Hey guys, I hope you're well

I'm really in a sticky position that I can't a good decision to make.

I'm stuck between a Syn DS423+ or DS923+. I was all for going for the 923+ as there's a current deal going for £517.00 - but what's putting me off is numerous threads on Reddit where people whinge about the lack of hardware transcoding for media servers and the use of AMD versus Intel.

Me personally would like a machine that handles anything I throw at it, including transcoding.

I did have the idea of going for a Coral TPU to handle the transcoding woes, but I don't know a huge amount about this or how easy it would be to set up.

Uses would likely include -

Plex/Emby/Jellyfin, Docker, Multiple other services for tinkering, storage of photos and media + general files, CCTV recording

With the idea of using a TPU, I thought it would also be handy for intensive tasks like Frigate or Immich?

Would be very very greatful if you could help out and steer me in the right direction.

Thanks

Currently have PLEX running through HomeAssistant as an Add-On , on a NUC testing it out as a proof of concept and seems to be working flawlessly. The NUC is capable of any hosting and transcoding necessary. My starter storage to run this test is quickly running out and looking to add either DAS or NAS for the media storage.
Pre-made systems are good but I am also not against building a system, but would need a recommended parts list. Any insight you guys have got would be greatly appreciated. Stumbled across your YouTube and have been slowly consuming all of it.

Ok I have had to redo my current server, it is at the moment, i7 14700k in a Gigabyte Z790 board with a 10GB network card. running Unraid. there is a 2 TB M.2 drive for cache and 3 x 8 TB Seagate Iron wolf Pro drives plugged into MB SATA. I put uncompressed blue ray and 4k films on for best quality, I also allow about 4 homes to connect to my server to watch my library. Would I see a benefit starting to add Exos drives on a SAS card? I have never used sas and have no idea on protocols, initially I would put two 10 or 12 TB drives in but Exos drives say either 7E10, X18 or X24. there are videos comparing Exos to Iron Wolf Pro but I can't find one telling me the difference between these. Could you advise on suitable hardware if SAS would be better inc add in cards or would Iron Wolf Pro keep up with possible demand. When available I will be upgrading my internet from 1GB down 110 Mbps up to 1GB both ways.
Thank you for any help with my first steps in server grade hardware.

I have a QNAP TS-653D with Five 14TB WD Gold drives in a raid 5. NAS is 3 years old, used it as a Plex media server - It works OK for playing 4K movies

6 months ago, the drive in bay one failed, with read/write errors (but smart was OK). I replaced it (in bay one) with a new 20TB WD gold drive, intending to gradually install all 20TB drives

This new 20tb drive failed after six months (bay one again), again read/write errors

I purchased another 20TB WD gold drive and placed it in bay one. This brand new drive failed during the raid 5 rebuild, again read write errors. (I haven't run a disk check) - I powered it down to avoid data loss

I have concluded that bay one of the NAS is faulty and is causing drives in bay one to fail

Can I:
- install the drives in bays 2 to 5 into a new Qnap NAS
- purchase a new WD gold 20TB drive and install it in bay one
- and it will rebuild the raid?

If so, what NAS would you recommend – Ideally 8 bays, but 6 would be fine

Thanks

Thank you for your great videos
I'm looking to build PLex / backup server on QNAP Ts-462 (afforable ony one)
Upgraded memory to 16GB (why not)
4x12TB WD HDDs
My question
Should I add NVME as a cache (probably not) or as a SSD partition to install Plex software and DB. Would I see the benefits of such setup? my library is about 1000 movies and 100 shows.
Can I even have control over installing Plex on the SSD partition and having media on HDDs?

Thank you

Andy

Can you recommend compatible DDR 4RAM as I wish to upgrade from current 4GB to 2x8GB.
The combability list on the ASUSTOR website is a bit limited. Thank you

hello, i'm trying to build a server for storage so I can keep my digitized media.

Hey,

https://nascompares.com/review/minisforum-ai-x1-pro-review-a-real-mini-pc-for-modern-gaming/

Loved reading this review, to be honest. The X1 Pro is quite good, to be honest, and I want one.

But re: the mention of eGPUs, maybe you could test the X1 Pro with other GPUs aside the one inside the MGA1?

Minisforum sells the DEG1, which is an OCuLINK dock.
You have to bring your own GPU and PSU, but that allows you all to review how mini PCs like the X1 Pro do in gaming when an eGPU is assisting them in that task.

There's also the AOOSTAR AG02, which has both USB4/ThunderBolt and OCuLINK + an integrated PSU, which gives you more flexibility with eGPUs (not all devices support OCuLINK, but not all devices support USB4).

I'd love to see you all have fun with eGPUs and how you can make a neat mini gaming machine out of a Mini PC!

Thanks,
CyanoTex

Good Afternoon,

Could you please recommend a NAS that will replace iCloud on my iPhone, iPad and MacBook, with end to end encryption?

I would like to auto backup my photos and files from my iPhone via an app.

I would like to play the backed up DVDs / Blu-Rays I have, directly to my tv via 4k hdmi and remotely via the internet on my devices.

I would like to balance performance with low power consumption and low noise.

I am a content creator and I archive my projects. I already have nearly 8tb of data, so would like to future proof my new NAS with expandability. 4 bays would be good but I’m open to having more.

I am brand new to NAS, so I would like something I can either plug and play or something I can research easily! Drives included with purchase would be really helpful to get me setup!

Thank you, hope to hear from you soon.

Dana Freeman

Your recent video on network bottlenecks was brilliantly timed for me. I have a Ugreen DXP4800 Plus and a Trendnet 10 Gbps desktop adapter, and I am struggling to get more than 4 Gbps upload to the NAS and 2 Gbps down even though both have NVME Gen 4 drives, your insight went beyond what I could find on the internet. Plan to test a few things tomorrow based on your video. Network speeds are a common issue now as 2.5, 5, 10 Gbe are becoming mainstream.

I can’t find a block diagram for my PC or the NAS, and from the video it looks like you know how to “reverse engineer” it through Terminal, SSH, and Putty. It would be wonderful if you made an instructional video on this. I can’t find anything on the internet to guide me through it. I suspect my PC might be the cause, it’s an old Dell workstation that I am pushing hard in several ways.

Just wanted to share a video idea for your consideration. Or if you can point me to a resource to help me learn how to build a block diagram.