First and foremost, you guys are awesome! Love the site. I'm a total newbie that has been running a Drobo 5N for a decade. I have decided to make the move to a new NAS. My wish list is a NAS that can handle most 4K, including transcoding, maybe a couple of streams at at time., hot swap drives, and I do like Drobo's ability to utilize different sized drives.
I was leaning towards the QNAP TS-464, but your comments that the learning curve is steep on the software OS side scares me a bit. However, you don't have a single Synology on recommended, which was surprising.
SO..... do I take the plunge on the QNAP and hope I don't F-things up too bad?
Thank you for your kind words!
If you're looking for a NAS that can handle most 4K, including transcoding, and potentially a couple of streams at a time, the QNAP TS-464 is a solid option. While the software OS side can be a bit steep, there are plenty of online resources and forums available to help with any questions or issues that may arise.
As for Synology, they do offer some great options for NAS devices, but their transcoding capabilities may not be as robust as QNAP's. If transcoding is a priority for you, then it may be best to stick with QNAP or consider other NAS brands that offer strong transcoding capabilities, such as Asustor or TerraMaster.
In terms of utilizing different sized drives, both QNAP and Synology support various RAID configurations that allow for mixed drive sizes. So, you should be covered there regardless of which brand you choose.
Ultimately, it's up to you to decide which brand and model of NAS best fits your needs and preferences. Just make sure to do your research, read reviews, and weigh the pros and cons before making a final decision. Good luck!
p.s. Yes, if you're looking for a NAS specifically for Plex and want to transcode 4K content, a model with an i5 CPU like the QNAP TS-674 would be a good choice. It has the processing power to handle multiple 4K transcoding streams at once.