Can you help pick the right NAS for both PLEX and traditional data storage.

I'm quite tech-savvy (if I should say myself) but when it comes to a NAS I just want something that works and where I don't have to keep myself up to date all the time. Therefore I've excluded building one myself. I've seen a lot of your videos and I like the simplicity of Synology systems. Also, they clearly seem to be the most popular (especially in my country where they are top 5 on all web stores), so a clear advantage is that I can get help online with them.

I've considered the DS423+ and the DS923+. I really like the upgradeability on RAM and ethernet port on the DS923+, but in all your videos you mention that it don't have integrated graphics and therefore don't support encoding.

In your "Best PLEX NAS of 2023/2024" buyers guide you mention the Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen 2. But is the Asustor systems as simple as the Synologys, and is it even that much better?

Hi there! Absolutely love the website but there's so much information to take in so thought I'd ask for advice!

I basically have my eye on the DS423+ as it has integrated graphics, but I want the hardware and expansion options that comes with the DS923+. Is there such a NAS in existence?

My requirements are;
*Fully automated cloud backup of my mobile devices + auto compression of my camera videos to save space. Nothing worse than coming home from a concert with 20+ high def videos and having to compress them all manually! So I need a dedicated GPU.
*Surveillance management similar to Synologys built in Surveillance Station WITH ONVIF compatibility
*HTPC functionality and media organisation. I used to use sickbeard and coachpotato to organise my media files along with plex to view them until my DS215J became too old to cope.
*RuTorrent or equivalent.
*4 Bays or more.

Thanks in advance for any advice! ?

I can't find how to connect the PLEX server on DS224+ to my TV and I can't find where to specify the directories for PLEX to use. I have had PLEX for a long time on a Windows PC, but this is my first PLEX on a NAS.

Is a used DS218+ still a viable option to buy in 2024. I got a aging and low poered DS214se with 2 x 3TB in SHR and wanted to upgrade to a Intel powered NAS for container and Plex? I could get a DS218+ with 10GB for about 260 Euros compared to a brand new DS224+ or DS220+ with 2GB that goes for about 360 Euros and more. Are x86 based DS systems get longer DSM support? Is the eSATA port really useful on the DS218+ ? My current DS214se got the last update with 7.1. that is impressive for that old NAS system.

I’m currently using a wd my cloud mirror and it’s time to upgrade. Simple files backup and Time Machine backup.

Also stream movies from it to my Apple TV.

Any suggestions would definitely help.
I was looking at the ds224, or the 923 even though I don’t think I gotta go that big. My 6tb has need fine but I’m not sure

I am researching Synology NAS servers now. I hope to be able to make a purchase within a year. My primary use will be a Plex server. Instead of buying a 4 bay NAS I may save up to buy a DS1821+

Is Plex available as a standard app for the DS1821+ ??? I've run across videos where Plex is not easy to run on some Synology devices. As I'm a total rookie with these devices I'm hoping that running a Plex server on a DS1821+ is easy. I am unable to locate a video with information about running Plex on a DS1821+

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Hello
Firstly, thanks for the video on the disassembly of the Synology DS920+. I used it to repair my unit, which failed to power on at a specific time of day; everything else worked fine. I guess the CMOS KTS battery voltage was low, in fact it was 1.0V when it was removed. Once replaced the unit would power on at the right time.

It didn’t seem sense to run the unit over night, hence it was timed to turn on at 10am and off at 10pm. I bought the NAS in February 2021; I would have expected a longer battery life.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Perhaps extend the battery connection to an external holder, to minimise taking the unit apart.

Many thanks

I have an under-utilised AceMagic AK1 Plus running Proxmox. I'd like to install TrueNAS Scale on it and add extra hard drives (possibly 4 x 1TB, or there about, mechanical SATA disks).

A DAS seems like a sensible option providing better data speeds to the other VM's & containers on Proxmox, via the USB 3.0 interface. Can you recommend any suitable options? It would be great if there was a DAS enclosure under £100 (even if I'd need to downgrade to a 2 bay model).
Thanks in advance

Dear NASCompares Team,

I seek your advice on a NAS for a 100 TB Plex library, supporting up to 20-25 simultaneous users (Would 16Gb of Ram be enough ?) 4K HEVC/1080p X264 streams (average 4.7 Mbps, up to 9 Mbps). With a 10 Gbps fiber connection, I'm debating between a powerful processor for transcoding versus a non-transcoding option with client-side transcoding.

Which NAS model suits this, considering performance and data security? Also, advice on the optimal RAID configuration for such a setup would be invaluable.

Thanks for your expertise.

Best regards,

Anthony Filippi

- lots of family photos and videos (migration from Google Photos)
- photo/video backup from mobile devices and AI assisted search
- 2.5Gb ports
- Home assistant
- Virtual Machines
- up to 6 IP cameras for surveillance

I thought about QNAP TS-464 8GB with two 20TB drives to start, then I will add two more 20TB drives later and maybe more RAM for the VMs and an NVMe drive. I found the QNAP MARS app very interesting as an automated way to transfer all the media from Google Photo. Do you have anything else to recommend or suggest? I could also wait until spring or summer before buying, but not more than 6-7 months from now. Thank you very much!