Will Synology NAS DS1520+ Work as Emby Server?

[JulesC 44]

I'm looking to move my old Window 10 Server to a Synology NAS because it doesn't stream 4K UHD movies.

Will Emby Server work on the Synology NAS DS1520+ and will it run 4K UHD movies?

Here are the specs:

• Intel J4125 1.5-2.7Ghz
• 8GB DDR4 Memory (8GBMax)
• 5 HDD Bays
• Expandable to 15 Bays
• 2x NVMe 2280 NVMe Cache Bays
• 2x USB 3.0
• 4x 1Gbe RJ45 LAN

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Edited December 9, 2020 by JulesC

[JulesC 44]

@FrostByte - since you have Synology experience, I was hoping you could help with my question.

[FrostByte 5055]

I do not have that exact model, but there are several people here that do and run Emby just fine.  In fact I believe a certain Emby dev has one now and may be able to lend his experience.   But yes, that one is a good choice and has a 4K GPU which will be good for transcoding if needed.  If there was one knock against running Emby server on a NAS in the past it was that the CPU just couldn't handle transcoding 4K to 4K, but even my older model can transcode 4K to 1080p without a problem so you should be fine. 

As far as streaming goes I have no issues with streaming high bitrate 4K remuxes at all.  In fact, we're enjoying watching the new LoTR 4K movies now and my older NAS hasn't had any problems

Synology has some nice new models with Ryzen CPUs also, but they don't have a GPU so any transcoding will be handled completely by the CPU.  However, if you have little to no transcoding they may be a good choice also.

If I were to upgrade today, I would probably go with the 1520+ myself and my dream NAS would be the DS1621xs+ which is way out of my price range.

 

[JulesC 44]

9 minutes ago, FrostByte said:

I do not have that exact model, but there are several people here that do and run Emby just fine.  In fact I believe a certain Emby dev has one now and may be able to lend his experience.   But yes, that one is a good choice and has a 4K GPU which will be good for transcoding if needed.  If there was one knock against running Emby server on a NAS in the past it was that the CPU just couldn't handle transcoding 4K to 4K, but even my older model can transcode 4K to 1080p without a problem so you should be fine. 

As far as streaming goes I have no issues with streaming high bitrate 4K remuxes at all.  In fact, we're enjoying watching the new LoTR 4K movies now and my older NAS hasn't had any problems

Synology has some nice new models with Ryzen CPUs also, but they don't have a GPU so any transcoding will be handled completely by the CPU.  However, if you have little to no transcoding they may be a good choice also.

If I were to upgrade today, I would probably go with the 1520+ myself and my dream NAS would be the DS1621xs+ which is way out of my price range.

 

@FrostByte thank you so very much for your help. It’s greatly appreciated. 

[TroyKing 22]

I have the 1520+ and haven’t had any issues with remuxes at all. One good thing is that Emby mostly direct streams but when it transcodes it works perfectly. Yesterday I was watching Tenet and had to use the subtitles and had no lag at all. Also the 5 bays are a plus for storage

[JulesC 44]

49 minutes ago, JulesC said:

my dream NAS would be the DS1621xs+ which is way out of my price range.

@FrostBytewhat about this model do you like vs the DS1520+ ? The Intel CPU for the DS1621xs+ appears to be more suited for desktop/server, but the  DS1520+ Intel CPU is much newer (i.e. 2019 vs 2015)

@TroyKingthank you for your input 

[JulesC 44]

48 minutes ago, TroyKing said:

I have the 1520+ and haven’t had any issues with remuxes at all. One good thing is that Emby mostly direct streams but when it transcodes it works perfectly. Yesterday I was watching Tenet and had to use the subtitles and had no lag at all. Also the 5 bays are a plus for storage

@TroyKing can you tell me what NAS hard drives that you’re using and what size are they? Thank you 

[TroyKing 22]

Just now, JulesC said:

@TroyKing can you tell me what NAS hard drives that you’re using and what size are they? Thank you 

I use IronWolf NAS hard drives. In Black Friday they were on sale so I purchased two 12TB drives and previously had two 8TB. Haven’t had any issues with them and they perform really fast.

[FrostByte 5055]

I mainly like the networking aspect of the xs, but ya it's not really meant for what we're doing.  

https://nascompares.com/answer/ds1621xs-vs-ds1520/

I have 12tb WD red plus drives in my NAS now.  Never had any problems.   The WD Reds and Ironwolfs are both great drives in my experience.  

[JulesC 44]

Thanks to @FrostByteand @TroyKing for their guidance. I’ve ordered the DS1520+ and 2 Seagate Ironwolf 12TB drives for starters. I’ll keep this group updated on my progress. 
As I transition from Windows to Synology NAS, are there any tips to help with the migration? Any other learnings that I should be aware of?

Thanks again for all your help. 

[Happy2Play 8324]

Cross platforms really has no real migration as paths will change.  I would only restore users and userdata via the Server Configurartion Backup plugin.

Now your issue is if you save metadata and images with media or not.  In theory you could migrate all content of the Emby programdata to its new location on Synology but like I said all of your library paths will no longer be correct and files and database entires would be wrong on the new install and possibly permissions issues.

[FrostByte 5055]

It's been a couple years, but I was able to recover playlists easily using notepad, or something like that.  Just do a mass change on the folder names and rescan .  

[FrostByte 5055]

Oh, and do NOT call your root share folder "Emby".  That's where Emby server will install and you'll be having all sorts of permissions issues if you do.

[JulesC 44]

@Happy2Play & @FrostByte thank you for your guidance.