[Question] Choosing a NAS

[Leyst 2]

Hello,

 

I'm pretty new to Emby, I used to watch my media from a USB so my knowledge is pretty basic so bare with me please. 

 

The reason why I want a NAS is because of the convenience so I dont have to have my PC running 24/7. 

 

So, my question is.. What is the best value for money NAS I can get for 4k hdr streaming locally without loosing any quality? 

 

 

 

 

[Luke 42077]

Hi there, I think QNAP, Synology and Asustor are all great choices.

[Leyst 2]

Hi Luke,

 

Would the Synology DS418play be good for 4k hdr streaming? 

I assume it's better to have more bays even though I wont be using all of them right away?

[Luke 42077]

@@FrostByte is that the model you have?

[mnk 1]

The ds418play is a good nas. And with synology you can make you server easily with good professional functions.

 

Envoyé de mon ONEPLUS A6003 en utilisant Tapatalk

[FrostByte 5392]

Mine is a DS418play with the memory upgraded to 6gb and 4 8tb drives.  I would recommend upgrading the memory on any NAS.

 

I have no problems direct playing 4K video using the Samsung client app on my TV and Emby server running on my NAS.  That's my primary usages

 

If considering other models and you think you may be doing any transcoding and want va-api support with your Synology make sure you get one with an Intel processor. 

 

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

 

I do not need transcoding with my Samsung because everything DPs, but my son occasionally plays some 4K in his bedroom which is transcoded to 1080p and he has seen no issues.  If you do a ton of transcoding 4K the faster the NAS the better of course.

[Leyst 2]

Thanks for the answers guys.

 

So upgrading the ram to 6gb straight away would be a good idea? 

I just noticed that the ram is pretty cheap, any suggestions to what ram I should get to upgrade to 6gb

Edited March 16, 2019 by Leyst

[FrostByte 5392]

Thanks for the answers guys.

 

So upgrading the ram to 6gb straight away would be a good idea? 

I just noticed that the ram is pretty cheap, any suggestions to what ram I should get to upgrade to 6gb

 

Yes, I would do it first thing.

 

I just went with the Synology 4gb stick to be safe.  Though I'm sure if you get RAM with the same specs you could save a little money. 

[Leyst 2]

Yes, I would do it first thing.

 

I just went with the Synology 4gb stick to be safe.  Though I'm sure if you get RAM with the same specs you could save a little money. 

 

Would the Synology RAM for DS1x15+ - 4GB be fine? 

[BAlGaInTl 288]

I think the best "value" is to roll your own.

 

I certainly understand buying a prebuilt NAS though.

 

I'm running server components with OMV.

[Leyst 2]

I think the best "value" is to roll your own.

 

I certainly understand buying a prebuilt NAS though.

 

I'm running server components with OMV.

 

My only issue with building my own would be the space. 

I would probably build my own if I had the spac. A NAS is pretty small so its perfect for smaller apt. 

 

I wish I had more room

[BAlGaInTl 288]

My only issue with building my own would be the space. 

I would probably build my own if I had the spac. A NAS is pretty small so its perfect for smaller apt. 

 

I wish I had more room

 

There are specialized NAS cases.  That along with a mITX server board will make a respectable and small NAS.

[Leyst 2]

There are specialized NAS cases.  That along with a mITX server board will make a respectable and small NAS.

 

I haven't looked into that.

 

I think I will go with the D418play. Im a little unsure if I should go for the DS918+ 

[BAlGaInTl 288]

I haven't looked into that.

 

I think I will go with the D418play. Im a little unsure if I should go for the DS918+ 

 

If you can swing it, go with the DS918+ over the play.  The hardware is close, but the DS918+ is a bit more future-proof.

 

Synology is a great basic NAS.

 

All that being said... rolling your own is so much fun. 

[markand 9]

Hi there, I think QNAP, Synology and Asustor are all great choices.

 

 

Hi Luke, do you have any specific recommendations or preferences with respect to QNAP & Synology models? I'm willing to consider Asustor too, though have not looked at them.  I would like one that can handle 4K.

 

My situation is that I am running Emby on an old Mac Pro (2008) and would like something more compact. I also have a Synology DS415Play but it's too slow for running Emby.

 

I would prefer to replace both with a NAS, but want to get something that is powerful enough.  Given that there are lots of factors that affect performance, I want to make sure I'm getting the right configuration.

Edited May 5, 2019 by markand

[Luke 42077]

I think they're all great choices. It sounds like the model that frostbyte has mentioned in post #6 could be a good fit for you.

[markand 9]

@@Luke, it looks like the DS918+ is a little bit better than the DS418play. Would that be better for Emby too? Do you have a favorite QNAP that I could compare with?

 

Thanks!

[Luke 42077]

Yes that model would of course be even better. The qnap ts-251a is very popular, although there's probably an updated version by now.

[markand 9]

@@Luke, so I've been doing a bit of research as I want to get something that is as future proof as possible, and my DS415Play seemed slow when I got it.

 

The QNAP TVS-672XT & TVS-872XT seem fast, having a Core™ i3-8100T 4-core 3.1 GHz and Core™ i5-8400T 6-core 1.7 GHz Processor, respectively. Each has Intel UHD Graphics 630.

 

Does Emby utilize the GPU for transcoding?  I read a review where someone found transcoding 4K video using Plex to be a taxing on the 672XT, but I don't think Plex uses the GPU.

 

Would either of these be good fit?

[Q-Droid 989]

You could also get an Intel NUC more than powerful enough to handle 4k transcoding and keep the DS415Play for storage. It's much easier and cheaper to replace a NUC than an entire NAS box.

 

Emby does quite well with Intel graphics and the (U)HD 630 can easily transcode 4k HEVC. I've had 4 simultaneous 4k HEVC -> 1080p h264 streams on my i3-8100. The 5th stream tipped it over the edge... ;-)

[Luke 42077]

@@Luke, so I've been doing a bit of research as I want to get something that is as future proof as possible, and my DS415Play seemed slow when I got it.

 

The QNAP TVS-672XT & TVS-872XT seem fast, having a Core™ i3-8100T 4-core 3.1 GHz and Core™ i5-8400T 6-core 1.7 GHz Processor, respectively. Each has Intel UHD Graphics 630.

 

Does Emby utilize the GPU for transcoding?  I read a review where someone found transcoding 4K video using Plex to be a taxing on the 672XT, but I don't think Plex uses the GPU.

 

Would either of these be good fit?

 

I'm not sure as I haven't tested those models, but in theory yes we should be able to support it.

[BAlGaInTl 288]

@@Luke, so I've been doing a bit of research as I want to get something that is as future proof as possible, and my DS415Play seemed slow when I got it.

 

The QNAP TVS-672XT & TVS-872XT seem fast, having a Core™ i3-8100T 4-core 3.1 GHz and Core™ i5-8400T 6-core 1.7 GHz Processor, respectively. Each has Intel UHD Graphics 630. [/size]

 

Does Emby utilize the GPU [/size]for transcoding?  I read a review where someone found transcoding 4K video using Plex to be a taxing on the 672XT, but I don't think Plex uses the GPU.

 

Would either of these be good fit?

As @@Luke stated, in theory, the hardware can be used for decoding.

 

How many drives do you plan on using?

 

If you start getting into the price range of the QNAP TVS-872XT, then I think you should REALLY consider building your own. For that cost, you could build something that is more powerful and future-proof.

 

I certainly understand going with a simpler NAS though.

[markand 9]

If you start getting into the price range of the QNAP TVS-872XT, then I think you should REALLY consider building your own. For that cost, you could build something that is more powerful and future-proof.

 

I certainly understand going with a simpler NAS though.

 

 

That's an interesting option, though if I were to build one, I would not need 8 drives. 4-6 should do it. In my Synology, I have 3.

 

The thing that worries me about that approach though is what OS would I use and if I did use something like FreeNAS, would the hardware acceleration work?  If I had a QNAP, at least I could refer to some config that exists and is documented.  I would not consider Windows for my OS.

Edited May 8, 2019 by markand

[BAlGaInTl 288]

That's an interesting option, though if I were to build one, I would not need 8 drives. 4-6 should do it. In my Synology, I have 3.

 

The thing that worries me about that approach though is what OS would I use and if I did use something like FreeNAS, would the hardware acceleration work?  If I had a QNAP, at least I could refer to some config that exists and is documented.  I would not consider Windows for my OS.

Is size a factor? Are you trying to keep it small? That will drive what case/hardware you start with.

 

As for OS, I actually wouldn't recommend FreeNAS. Instead, I would look to one of the established *NIX based NAS OS.

 

I used OpenMediaVault (OMV) for a long time. It's completely free, and provides a web interface on top of Debian. I personally ran this for probably the last 5 years or more. It has plugins, but other than the Docker, I don't really recommend the native ones. They just aren't updated as frequently. There used to be an Emby specific one, but I think most just went to the Docker container instead.

 

I just recently switched to unRaid. It's way simpler than OMV. Changing/upgrading drives is a breeze. The plugins are dead simple and include both native and Docker plugins in a single interface. It's not free however. For 6 devices I think it start at $60 or so for a lifetime license. I went with the upgraded license for $90 which gives me up to 12.

 

Either way, I would run Emby in a Docker container. Yes, you may have to do some work to pass the hardware along to it to take advantage of hardware encoding/decoding, but I think it can be done.

 

There are lots of guides out there for getting Emby running in OMV or unRaid. You can try either one for free to see if it will do what you are looking for. Especially if you have some old hardware lying about to try them on.

Edited May 8, 2019 by BAlGaInTl

[markand 9]

@BAlGaInTl - Thanks for the info. At this point, though, I'm less concerned with price than with time. I'm doing this because I'm moving and trying to consolidate. To really build a high performance NAS I'd need to really research things and don't have the time.

 

I do appreciate the help though!