Is this NAS setup possible?

Chaoslava

Hi all,

I'm looking for an all-in-one solution to create a media server that my various devices can connect to and stream the bevy of content I have on an external drive.

I currently use a TalkTalk router (Fast 5364 I believe) which connects to my main PC via a powerplug.

What I do at the moment is all media content is transferred onto a hard drive, which is then brought from PC to laptop to Xbox to watch content. It would be ideal if I could wirelessly connect to a server to stream content to multiple devices (Phones, PC's, Xbox etc) using Plex

I'm thinking I'll need a NAS for this, but as I'd want to use Plex's interface, would it really be necessary? Is there some way to put a HDD in an enclosure with an ethernet port and just park it next to the router with a direct connection?

Thank you!

maddy

What you've described here is a NAS.

next010

The router has no NAS function according to here.

You will need a NAS.

Plex has software based transcoding and hardware based transcoding, the CPU's in consumer NAS tend to not be very powerful so have limited software transcoding performance.

Hardware transcoding allows better transcoding performance but is locked behind being a Plex pass subscriber. Transcoding can be avoided if your smart about content and what supports what, if videos are stock H.264/MKV then transcoding will rarely ever be used. But ripping DVD/Blu-ray direct will cause transcoding.

For £236 you can buy a Synology DS218 which is a dual bay NAS, it has an x86 CPU which runs Plex server well and is capable of limited software transcoding and hardware transcoding. This covers all avenues to a degree so your not trapped and at worse must purchase a Plex pass.

Keep in mind the Synology NAS setup process will erase any HDD inside it so backup all data on that drive.

Abacus

Use new NAS drives (WD Red or Seagate Iron Wolf are good models) then copy the hard drive contents to the NAS and keep the hard drive as a backup.

Have fun

Bill

only1hammy

If you're willing to keep your PC always-on then the easiest solution is to have the current media hard drive permanently plugged into your PC, run a Plex server on that PC, point the Plex server to the hard drive, enjoy media across your network, celebrate good times.

Chaoslava

Thanks for the suggestion but I'd rather not - I'm looking for a cheap, low power solution.

In an ideal world I would want to just plug something straight into the router, that uses low wattage and has a standby mode.

A NAS looks interesting but I'm balking at the plus £200 price.

Are there no network-accessible hard drive enclosures under £100?

Thanks.

maddy

Something like this?
My Cloud | WD

next010

Plex is not a lightweight application.

The Synology DS119j costs £97 and has support for Plex pending as you can see in Plex own NAS compatibility chart but it has no transcoding support of any kind which means your at the mercy of native support for playback of video/audio on each client device. Plex performance in general may also be very poor.

If you have iOS devices I recommend purchasing inFuse which can connect to Plex servers and instead of transcoding will decode the media on the device instead. On Android devices you can install Kodi with a Plex plugin that will decode all media on the local device instead of transcoding server side.

mickevh

When looking at NAS prices, be mindful that they sometimes do not include disc drives (or, for example,) only ship with one, so you may need to factor in adding additional disc drives.