4-bay NAS for Plex, Kodi, 24x7 Surveillance, NZB downloader and VM

BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 07:01
Last edited 21/10/2017 - 23:24

As per title, is there a 4-bay NAS that allows me to the following at the same time? or should I just build my own NAS with high CPU and Memory to accommodate this? (Although my plan is to save electricity using nas box)

High Priority:

  • Connect through HDMI (1080p is okay, no need 4K) and run Kodi
  • Have plex server installed to have transcoding (1080p is okay) on-the-fly
  • Run 24x7 surveillance to 4 x IP cameras (e.g. Hikvision)
  • NZB downloader (sabnzbd, couchpotato, sonarr or similar)
  • WOL (Wake on Lan)

Low priority:

  • Run VMWare / virtualbox
  • VPN server
  • Have plex server installed to have transcoding (1080p is okay) on-the-fly up to 3 devices
  • WOW (Wake on Wan)

I have checked Asustor AS6404T & QNAP TS-453B-8G seem capable to run this, what do you think?

Computing

Comments

  • CyberMurning on 21/10/2017 - 07:56

    No options from synology? I don't know which one as mine is from 2011.
    Very jealous mine has usb 2 and can't play x265 Movies.

    • BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 07:58

      From the review I have gathered so far, QNAP provides more config capabilities than Synology (although I'm new in this Nas topic), so I could be wrong…

  • [Deactivated] on 21/10/2017 - 08:02

    I have a Synology NAS and I love it, does everything you need.

    • BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 08:31

      Thanks, which model please?

      • [Deactivated] on 21/10/2017 - 08:56

        See rogr below

    • Solrak on 21/10/2017 - 12:42

      I would recommend Synology (DS916+/DS918+) but they don't have HDMI outputs. Go with Qnap with an x86 (Celeron or Pentium) processor which will get you some half decent (for a NAS) transcoding power. If you use Plex to transcode, hardware (gpu) transcoding is about to be enabled to the Plex masses so that would net you at least a couple of extra transcoded 1080p streams

      • BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 18:00

        Thanks for the info re: Plex will start accepting hardware transcoding;
        According to this they will support x64 intel CPU; does it mean, I should find x64 CPU architecture in NAS?

        • Solrak on 21/10/2017 - 20:07

          Yes absolutely. I'm using Plex hardware transcoding at the moment as it's available to Plex lifetime pass users and will be rolled out to every Plex user from what i've read.

          One way of going about it is buying a Synology DS 918+, WD PR4100 or Qnap TS-451+ All have quad core Celeron CPUs and the potential ability to hardware transcode in Plex when enabled. So 2 or 3 1080p transcodes won't be a problem.

          Another way you could go is buy a cheaper older model 4 bay NAS with a dual core marvel or atom cpu purely for storage. Then network the NAS to an Intel NUC or old i3 or higher laptop or desktop computer which would be responsible for the heavy lifting (transcoding)

        • BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 23:00

          @solrak: Even though they are quad core, does not mean they have linux x64, right?

          Interesting, I've checked this Nas Compatibility List from Plex, the list provided a short number of x64 CPU too…(although the list seems incomplete, newer NAS not on the list as yet, e.g. DS918+ model)

        • Solrak on 22/10/2017 - 00:27

          @televisi:

          I know the Ds916+ and the WD PR4100 uses the same Celeron quad core. I own a DS916+ and the updated DS918+ just uses an updated quad core Celeron/Pentium. They all use Intel quick sync to handle hardware transcoding. Check out Plex forums for more info on this.

        • BigLeviathan on 22/10/2017 - 21:05

          @solrak: I'd like to know with the second option you mentioned (buying cheaper NAS and have NUC connected next to the TV), what application will it run on the NUC itself? Plex server and have it point to the NAS for the files?

  • rgr on 21/10/2017 - 08:26

    Synology DS416j

    • BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 08:31

      According to this review, this model is not good for plex transcoding?

      • rgr on 21/10/2017 - 08:33

        I actually think you might need to go for the bigger capacity Synology NAS model (like DS918+ or DS1517+) or split out the transcoding job to a separate machine i.e. intel NUC + NAS. What is your budget?

        • BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 08:36

          I don't mind to spend around 900 (excluding hard drive as I've got them already), as long as it can do the high priority tasks in one go

        • rgr on 21/10/2017 - 08:43

          @televisi: QNAP TS-453A, QNAP TS-531X, DS1517 (5-bay). You can only connect to HDMI through the first one though. You could get away with streaming to 3 devices if some of them support direct play, you don't want to always be transcoding if you can avoid it. But if you're streaming to iPhones, iPads, smart phones it might all be transcoded.

  • CyberMurning on 21/10/2017 - 08:31

    I heard with qnap you can plug in monitor and keyboard mouse directly to the nas and navigate.
    Not with synology. You need to access from different device.

    Very cool qnap feature i think.

    Ah, I don't know when I can afford to upgrade my nas….

    • BigLeviathan on 21/10/2017 - 08:34

      Oh…I thought this is a common feature?

      Good to know that this can be done in some of the nas (although not high priority to have this)

      • CyberMurning on 21/10/2017 - 10:23

        QvPC Technology is…
        QvPC Technology consists of several QNAP-developed technologies, including virtualization, hardware-accelerated transcoding, cloud integration, unified & tiered storage, RAID protection, SSD cache acceleration, video output, and more.
        QvPC enables you to use the Turbo NAS as a PC by connecting to a HDMI monitor and operating the “HybridDesk Station” for multiple applications with various desktops: QVM Desk, Defense Desk and Local Display Desk.

  • BigLeviathan on 22/10/2017 - 00:01

    Just noticed that QNAP does not support Kodi anymore, thus to install one, need to do setup out of the QTS app store.

    Has anyone tried this alternative method? Any feedback? Easy to setup and easy to upgrade?

  • pclyne on 22/10/2017 - 07:42

    Perhaps consider this?

    https://www.crowdsupply.com/gnubee/personal-cloud-2

    Whilst it doesn't do everything, it might be able to be adapted

  • magic8ballgag on 22/10/2017 - 09:57

    HP MicroServer.

    • BigLeviathan on 22/10/2017 - 10:57

      I have been using HP N40L but the processor is not powerful enough to accommodate what I need :(

      • magic8ballgag on 22/10/2017 - 10:58

        Upgrade the CPU?

        • mattyman on 22/10/2017 - 15:25

          You can't.

          An N54L might do the job although I wouldn't be able top say for sure.

          I'm running FreeNAS on mine which will do everything you want except for Kodi. You could just use Plex and Chromecasts.

        • magic8ballgag on 22/10/2017 - 16:32

          @mattyman:

          You can't.

          Why not?

        • BigLeviathan on 22/10/2017 - 17:09
          +1

          @Lorindor: N40L cpu is soldered

        • magic8ballgag on 22/10/2017 - 17:15

          @televisi:

          That sucks!

          Ever considered a Gen 8?

        • BigLeviathan on 22/10/2017 - 21:03

          @Lorindor: I checked HP Gen8 spec PDF; they seems only offer dual-core and no quad-core? I don't think this is sufficient for Plex transcoding, no?

        • magic8ballgag on 22/10/2017 - 23:14

          @televisi:

          Correct, although there's nothing stopping you from changing the CPU to a compatible i3-7 or Xeon variant.

          The dual-core Celeron should handle transcoding, but I would recommend upgrading it if you're wanting to run virtual machines etc.

  • Ozbismylyf on 22/10/2017 - 11:19

    I have a QNAP TS-451 and it does everything you’re asking for, but not extremely well. Biggest problem is lack of CPU power. If I could do it again, I would make sure that the CPU could easily take the load of what I’m asking for, opposed to hoping that it’ll be enough.

    I’m sure QNAP have a model to accomodate, just depends on your budget.

  • BigLeviathan on 22/10/2017 - 22:49

    QNAP TVS-463 is an interesting SMB NAS, looks like this can do what I want (although it's above my budget)

  • BigLeviathan on 23/10/2017 - 09:07

    Does QNAP has similar feature with Asustor MyArchive to use one of the bay/USB as an external storage that can be removed to exchange data with friends

    The MyArchive function allows you to use hard disks as removable storage archives. Plug in an archive when you need it and swap it out for a different archive when you don't. Enjoy 'plug and play' convenience as you swap between different data collections. Furthermore, the MyArchive function helps you to save power as the archives you are not using can be taken out for storage and do not always have to be powered on.

  • ninjataki on 27/12/2017 - 01:28

    Depending on the quality level of your cam, surveillance might be a problem. I went with a separate hikvision nvr though it's noisy..

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