Debating on NAS

[jmassaro87 28]

My HTPC that was running emby server died. I have been wanting to get a NAS for a while and well now is the time. I am debating between the Synology DS418play and the QNAP TS-451+. Any reasons to go for one over the other?

 

Pretty much everything is DP from in house. Mostly to either 4k samsung tv, AppleTV 4k, or roku (1080p). I do not currently have any 4k content, but that could change. 

[mastrmind11 717]

if you're not opposed to building one, I'd go that route.  much cheaper and you don't have to stay within the confines of a pre-built spec.

[jmassaro87 28]

if you're not opposed to building one, I'd go that route.  much cheaper and you don't have to stay within the confines of a pre-built spec.

Not opposed. Just not exactly sure where to start with that (plus the wife really misses our EMBY content, so timing is also in play). Never built a nas before, but have built many computers. Do you have a build plan or general specs i should consider?

[kadorken 1]

Personally, in the past I have built 'media servers' using windows and macs.I got tired of obsoleted support for various things, plus keeping all the windows servers/virtual machines etc. up to date and in sync. Decided to retire the old 2008 R2 server (it was out of service) and just moved everything to a DS918+ (totally new to me, but that's okay); so far all has worked flawlessly with hardware. Just stuffed disks in, moved content and away we went.

 

Used old disks initially (I will wait till they die) from the 2008 server.

 

Less building, but more trusting on the vendor; time will tell.

[vdatanet 1549]

Depending on your transcoding needs, a NAS may not be powerful enough. 

 

For 4K transcoding is not enough. However, 4K transcoding does not make much sense because most 4K content is HDR and HDR is lost when transcoding. The result is very washed colors.

 

I have spent a lot of money (well, not too much but more than necessary) to be able to transcode 4K but the result has been disappointing.

Edited November 22, 2019 by vdatanet

[jmassaro87 28]

Depending on your transcoding needs, a NAS may not be powerful enough. 

 

For 4K transcoding is not enough. However, 4K transcoding does not make much sense because most 4K content is HDR and HDR is lost when transcoding. The result is very washed colors.

 

I have spent a lot of money (well, not too much but more than necessary) to be able to transcode 4K but the result has been disappointing.

 

Considering none of my content is currently 4k, it is not the end of the world. And transcoding rarely happens most is DP. I ended up ordering the DS418play, should be in tomorrow. Between the 2, it was the only one that actually mentions 4k transcoding. And i started looking into a DIY nas, and i was looking at spending about the same $ so went with an out of the box solution. DIY may have yielded better specs, but again, it is solely hosting media. I should be fine.

[mastrmind11 717]

Considering none of my content is currently 4k, it is not the end of the world. And transcoding rarely happens most is DP. I ended up ordering the DS418play, should be in tomorrow. Between the 2, it was the only one that actually mentions 4k transcoding. And i started looking into a DIY nas, and i was looking at spending about the same $ so went with an out of the box solution. DIY may have yielded better specs, but again, it is solely hosting media. I should be fine.

cool.  good luck.