NAS For Plex Media Server – 8 Mistakes People ALWAYS Make

Video Chapters
00:00 - The Start
1:14 1:CPU VS Graphics. The right CPU isn't always powerful. GHZ/Cores
2:14 2:Ambient noise and distance. The "bigger" the NAS the higher the potential volume
04:12 3:Future proofing your memory. 2gig min. 4gb recommended. 8gig ideal.
06:44 4:HVec/H.265 multimedia will very rarely play natively. Needs conversion
12:18 5:Plex Pass do you really need it? pros and cons before you buy.
14:56 6:HDMI NAS & plex issues in 2021 Nowhere near as simple/supported anymore
16:55 7: Transcoding and do you really need it? Are you spending money on a feature you'll never use/need?
20:38 8: Plex media server internet connectivity. Plex still needs intermittent internet access.
ADDED BY ME 9:Using the right NAS HDD. Use a hard drive rated for NAS usage and not just an off the shelf computer hard drive. Spend a little extra now and your plex will last longer.

If you have decided to invest in a network-attached storage device to host your Plex media server, then congratulations, you are close to owning one of the easiest and most user-friendly multimedia home server options out there with a GUI and features that rival the likes of Netflix and more. Although paid subscription streaming services can be very attractive and affordable in the short-term, in the long-term you end up paying for content you don’t own, a limited choice of content that changes regularly and even end up having to watch the occasion advert – on a PAID platform?! Many of us own hundreds of boxsets and movies at home in digital form, or in disc form that is waiting to be switched to a more streamable form, that you can simply load onto a NAS and then enjoy the benefits of Plex with. However, although the price of a solid NAS has come down substantially and the ease of setup never being more simple, there are still many common mistakes that people make when buying a NAS for a Plex media server the first time. These errors end up ich either costing more money to resolve or have to be endured until the next upgrade. In order to help you choose the right NAS for plex correctly the first time, I have compiled a list of the most common mistakes that NAS buyers make when choosing a solution. Some are small and some are large, but all of them are easy things to miss as you narrow down the choices. So here are 8 common mistakes made by Plex users when choosing their first NAS.

Thanks for watching. Do you still need help? Use the NASCompares Free Advice section above. It is my free, unbias community support system that allows you to ask me questions about your ideal setup. It is NOT a sales platform, NOT a way to push hardware you don’t need and, although it is just manned by me and might take a day or two for me to reply, I will help you any way I can. Below are some more popular guides.

This description contains links to and Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's video.

NAS Solutions from -

[MrNightro]

The big mistake I made when getting into Plex was the need for a constant internet connection. The main reason I got a Plex server was in prep for hurricane season since the internet tends to go down every hurricane season so I was trying to set up a Plex server so my family have movies and TV shows to watch. I spent a couple hundred dollars for an Intel NUC that I upgraded (i7 10710U, 32GB DDR4, 256GB NVMe, 4TB 2.5" SSD), spent weeks ripping over a thousand DVDs & Blurays with both movies and entire complete seasons of dozens of TV shows. Had everything set up and running sweet before hurricane season but first hurricane knocked out the internet and there I was trying to figure out why I couldn't find my Plex folders.

[Bmad]

MISTAKES
1. CPU
2. Ambient Noise & Distance (The 'Bigger' the NAS, the Higher the Potential Volume)
3. Future-Proofing Your Memory (2GB Minimum, 4GB Recommended, 8GB Ideal)
4. HEVC/H.265 Multimedia!!! (Will VERY rarely Play Natively i.e needs conversion)
5. Plex Pass - Do you REALLY Need it? (Pros & Cons BEFORE you buy)
6. HDMI NAS & Plex Issues in 2021 (Nowhere Near as Simple/Supported Anymore)
7. Transcoding - Do you REALLY Need it? (Are You Spending Money on a Feature You Do Not Need?)
8. Plex Media Server Internet Connectivity (Plex Still Needs Intermittent Internet Access)

[hugheffo]

Everything I have is in H.265, on my Qnap NAS, and never had an issue with playback on my PC, laptop, iPad, TV or even phone, and has saved me about 50% storage.

[Philharb]

Suggestion for future videos, use a compressor plugin on your audio. It will help with your volume issues on your videos (guy on the right is much louder)

[carlskinner]

Thanks for the video. I leaned a few things, already knew about some others and learned the hard way (3am) on the others. I’m sticking with my Synology 918+. Thanks Robbie for all the Plex videos. you helped me make a sound decision.

[bertramlefarge]

Excellent, i'd just add that if you get a Shield you'll have a bullet proof solution to playback transcoding, then save your money for larger drives/more bays/ram.

[SocialWorkProfessor]

Oh man. Thanks for mentioning the last one. Number 8 was me. Cursing what the???!! A couple of hours later discovered the problem was with the main Plex server and nothing to do with me.

[aceofclubskid]

I'm still very new to the NAS space, but I've been slowly upgrading my system for about 2 years now, I built it for cheap and it's been running excellently.

-I used my first gaming PC, AMD a10-5800K. It's an unimpressive processor but has pretty decent graphics for the age. That's paired with my 16gb of ram from the same machine.
-I went with a corsair carbide 100R case (old PC cases are your friend. They're cheap and have lots of drive bays).
-I got a 700W bronze power supply (wildly exceeds my power consumption needs, but it's very efficient and has plenty of power for drives at a low cost)
-For storage, I bought 3x 3TB WD red drives running in RAIDZ, and an old 2TB for extra storage of non-critical files. I went with Truenas, which is a bit daunting to work with, but once you're up and running it's pretty easy to manage.

Truenas also supports a direct Plex plugin, which took all of 5 minutes to set up. My process now is ripping DVD's directly to my NAS using an SMB share.

All in, I think I spent less than $300 for the whole system using my old parts. I couldn't put it in a closet or attic, so it's in my dining room. By selecting a case with a lot of fans and good noise dampening, I've managed a quiet hum from the system. you can hear it's there if you listen for it, but it's quieter than my AC or a house fan.

If you're interested in getting a NAS and using plex, my main advice is to view it as a project and a learning experience. It will take time, you will feel out of your depth, and you will have a lot to learn. But, at the end of the day you're learning a lot of valuable skills, owning your media, and you can venture into other projects like running your own VPN, game servers, and lots of other projects.

[SteelWolf]

1:14 1:CPU VS Graphics. The right CPU isn't always powerful. GHZ/Cores
2:14 2:Ambient noise and distance. The "bigger" the NAS the higher the potential volume
04:12 3:Future proofing your memory. 2gig min. 4gb recommended. 8gig ideal.
06:44 4:HVec/H.265 multimedia will very rarely play natively. Needs conversion
12:18 5:Plex Pass do you really need it? pros and cons before you buy.
14:56 6:HDMI NAS & plex issues in 2021 Nowhere near as simple/supported anymore
16:55 7: Transcoding and do you really need it? Are you spending money on a feature you'll never use/need?
20:38 8: Plex media server internet connectivity. Plex still needs intermittent internet access.
ADDED BY ME 9:Using the right NAS HDD. Use a hard drive rated for NAS usage and not just an off the shelf computer hard drive. Spend a little extra now and your plex will last longer.

[asdf]

There was an ad for Warpath, a WWII game. I watched all three minutes of it. It was badass. No idea if the game itself is any good, but good job to the folks that made that trailer.

I have a TS-h886, and stupidly assumed that the Xeon had integrated graphics, but it doesn’t. However, my NAS has most of my blu ray collection from the 2000s and early 2010s and it’s all 1080p. Since this is solely for home with a max possible number of streams is only 5 and usually just 1. Every device in the house is 1080p or better. So turns out it’s a complete non issue for me. Plex works well. The CPU and memory usage has been nonexistent. I did buy a 2nd, cheaper QuTS Hero NAS for big dumb storage and backups from the primary NAS. If that thing doesn’t get full, I’ll probably use it to mine that “chia” cryptocurrency that uses storage somehow to generate coins. Fire up a low power VM on the thing that does that and leave that alone. Because once the bulk of data is there, that thing will be accepting incremental backups and that’s it.

[CaptRamu]

One note I'd add to the Transcoding point is that the Plex app tends to be pretty bad at determining device capabilities on newly released devices, so even if the spec sheet for you playback device says it can play it natively I'd recommend trying Plex server on a computer to make sure it won't trigger transcode for the media and playback devices you have.

[teekay_]

The only thing I'd add is that if you're watching H.265 (or indeed any 4K) on your TV, the box that you use to render (like an Apple TV) you don't need the ability to transcode on the server since the device connected to the TV will handle the decoding, not the server.

As to the network, even if you only have cat 5, it will handle 1GB ethernet. You only need to change your switch to support 1GB, and that's fairly cheap. In fact, the odds are pretty good 2.5GB switches will work (although very little supports 2.5GB right now).

[adriankramer]

The last point I found out the hard way when I wanted to watch some TV locally when my internet went out and Plex wouldn't play. I'm tempted to download an alternative just for those instances.

[lee_cobb]

I'm looking to update/upgrade my NAS. I use it solely for Plex. I have purchased Plex Pass. What I'm looking for in a NAS is
The ability to build on the storage, to be able to play 4K content and torecommend,

[HermanIdzerda]

I have bought the Plex lifetime pass, never regretted it.

[TheTimeProphet]

I run mine on a Hewlett Packard Proliant gen8 server. It has bays for 4 4tb drives. I run esxi and run virtual computers, I still run plex using a virtual windows 7. Now I normally use windows 10 but windows 7 takes less memory than windows 10. Now a proliant gen8 is very quiet, and is designed to stay on all the time. It is not too noisy, and I keep it in a separate room

[bikerchrisukk]

Good video, very valid points - but you guys know way more than me. I've done a 'run what I got' jobbie, E5-1650v4, does well transcoding anything and sending via internet to my mobile phone. Mainly going to use at home, so it'll be fine, tucked away.

[michaelmiller]

Right now, Plex server is running on an old Dell R515 server running Windows Server 2019 with 8x8TB in RAID 6 (kept in the basement). The CPUs are weak, though and it can get loaded down if three different clients require transcoding at the same time. I am in the process of setting up the R515 to run something like FreeNAS with a ZFS pool and have that be iSCSI attached via 10G NIC to a Ryzen 2700x system (with 16G of ECC RAM) running Windows 10 acting as server. This will let me use BackBlaze to back up my video collection for a reasonable price AND dramatically improve the transcode hardware.

[wfp]

Touching on Plex running native vs Plex in Docker would have been very helpful. Getting the Transcoding working with Plex in a Docker is an arcane art, with the only advantage being that it restarts automatically if it hangs.

[mainfighter]

Man noise is something I've never cared about in the slightest, I have a R710 sitting next to my TV. It's dead quiet most of the time but when it does need to ramp up it doesn't bother myself or my girlfriend.