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hi all,
I am looking at buying the TERRAMASTER F4-424 Pro to run a plex server for myself, friends and family about 3-5 separate households, my main concern is the F4-424 pro going to have the required power to support 3-5 houses playing 1080p tv shows/movies at the same time or will some/all suffer from playback issues/buffering/just wont work.
Also I do have a plex pass for hardware transcoding.
Sam.
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The TERRAMASTER F4-424 Pro is a solid choice for running a Plex server, especially with hardware transcoding enabled by your Plex Pass. In terms of your concern about supporting 3-5 separate households streaming 1080p content simultaneously, it should handle the load quite well under normal conditions.
Here are a few key points to consider:
Hardware Transcoding: With your Plex Pass and the F4-424 Pro's hardware transcoding support, it should be able to stream multiple 1080p videos without much trouble, even with multiple users. Hardware transcoding helps offload the heavy lifting from the CPU to the GPU, which is crucial for smooth playback, especially when transcoding is required (e.g., for devices that don’t support the original file format).
Network Speeds: Since you're streaming to 3-5 households, ensure that you have adequate network bandwidth (ideally gigabit or better). The 2.5GbE ports on the F4-424 Pro should be beneficial, but if your home network or internet connection isn’t up to speed, buffering can still occur.
Drive Configuration: With 32TB of storage, you'll have plenty of space, but make sure your drives are fast enough to support the simultaneous reads. For best performance, consider using SSD cache if you have space for it, especially for frequently accessed content.
Simultaneous Streams: Depending on your bitrate (for 1080p, typically between 4-8 Mbps), the NAS should be able to handle several streams. However, if users start streaming higher bitrates (e.g., 4K or HDR), it could start to push the limits, especially with transcoding. But for 1080p, you should be good.
