PC Tech Thread

Talk to me about NAS. I'm after a small device for basic file storage and running Plex server. I don't have a 4k TV and probably won't do any time soon, I watch things through a Roku which has a Plex client installed. Do I need transcoding capability? Will the Plex client/server sort that stuff out? Can I just convert any videos to a different format with handbrake to avoid it?

Budget is as little as possible.

Terramaster: any good? Reviews seem mixed.

I have one 4k WD red drive already so would probably get another. I'll probably not get this for another couple of months, but it would be good to set up some price alerts.

If you're not streaming remotely your Plex can just send the full file through to the local client on the network.

As a consequence... you're good to use any NAS as playback is merely "read file".

However, do you have a super large collection? i.e. thousands of songs or films? Because the thing that will challenge a NAS is that it will run a database server to hold the collection data... and that will perform best with a half-decent CPU and a decent chunk of RAM... NASs are not famous for CPU and RAM... so they can be limiting factors on the UI performance of Plex.

But... if you can tolerate a slow UI and you're only streaming locally... you can honestly just consider any NAS that appears to support a Plex server (which you can check on various forums for different NAS vendors or models).

Depending on the Roku and the media it may need to do some transcoding. Have a look at the formats that your videos are in and Google to see what it can direct play. It may not be able to cope with 4k or the latest format for instance (but not an issue if you don't have any 4k).

If you decide you need more power for Plex you can always add something like an Intel NUC later for not much money

Thanks, but I think you and @Velocio are contradicting each other here regarding the transcoding. Unless I'm missing something, by 'merely read file' do you (Velocio) mean a direct play without any transcoding (in the case of a local server and client).

I understand from other people's issues here that wireless bandwidth can be an issue in that case also, but I hope to get an Ethernet connection between client and server, though that would mean a different client from the standard Roku.

We might not be contradicting each other.

For pure Plex on an LAN there's no need to transcode.

But if the Roku clients ask for a transcode then Plex is going to transcode.

Ah so the Roku version of Plex might not have the capability the client usually would (or the hardware doesn't). Out of interest is there a client that would never ask for a transcode? The Roku may get replaced with something with an Ethernet port.

I always answer the same... But the cheapest NAS and an Nvidia shield... Put the Plex server on the Nvidia shield, cable it up and connect that to your telly. The NAS you can put anywhere, the Nvidia shield connects to your telly and the network. The Nvidia can be on wi-fi if you don't need 4k

Ah yeah, I knew you were a fan of the shield. So it just pulls files directly from the NAS and plays them like a PV would. That does sound like a more sensible approach tbh.

So it just pulls files directly from the NAS and plays them like a PV would

Exactly.

And the Nvidia Shield CPU and RAM is better than what any cheap NAS would have. You have to get quite pricey on the NAS to get the equivalent. The remote playing, should you need that, would be fine on the Shield as the CPU supports hardware encoding meaning the CPU does the work rather than software, so it transcodes effortlessly.

There are limitations to the Shield... super large collections slow it down. But my 1,000 film collection was fine, it was only the 100,000 audio collection that really bogged it down (especially as Plex likes to fetch thumbnails for everything).

For a film and TV collection... or a small/medium audio collection... the Shield is awesome. Besides, it's an upgrade to whatever your smart TV is. And then if you want to be privacy conscious you can actually disconnect the TV from the network and just use the Shield for everything.

Yep, different devices have different capabilities to play back files natively. If the device can't play back the file natively (doesn't have the processing power or doesn't have the codec) then plex will either repackage it (doesn't take much processing power) or transcode it (takes a lot of processing power).

This gives you a bit of an explanation
https://techuplife.com/best-plex-client-2020/

If you're looking at the cheap end of the scale then a Raspberry Pi 4 will probably do the job as a client but will take some set up.

I'd agree with Velocio that I'd go for a separate cheap NAS and then something else for playback/Plex server.

I've got an Nvidia Shield Pro (has to be the pro) too and it's good. Really good interface and snappy compared to a lot of similar devices. I've never really used the Plex server properly so can't comment on that though (you will need an external SSD or flash drive if you want to run a plex server which is about as far as I got).

The other option is an Intel NUC. A second hand one for about the same price as a Shield will have plenty of grunt for transcoding (if you want to watch on mobile for instance) and work as a client. It's swings and roundabouts which you prefer, a PC offers more flexibility but you may need to get a keyboard and mouse out every so often.

I've never really used the Plex server properly so can't comment on that though (you will need an external SSD or flash drive if you want to run a plex server which is about as far as I got).

Nope... can be pointed at network storage.

1. mount network share on the nVidia Shield, by going to settings > device > storage
   
2. make sure plex server is up and running on the shield tv.
   
3. manage storage in the plex media server, make sure it uses "internal (user accessible storage location) "
   
4. Finally, go to a windows / mac machine and open a browser and goto "https://app.plex.tv/desktop"
   
5. In this website, manage the plex server on your shield tv. You simple can add a folder to a library by putting in the share.
   
6. Go back to your shield tv and you should see the media in the plex tv app
   

Plex Server on shield defaults to external USB, but it's just Plex and can be configured exactly like a Plex Server anywhere else.

So long as there's an SMB share (Windows shared folder on the NAS)... it works.

That's for the media though isn't it? My database is bigger than the 16GB storage that the Shield has which is why I needed the ssd/flash drive.

Ah... if your database is large then Shield is going to exhaust the internal storage. Hence my advice up above how Shield is great for small/medium collections, but does not work for large collections.

Thousands of items = fine on Shield
Tens of thousands of items = not so fine on Shield
Hundreds of thousands = definitely will not work on Shield

But as a pathway to a larger system, Shield as Plex Server is fine... and then in the future if you're all-in and have a large collection, you can create a new server elsewhere and repoint your clients and nuke the Shield server.

Yes. It seemed to work ok when I did a test run with a flash drive I had lying around but not enough motivation to replace my current server which is more powerful.

Thanks, I think I'm starting to understand what a good setup might look like now. Quite a small collection currently so it looks like a Shield should work, or, on the cheaper end, I thhink maybe the new Chromecast 'with Google TV' can do playback from local storage, though unsure quite how well or what that means i.e. local disc or network storage over LAN.

Could you / the mount the NAS on the shield (using cifs)?

[Edit] Needs root. And the shield does not root tidily.

[Edit 2] Pi-zero with NAS mounted, configured as a USB drive. What could possiubly go wrong.

If you're doing playback from local storage I'd get a raspberry pi with a USB drive and stick Kodi on it.

I mean, if you're not planning on using any of the capabilities of Plex beyond direct play local playback then you may want to skip Plex altogether and go with Kodi and either a NAS or USB drive plugged into the Pi.

I moved to using Plex because I watch on different devices and synchronise to mobile devices, otherwise I'd probably still be using Kodi.

I use Kodi plugged into my TV with a simple WD MyCloud NAS and it seems to work fine as long as Kodi supports the video file format.

Was thinking of upgrade the NAS to a 2 bay though, any consensus on good but reasonably priced 2 bay enclosures?

Not WD again, that's for sure. I hate mine. So much.

Ordered myself a Gigabyte M27Q 170, can now ditch my aged HPZR24W as my second screen.

Nice. Got good reviews and solid feature set for the price.

Just need to get a 3060Ti now, oh well maybe next year...

https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/11/22278562/nvidia-rtx-2060-gtx-1050-ti-gpu-shortage-global-chip

related:

https://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-cmp-mining-cards-rtx-3060-half-hash-rate/

Is there a point is pre-ordering a PC from scan.co.uk without an ETA? I thought maybe to lock
in the price but then I read about some people being charged more later.

I have two external hard drives, they both share some files but then each hard drive also has some unique files on thanks to my piss poor backing up. Is there an easy way to consolidate them so everything from both is backed up and I have two full backups on each hard drive? tried searching but only seem to get answers for combing partitions

I've not heard of being charged more later. Just depends how urgently you need / what your cashflow is like - it can take a bit of time to get a refund to cancel the pre-order if you find the same item available elsewhere.