What NAS? DS216J

rhysduck · 24 Oct 2016 at 16:37

Which NAS does everyone recommend?
2Bay is required and it'll be used purely for data storage and Plex.

I've been looking at the Synology DS216J as the price is affordable and it seems to do everything I need.

Comparing it to the DS216+II and the DS216 Play thre really isn't much in it as far as performance goes that I can see :confused:

I DON'T think I'll need on the fly transcoding for Plex as I have the Plex app on the TV and PS4 and all movies/films I have are MKV.

Thanks for any help.

bremen1874 · 24 Oct 2016 at 17:09

MKV is just a wrapper. It doesn't tell you anything about the codecs used and whether they'll be playable.

If you haven't already do so try installing the Plex Media Server on a PC and see if your files really do play without transcoding. You can then decide if you'd rather have a more powerful box or spend the time re-encoding your library.

I've recently been playing with Plex and was planning to get a NAS to run it on.

After trying it on PC hardware I've found its decisions about what needs transcoding a bit baffling at times.

I originally tried Plex on my HP Microserver N54L running Windows 10. It worked okay until it hit anything it decided needed transcoding.

As I had a Xeon based Dell T20 going spare I ended up sticking unRAID with Plex on that.

rhysduck · 25 Oct 2016 at 11:51

bremen1874 said:
If you haven't already do so try installing the Plex Media Server on a PC and see if your files really do play without transcoding. You can then decide if you'd rather have a more powerful box or spend the time re-encoding your library.

I've recently been playing with Plex and was planning to get a NAS to run it on.

My PC upstairs runs the PMS (the pc currently has the drives that will be going in the NAS in). How do I know/check if they play without trancoding?

A NAS appeals to me due it's small footprint, and it also means in can downgrade the size of my main desktop come my man cave renovation

Greebo · 25 Oct 2016 at 13:45

Normally there is a bit difference in the read write speeds between the basic J and + NAS>

From memory the + has double the read speed and 40% faster write speed than the J version.

Along with all the video decoding on the fly stuff.

Also the + has snapshot instant copy for anything you plug into the usb3 slot which can be handy.

ChrisD. · 25 Oct 2016 at 14:21

Have a look at QNAP, you tend to get much better hardware for your money although I think I prefer the Synology UI.

rhysduck · 27 Oct 2016 at 10:57

I'm not bothered with write speeds just read and network performance.

I don't have any 4k media (no 4k TV) so just 1080p media needs to be supported.

I'll knock up a quick spreadsheet to compare a few lunchtime.

Budget is around £200 max for an enclosure so I think the QNAP is slightly out of budget.

Greebo · 28 Oct 2016 at 23:38

Qnap same spec drives are always cheaper than Synology like for like

rhysduck · 15 Nov 2016 at 15:52

Think I've decided on the
QNAP TS-251+-2G.

Anyone use one?

ANDARIAL · 15 Nov 2016 at 16:15

What about a Gen8 microserver and Xpenology?

rhysduck · 15 Nov 2016 at 22:01

ANDARIAL said:
What about a Gen8 microserver and Xpenology?

Talk to me Jonny!

Whats the performance / OS / footprint / price / performance like? Know nothing about MicroServers.

ChrisD. · 16 Nov 2016 at 08:19

They are good but you will always be a few releases behind Synology, security updates included.

ANDARIAL · 16 Nov 2016 at 15:50

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18528018
Have a look here m8
The Gen8 `can` be had for around £120 after cashback rebate from selected retailers
Not sure if the offer is still on atm but it comes around every few months so it could be worth waiting for

rhysduck · 17 Nov 2016 at 10:58

Thanks Andarial! Extensive thread.

So more stuff to decide on, Microserver or NAS.. jesus

pcfarrar · 17 Nov 2016 at 16:04

I've got the DS 216+II and it works well with Plex. It can transcode low/medium bitrate 720p. Hopefully some day Plex will add hardware transcoding support and then it will be good for multiple 1080p streams.

rallyfan1986 · 18 Nov 2016 at 16:39

rhysduck said:
My PC upstairs runs the PMS (the pc currently has the drives that will be going in the NAS in). How do I know/check if they play without trancoding?

A NAS appeals to me due it's small footprint, and it also means in can downgrade the size of my main desktop come my man cave renovation

Just reading through this thread, as im also looking for a NAS,

Also got the same question as above, if anyone could advise?

bremen1874 · 18 Nov 2016 at 16:54

The easiest way I know to check if Plex will want to transcode is to try it.

Install a Plex Server onto a PC and add the media you want to test to its library. Then playback the media to the device you want to use.

If you look at the Plex Server there's a status option that allows you to view what's currently playing. If it's transcoding it'll show it there.

If you have multiple playback devices you'll need to test them all. Media that will work without transcoding on one device may need transcoding on another.