Emby Server: Synology vs. Windows

[Lonald 10]

I apologize if this has been addressed elsewhere...  and I am by no means competent in networking (so please use small words)...

 

I have a large-ish movie collection on a Synology NAS and have long used Emby with my desktop PC as the Emby Server.  This was set up well before there was a Synology version of Emby.  All of the movie files are saved as .mkv type and so I don't see that they are being transcoded by the server.  Peripheral devices are very mixed:  AppleTV, iPads, Windows PCs, Chromecast, X-Box...  Network is 1Gb with Cat 6a cable and I use wireless for iPads and laptops only.

 

Is there any advantage to now changing the server to the Synology NAS?  In particular, does the network traffic become better streamlined - is the Windows server directing the NAS to send the file directly to the peripheral device without actually having the file pass through the Windows PC?

 

Everything is working great as it is, but with the advent of 4k I want to make sure that it remains so!

 

Thanks!!!

[Luke 42077]

In theory being on the same machine can help, but if you'll be doing any transcoding then you may want to choose the one with the more powerful CPU.

[romaing 4]

Hi all, 

I would like to migrate my EMBY SERVER windows based on a Synology, to get a lower electrical consumption.

But I have read many users getting troubles when transcoding needs appears.

 

What could be the synology model recommandation Emby team may give ? DS218 PLAY is enough ?

 

thk you advance

[Luke 42077]

@@FrostByte what model do you have? Thanks !

[FrostByte 5392]

I have a DS418play with ram upgraded to 6gb and an Intel Appollolake processor while the DS218play has a Realtek processor.   All my 4K direct plays when watching on my Samsung TV and the only transcoding I have is when my son watches 4K in his room and he says he doesn't have any issues watching it transcoded.  VA-API seems to be running well on my NAS.

 

The DS218play does have the H265 hardware transcoding engine though which is good and might do for light amounts of transcoding.  On the other hand the DS218+ has the same Intel processor as mine.  It's just going to come down to how much and what you're transcoding and what you can afford.  My recommendation would be to go with one that has an Intel chip if you can.

 

https://www.synology.com/en-uk/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/General/What_kind_of_CPU_does_my_NAS_have

[solabc16 379]

Hello All

 

Just to clarify, there will be no h/w transcoding with Emby Server on the DS218play.

 

Best

- James

Edited November 19, 2018 by solabc16

[majorsl 23]

I went through this a little while ago, except it was from a macOS i7 machine to my Synology 1817+.

 

There is nothing stopping you from running Emby on your Synology and your existing machine at the same time.  You can then point a client or two to the Synology and test some of your more complex media to see how it preforms for you.

 

This is what I did and, for me, didn't run into many problems at all with my media.