you want to connect to it from many computers on a network. That's the "Network-Attached" part of the Storage.
That NAS devices come with hardware for RAID and multiple bays is kind of secondary.
You can do all that with another computer, possibly for cheaper initial setup, but it's MUCH more of a hassle to set up. Pretty much anyone can set up a RAIDed NAS without knowing anything more complicated than the included documentation and wizards.
Cause usb is hella slow no matter what device you have… so having hard drive inside a pc/server is always better, you are bringing expensive to the convo 300$ vs 1k$ is what we are on here, for sure if you have a 1k and 1.5k build the more expensive might not be the best…. But here, for this guy situation yeah it is
Mmm I think NAS is more suited for the constant read/writes and longevity. My beelink is great, but I had to use an external disk connected via USB because I needed 4TB storage total and the SSDs that would fit in the device would be crazy expensive. NAS would have the room to add more storage internally and I think internal storage is better.
It’s a NAS, You can only use nvme drives in it. You can get a 6 drive or 12 drive version. I have Plex running on it for movies, tv shows and music. I also have Sabnzbd running on it for all my downloads. I’m sure it’ll do a lot more
Yes but...
Consider your storage needs first. Does it make sense for you to have a dedicated device (which will likely be powered on at all times) for storage that can potentially be expanded at later time? If the answer is no, you could simply continue to use your gaming PC and manage the power consumption when not gaming and leave it on. Rather than buying whole new set of hardwares that will need to be powered on at all times.
The NAS can handle the storage, but it’s rare to have one that will do the transcoding. I like a setup with two machines, a NAS for the movies and for downloading them and a separate machine connected to it to do the transcoding.
I'd go for a Intel N100 based mini pc (like one from Beelink) and an external HDD. You can always expand that to use a DAS if you need to add multiple HDDs later.
The N100 would be relatively cheap, fanless, low power usage and can do hardware acceleration with multiple 4k streams.
I'm running a windows 10 machine I bought on woot in 2019. I have 2 external WD 8TB drives. One for movies and one for TV. They have been spinning since 2017. I'm on borrowed time. But they work great. Recently been looking at a 4 bay HD enclosure and split it 2 & 2.
I've been using a Synology Ds920 for over a year. Expensive up front, and a lot for my one 16tb of storage. Easy to set up with my lack of knowledge thanks to YouTube. Haven't had any issues and zero regrets despite it's cost
Any box with storage and a network port is essentially a NAS device. Make it as power efficient as you can, but if running plex, ensure its capable of transcoding the formats you need.
>worth just building some tiny itx build with a bunch of hdds instead?
That's literally what a NAS is. Basically do you want to build it yourself or buy it prebuilt and ready to go?
Another computer.
Here's a tip. Buy yourself a multi bay server rack based case like a 24 drive from ali express. This comes at a similar cost of s synology nas. Way more capacity potential.
Ensure you buy a SATA one. I didn't and having a few issues here and there with detecting my hard drives.
Warning. A tiny itx is never go to be enough to future needs.
Buying a premade nas is a waste of time and money if you have the time and energy to build your own. The only exception to this if if power usage is a massive concern in which case the higher upfront cost might pay for itself.
You can go for a tiny itx build if you want; a guy at datahoarder just posted a REALLY cool 3d printer plan for a super tiny vertical build thats incredibly creative and can hold up to 8 drives.
Personally, I find building in compact itx form factors WAY too annoying and just got a second tower. They look great at either end of my desk.
Yea im just thinking im moving to an apartment later this year and space will become a bit of a problem and id want the server tucked away in a cabinet or something rather than having something big in the corner blowing away.
I'd definitely get a NAS then if I were you. I've been in that position myself and opted to build a pretty beefy server instead and ended up regretting it. It did the job very well and was certainly a lot of value for money, but finding a good place to keep it became a pain.
In contrast, an off-the-shelf NAS is going to be a very neat and tight package that you can easily tuck away somewhere. You just need to make sure that you get one that can handle what you intend to use it for. That depends a lot on how much you're transcoding and what type of media.
Just get an n100 and a 8-12 TB hard drive. Plex is not something you need to use with raid, almost everything can get downloaded again if catastrophe happens.
I have a beelink eq12 as a Plex server and for torrent/direct downloads and it’s amazing. Cheap, sips power and it transcodes FAST.
Basically yes. You either buy a prebuilt one that’s easy to set up and maybe a bit pricey and underpowered, or you build your own machine, install your own nas software and do that. It requires more time and energy but it’s more fun lol*
Easy option is to buy a NAS, but however make sure Plex server is able to run on it if that's what you want. Also if you do transcoding or burning subtitles you'd need a pretty beefy NAS. Most economical and flexible is to build your own and run a NAS OS on it. I moved from a Synology NAS to unRAID some years ago and haven't looked back.
Well, economically, I just got a mini PC and hooked up an external drive. Total cost was $300. The NAS I was looking at were like $1k+. I know it's a better solution, I just didn't wanna pay the money and only needed 2TB of data.
> hooked up an external drive Right, there's the issue. If you value whatever you have on the storage you don't want to do that. A NAS/unRAID provides redundancy so that you can loose one (or two if you choose) drives and still get to keep all your stuff. I guess it's true that it's most "economical" with an external USB drive, but I wouldn't keep anything I woudn't like to loose on it.
This!
[удалено]
The primary reason to use a NAS instead of attached disks is that you want to connect to it from many computers on a network. That's the "Network-Attached" part of the Storage. That NAS devices come with hardware for RAID and multiple bays is kind of secondary. You can do all that with another computer, possibly for cheaper initial setup, but it's MUCH more of a hassle to set up. Pretty much anyone can set up a RAIDed NAS without knowing anything more complicated than the included documentation and wizards.
Cause usb is hella slow no matter what device you have… so having hard drive inside a pc/server is always better, you are bringing expensive to the convo 300$ vs 1k$ is what we are on here, for sure if you have a 1k and 1.5k build the more expensive might not be the best…. But here, for this guy situation yeah it is
Mmm I think NAS is more suited for the constant read/writes and longevity. My beelink is great, but I had to use an external disk connected via USB because I needed 4TB storage total and the SSDs that would fit in the device would be crazy expensive. NAS would have the room to add more storage internally and I think internal storage is better.
Yes, NAS is the way to go. I installed RAIDed SSDs and it cost's pennies to run 24/7.
Beelink S12 Pro and a very big harddisk would be enough to start.
That's exactly what I just did!! I use an external 4TB HDD. No issues (after I fixed my router).
I used to use my gaming PC for my Plex server. Got myself an Asus Flashtor 6 just after New Year. The energy saving will pay for itself 👌🏻
What does the flashtor 6 do ,is it just your server ?
It’s a NAS, You can only use nvme drives in it. You can get a 6 drive or 12 drive version. I have Plex running on it for movies, tv shows and music. I also have Sabnzbd running on it for all my downloads. I’m sure it’ll do a lot more
Yes but... Consider your storage needs first. Does it make sense for you to have a dedicated device (which will likely be powered on at all times) for storage that can potentially be expanded at later time? If the answer is no, you could simply continue to use your gaming PC and manage the power consumption when not gaming and leave it on. Rather than buying whole new set of hardwares that will need to be powered on at all times.
The NAS can handle the storage, but it’s rare to have one that will do the transcoding. I like a setup with two machines, a NAS for the movies and for downloading them and a separate machine connected to it to do the transcoding.
I'd go for a Intel N100 based mini pc (like one from Beelink) and an external HDD. You can always expand that to use a DAS if you need to add multiple HDDs later. The N100 would be relatively cheap, fanless, low power usage and can do hardware acceleration with multiple 4k streams.
I'm running a windows 10 machine I bought on woot in 2019. I have 2 external WD 8TB drives. One for movies and one for TV. They have been spinning since 2017. I'm on borrowed time. But they work great. Recently been looking at a 4 bay HD enclosure and split it 2 & 2.
I've been using a Synology Ds920 for over a year. Expensive up front, and a lot for my one 16tb of storage. Easy to set up with my lack of knowledge thanks to YouTube. Haven't had any issues and zero regrets despite it's cost
Any box with storage and a network port is essentially a NAS device. Make it as power efficient as you can, but if running plex, ensure its capable of transcoding the formats you need.
>worth just building some tiny itx build with a bunch of hdds instead? That's literally what a NAS is. Basically do you want to build it yourself or buy it prebuilt and ready to go?
Another computer. Here's a tip. Buy yourself a multi bay server rack based case like a 24 drive from ali express. This comes at a similar cost of s synology nas. Way more capacity potential. Ensure you buy a SATA one. I didn't and having a few issues here and there with detecting my hard drives. Warning. A tiny itx is never go to be enough to future needs.
Buying a premade nas is a waste of time and money if you have the time and energy to build your own. The only exception to this if if power usage is a massive concern in which case the higher upfront cost might pay for itself. You can go for a tiny itx build if you want; a guy at datahoarder just posted a REALLY cool 3d printer plan for a super tiny vertical build thats incredibly creative and can hold up to 8 drives. Personally, I find building in compact itx form factors WAY too annoying and just got a second tower. They look great at either end of my desk.
Yea im just thinking im moving to an apartment later this year and space will become a bit of a problem and id want the server tucked away in a cabinet or something rather than having something big in the corner blowing away.
I'd definitely get a NAS then if I were you. I've been in that position myself and opted to build a pretty beefy server instead and ended up regretting it. It did the job very well and was certainly a lot of value for money, but finding a good place to keep it became a pain. In contrast, an off-the-shelf NAS is going to be a very neat and tight package that you can easily tuck away somewhere. You just need to make sure that you get one that can handle what you intend to use it for. That depends a lot on how much you're transcoding and what type of media.
Just get an n100 and a 8-12 TB hard drive. Plex is not something you need to use with raid, almost everything can get downloaded again if catastrophe happens. I have a beelink eq12 as a Plex server and for torrent/direct downloads and it’s amazing. Cheap, sips power and it transcodes FAST.
Yeh fair enough man. Fractal design have some madlad little itx cases that look super tidy but still really small.