I own DS 2014+ and I just discovered Plex. Want to use my new server for two things:
Plex
Movies (up to 4K and 360 deg) and high res photos.
Ideally max 6 slots although I was even considering Ds1821+.
I saw peopel saying that with current processors the transcoding is an issue but then I found some people saying that even 1522+ would be an overkill for PLEX and I got lost. ;-)


My main concern is shall I wait for something new from 2024 lineup? Or do I have plenty of good options from current lineup?
I put 30 TB assuming 150 4K movies which is very long-term for me so would be happy with starting smallr but being able to expand.

Thanks a lot for your help!
Janusz

Dear NASCompares,

I hope this message finds you well. I am currently in the market for a (NAS) system, primarily for streaming media within my home network. As I already possess a 12 TB hard drive, my focus is on finding a suitable NAS.

As a newcomer to the NAS world, I recognize the value of your expertise and would greatly appreciate your advice in helping me make an informed decision. I am looking for a reliable NAS solution that optimizes media streaming and enables seamless playback across multiple devices.

I am interested in your recommendations on the best NAS models within my budget (300 USD) that offer excellent media compatibility, streaming performance, user-friendly interfaces, and network connectivity.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Your expert insights will undoubtedly assist me in making the right choice for my home media streaming needs.

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards,

my 1tb drive in the LS-500GL failed. I am considering replacing the drive and wanted to know how large can I go ?

I dont care about the lost data, will it be easy to install the new drive or do I have to do a bunch of stuff ?

I'm trying to build a new desktop tower that I can use for Plex. I have a 16TB seagate external hard drive that can be connected via USB. It was recommended to me on Reddit that I use a NAS.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/662398/synology-syn-ds220j-2-bay-nas

I was looking at this one after watching your video - An Idiots Guide to Buying Your First NAS.

Do you think this will work or is there another one I should look at? Do you think my external hard drive will be able to connect to it or will I need something different

Hello. I live in Malaysia and want to choose the correct system or systems for my needs.
1)I am a forex trader and I want to have a powerful solution for virtual machines to run my trading and a pending small business that will utilize the office suite and other software. I am using aws currently and want to divest.
2)I want to use many of the apps that are offered by Synology for myself and extended family so that we can have our own personal cloud and I want to be able to connect to my brothers drive in Florida and my cousins drive in Texas for redundancy.
3) I am open to using more than one set up if needed. The most important need is to have a powerful system for my trading and business.

I'm only interested in using Synology drives and am open to the rack mounted solutions.

Currently have a home lab of 2x super micro servers running older Xeon’s. Problem is power consumption is terribly expensive. I’m currently running ZFS with 4x4tb 4x8tb and 4x12tb with zraid and all mapped to a single storage container.

I’m looking for a good cpu (no celeron) multiple cores, and possibly dual cpu. Must have upgradable memory (current home lab is over 184gb of ram) and 128gb in the other machine. Boot drive should be an ssd.

Looking at running QNAP or synology so I don’t have to keep dealing with os and software upgrades that I don’t have a lot of time to deal with.

Will be running plex, ai workloads, various containers for work functions, etc.

Network is 10gb+ capable running UDM SE with a powered switch and plenty of networking throughout the home.

Overall just struggling to find the right nas. Willing to use a desktop nas but not my first option as I like rackmounting these things.

Hi there,
I’ve just ordered the DS923+ (upgrading from a DS218+) and will have 2 x 8tb and 2 x 14tb WD Red drives. The NAS is primarily use for storing photos and videos which serves them up through an external Plex server.
I’m not technically minded and the only reason for the upgrade is to future proof myself for more storage space. The DS218+ has been great and does what I need however I’m trying to find out why people would upgrade the RAM or install SSDs. Everything online shows how to do it but I’m after a laymen’s terms ‘what purpose does it serve?’

Many thanks

Hi, thank you in advance for any feedback and also thankyou for all of the youtube info you guys provide. I'm currently using an Nvidia shield pro with lifetime plex. I have a very large library of photos, music and movies - mostly bluray and 4k. I have watched your compares regarding plex severs or servers with graphics integrated. i.e., Synology 920+, which I can not find anywhere at all now. Can you please advise me on a good Nas device that I can also grow with, i.e., features for my use case.

Currently running xpenology dsm6.1.3 on a HP N40L microserver, with 3 x 4TB in raid5 and 2x8tb as standalone drives.
I use the 8TB raid5 for my files and documents and the 2 x 8TB for storage of my video files.
NAS is mainly used for torrents and video streaming using ds video to my iphone on the go and apple tv4k at home
As it's not a synology nas, transcoding does not work, neither does shr.
Thinking of changing to either a 4 or 5 bay synology nas but the DS923+ & DS1522 do not integrated graphics, which I'm worried about as my main use case is video streaming. Would like to have 2.5G support as well as I have a single 2.5G port on my router. That said, my internet connection is 1gbps and so technically I can't really make use of 2.5G.
Would DS423+ be a better fit? Concerned about synology requiring synology ssd and compatible hdds as well. Will QNAP instead be better as their hardware seems to be a better fit and more flexible in terms of compatibility.

Hello, i have a msi z87-g55 msi motherboard with free PCI-E slots, and i am thinking of buying an M2 nvme device that i will insert through an adapter to the slot. i am thinking of samsung 980 pro 2tb. Would you advice it to use in an older PCi-E gen 3 slot MB? or maybe it is better to go for a lower price crucial p3 plus?
Other suggestions?

Thank you