01-04-2026, 03:08 PM
For a pure media server you do not need NVMe for the OS or apps.
On Asustor the OS always installs on the HDD array anyway, and Plex or Jellyfin do not gain any noticeable performance boost from being on NVMe. NVMe is only useful for cache or for running VMs and containers at high speed, which you are not doing.
For your setup the ideal configuration is:
• Install all 4 of your 8TB drives into a RAID 5 array.
This gives you the maximum usable space plus 1 disk of redundancy, which matches exactly what you want.
• Skip NVMe drives unless you want to add cache later.
Even cache is optional for a media server because HDDs easily handle streaming speeds.
• Install Plex or Jellyfin normally from the App Center and point the libraries to your RAID 5 volume.
This gives you the most usable storage, simplest maintenance, and perfectly smooth playback of your 20TB media collection.
If you ever change your needs later you can add NVMe for cache or apps, but today you don’t need it.
On Asustor the OS always installs on the HDD array anyway, and Plex or Jellyfin do not gain any noticeable performance boost from being on NVMe. NVMe is only useful for cache or for running VMs and containers at high speed, which you are not doing.
For your setup the ideal configuration is:
• Install all 4 of your 8TB drives into a RAID 5 array.
This gives you the maximum usable space plus 1 disk of redundancy, which matches exactly what you want.
• Skip NVMe drives unless you want to add cache later.
Even cache is optional for a media server because HDDs easily handle streaming speeds.
• Install Plex or Jellyfin normally from the App Center and point the libraries to your RAID 5 volume.
This gives you the most usable storage, simplest maintenance, and perfectly smooth playback of your 20TB media collection.
If you ever change your needs later you can add NVMe for cache or apps, but today you don’t need it.