NAS recommendations

[Enquiries]

I have never owned a NAS but am running into storage issues with a large Apple Music Collection and the potentially very large HD and 4k movie collection. I own well over 700 movies in what I call 'SageFlix'. If I ever choose to download all of them, I have no idea what the needed storage would be. I am an Apple Geek and we currently run a 2023 MB Pro, 2020 MB Air, 2 iPhones 1 iPad Pro, AppleTV 4k and 4k LG OLED CX 2020. I am thinking of the newest Terramaster F4-423 or something equivalent. I also have two complete Sonos sound systems in two rooms and Sonos Roam. I would like to save Apple Music on an NAS system and have no idea how to do so.

[ed]

For your storage needs, it sounds like a NAS would be a great solution. The Terramaster F4-423 is a good option for a 4-bay NAS, especially if you need a lot of storage and want to run multiple applications such as Plex or other media server software.

To store your Apple Music on the NAS, you can use the iTunes Server feature built into the Terramaster NAS. This will allow you to store your music library on the NAS and access it from any device on your network.

As for your movie collection, the amount of storage required will depend on the size and quality of the movies. A 1080p movie typically takes up between 5-10 GB, while a 4K movie can take up 50 GB or more. If you have 700 movies, you can estimate that you will need at least 3.5-35 TB of storage. However, it's always a good idea to factor in additional storage for future downloads and expansion.

In terms of a GPU, most NAS devices do not have the ability to add a dedicated GPU. However, some NAS models do have built-in hardware acceleration for transcoding, which can help with streaming media. The Terramaster F4-423 has hardware acceleration capabilities, so you may not need a dedicated GPU.

Overall, the Terramaster F4-423 is a good option for your needs. Just make sure to choose the appropriate amount of storage and consider using RAID to protect your data in case of a drive failure.

As I first NAS I would rather recommend Synology. It is safer and easier to use. DS420+ has graphics built in and can handle up tp 4k locally. Streaming 4k via plex remotely would require i5 based NAS.

I hope this helps.

[TJSage]

For your storage needs, it sounds like a NAS would be a great solution. The Terramaster F4-423 is a good option for a 4-bay NAS, especially if you need a lot of storage and want to run multiple applications such as Plex or other media server software.

To store your Apple Music on the NAS, you can use the iTunes Server feature built into the Terramaster NAS. This will allow you to store your music library on the NAS and access it from any device on your network.

As for your movie collection, the amount of storage required will depend on the size and quality of the movies. A 1080p movie typically takes up between 5-10 GB, while a 4K movie can take up 50 GB or more. If you have 700 movies, you can estimate that you will need at least 3.5-35 TB of storage. However, it's always a good idea to factor in additional storage for future downloads and expansion.

In terms of a GPU, most NAS devices do not have the ability to add a dedicated GPU. However, some NAS models do have built-in hardware acceleration for transcoding, which can help with streaming media. The Terramaster F4-423 has hardware acceleration capabilities, so you may not need a dedicated GPU.

Overall, the Terramaster F4-423 is a good option for your needs. Just make sure to choose the appropriate amount of storage and consider using RAID to protect your data in case of a drive failure.

As I first NAS I would rather recommend Synology. It is safer and easier to use. DS420+ has graphics built in and can handle up tp 4k locally. Streaming 4k via plex remotely would require i5 based NAS.

I hope this helps.

Ed,

Thank you for the response. You are obviously a fan of Synology. I have no experience with NAS servers but with my pseudo research Synology was one of the first I was attracted to. The other one that keeps coming up is QNAP. That seems to be very favored with PLEX. I have never used used PLEX but I do have a large interest is learning more about it. I have a large library of movies and shows but I think I would strore a small amount of items and am basically interested having instant access to a small number of items when compared to the total of over 700 movies and series. My original thought what started my interest was my large Apple Music database and getting Sonos 24/7 access to it. Now, as 'smart tvs' progress having access to dowloaded films are becoming another large interest. I don't want to 'overspend' on items I have no need for. I don't use any surveillance or have a business database. This will be primarily for Apple item backups, Apple Music, Apple TV, VUDU, and Amazon PRIME storage. That is what I assume PLEX will take care of. I sent a small. token of my appreciation and will be happy to do so as needed.

TJSage

[ed]

For your storage needs, it sounds like a NAS would be a great solution. The Terramaster F4-423 is a good option for a 4-bay NAS, especially if you need a lot of storage and want to run multiple applications such as Plex or other media server software.

To store your Apple Music on the NAS, you can use the iTunes Server feature built into the Terramaster NAS. This will allow you to store your music library on the NAS and access it from any device on your network.

As for your movie collection, the amount of storage required will depend on the size and quality of the movies. A 1080p movie typically takes up between 5-10 GB, while a 4K movie can take up 50 GB or more. If you have 700 movies, you can estimate that you will need at least 3.5-35 TB of storage. However, it's always a good idea to factor in additional storage for future downloads and expansion.

In terms of a GPU, most NAS devices do not have the ability to add a dedicated GPU. However, some NAS models do have built-in hardware acceleration for transcoding, which can help with streaming media. The Terramaster F4-423 has hardware acceleration capabilities, so you may not need a dedicated GPU.

Overall, the Terramaster F4-423 is a good option for your needs. Just make sure to choose the appropriate amount of storage and consider using RAID to protect your data in case of a drive failure.

As I first NAS I would rather recommend Synology. It is safer and easier to use. DS420+ has graphics built in and can handle up tp 4k locally. Streaming 4k via plex remotely would require i5 based NAS.

I hope this helps.

Ed,

Thank you for the response. You are obviously a fan of Synology. I have no experience with NAS servers but with my pseudo research Synology was one of the first I was attracted to. The other one that keeps coming up is QNAP. That seems to be very favored with PLEX. I have never used used PLEX but I do have a large interest is learning more about it. I have a large library of movies and shows but I think I would strore a small amount of items and am basically interested having instant access to a small number of items when compared to the total of over 700 movies and series. My original thought what started my interest was my large Apple Music database and getting Sonos 24/7 access to it. Now, as 'smart tvs' progress having access to dowloaded films are becoming another large interest. I don't want to 'overspend' on items I have no need for. I don't use any surveillance or have a business database. This will be primarily for Apple item backups, Apple Music, Apple TV, VUDU, and Amazon PRIME storage. That is what I assume PLEX will take care of. I sent a small. token of my appreciation and will be happy to do so as needed.

TJSage

I often recommend Synology as a first NAS because it is preconfigured in a safer way. But Qnap is obviously having a better hardware. Once you set up Plex and other things, you dont need to use NAS admin panel any more. So not much to learn really in either way.  It is recommended to have Celeron based NAS for up to 1080p media and i5 for 4k. 
Local streaming on compatible 4k TVs can be done via Realtek based models.