jonboyuk 12 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Hi all, I'm sure this has been asked before but with different variables, so apologies in advance. I'm new to the NAS/Emby scene. For Christmas I was given a Raspberry Pi 3b+, and I thought I'd plug an old HDD into it and see what a file server would be like for movies. I love it. Emby is brilliant and now I want more.... I guess I'm trying to work out which is best for hosting the Emby server (which might have an impact on the NAS I buy)... Do I just get a Synology DS218 with its media-centric transcoding features and use that as the Emby server too? Or do I get a DS218j purely as a more basic NAS (other suggestions welcome) and use one of my existing machines below as the Emby server? I have: A Raspberry Pi 3b+ (my low powered Christmas pressy - always on); An Nvidia Shield (also always on); A PC - Intel i7-7820X CPU/32GB RAM/GTX 1080Ti (beastly but far from low power and only on when I'm using it - but would nail transcoding). I guess I don't want to spend money where it's not necessary so any input would be very welcome. Thanks all J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37253 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Synology is a great option. @@FrostByte can vouch for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrostByte 5061 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Synology works great as a server. If that's the route you go then you will want one with an Intel processor in order to use va-api for transcoding. https://www.synology.com/en-uk/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Compatibility_Peripherals/What_kind_of_CPU_does_my_NAS_have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 I've read (on here) that it can be better to keep the NAS and server separate - although I can't imagine why... In the interest of saving money however, would the NVidia Shield act as a better server, or at least sufficiently over that of say the Synology DS218? I realise this isn't Intel, but it can do 4K @ 60fps. The DS218+ (which is Intel) can only achieve 4K @ 30fps. I'm happy to have two devices running - as I said the Shield is always on anyway so... Thanks for your advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Cheeky bump for anyone who uses Shield as their Emby server... :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37253 Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 It's hard to compare the two, but if you already have the shield, why not just try it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 (edited) Thanks Luke. I guess I haven't because I'm trying to decipher whether to buy the more expensive Synology NAS with 4k transcoding or not. In order of best to worst server, how would you organise the 4? My PC, the Pi, the Shield, the Synology DS218. I don't do much 4k stuff, but would like to future proof I guess. I am having a go with the Shield now anyway... How do I bring back my nicely set up library from the Pi? I've moved the same HDD from the Pi to the Shield where the data is stored, but I've lost all my collections etc. Thanks again Luke Edited February 2, 2019 by jonboyuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenkethBoy 2063 Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 PC, Shield,Syno,PI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 (edited) Edited February 2, 2019 by jonboyuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Synology works great as a server. If that's the route you go then you will want one with an Intel processor in order to use va-api for transcoding. https://www.synology.com/en-uk/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Compatibility_Peripherals/What_kind_of_CPU_does_my_NAS_have Slightly confused. The Synology DS218+ has an Intel chip and can do 4K/30 transcoding. The cheaper DS218/218 Play can do 4K/60 (although going by your suggestion won't have va-api)? Is Emby not compatible with the latter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37253 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Yes you can use that NAS with Emby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Thanks Luke. I'm still trying to work out why the Intel NAS is more expensive when it can't produce a better transcoding spec than the 'play' version of the same device. Can anyone shed some light on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrostByte 5061 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) You can use Emby on the latter, but Emby won't hardware transcode with Realtek processors. Emby uses Va-api which those other processors don't support because there is no Intel HD Graphics GPU like in those Intel models Here's one comment I found by solabc16 from Synology Hello All Just to clarify, there will be no h/w transcoding with Emby Server on the DS218play. Best - James Hello All Just to clarify, there will be no h/w transcoding with Emby Server on the DS218play. Best - James Edited February 5, 2019 by FrostByte 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 Thanks for your help. Opted for the Synology 218+. Works great! Is there anything I need to do to turn on hardware transcoding, or is it automatic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37253 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Yes see here: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/69960-xpenology-hardware-transcoding-support/ Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboyuk 12 Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 Ah okay, so basically I need Premiere! I'll try it for a month and see how I get on before I plunge for the Lifetime! Thanks Luke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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