ASK NC

Looking to upgrade my Plex server, everything I see is pointing towards a NAS. Newbie when it comes to NAS and having a hard time deciding if the QNAP TS-464 or synology ds920+/923+ would be best. Have even looked at a cheaper DAS option in the Terramaster d5-300c.
As most of my media is H265 I do a fair amount of transcoding, don’t have or really care about 4K media. My family uses my server, all over Canada and some in the USA. Also unsure the best drives to put into the device, WD or Seagate seem to be good, any reason to not get the largest TB size available? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Happy to provide more info if needed. Thanks in advance.

If you really don't care about 4k, you can choose Qnap 64 series or DS920+ or ds923+.
Having a transcoding engine will prevent NAS performance dip during transcoding process. But otherwise even ds923+ could transcode 1080p. All of these are good options.
As for storage drives, both WD and Seagate are good options. It's generally recommended to get NAS-specific drives, such as the WD Red or Seagate IronWolf, as they are designed to run continuously and handle RAID configurations. The largest TB size available should be fine, but keep in mind that larger drives may be slower than smaller ones due to their higher capacity. It's always a good idea to have at least two drives for redundancy, in case one fails.

The Terramaster D5-300C is a good DAS option if you don't need the additional features and flexibility of a NAS. It's a bit cheaper and simpler to set up, but it won't have the same level of performance or scalability as a NAS.

Ultimately, the decision between QNAP and Synology will come down to personal preference and specific needs. Both brands offer a wide range of models with different features and price points, so it's worth doing some research and comparing them before making a decision.