expired Posted by iconian | Staff • Nov 22, 2022
Nov 22, 2022 5:13 PM
Item 1 of 4
Item 1 of 4
expired Posted by iconian | Staff • Nov 22, 2022
Nov 22, 2022 5:13 PM
Synology DiskStation NAS Enclosure: DS1621+ 6-Bay $720, DS220j 2-Bay
+ Free Shipping$150
$190
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Many people that have built a legitimate library of DVDs over the years have started digitizing legally due to the prevalence of streaming boxes - one of the primary Plex use cases. And when you have media on a Plex server, the media can only be encoded in one format, at one resolution (let's say 4K, Format 1).
So if you stream that 4K media file straight to a device (let's say an Apple TV with 4K) no transcoding is needed and the file is accessed as is.
But if you stream that file on your secondary 1080p Roku TV, it needs a different resolution and maybe a different format. Then the Plex server will transcode the file as it streams, converting the file from 4K Format 1, to 1080p Format 2. This requires computational resources from the CPU/RAM of the device, and the Intel/Plex combo is better suited, for deeper technical reasons.
This also applies to Synology's music and video integrated streaming services as well as other manufacturer offerings.
Now if your reference of "storing and accessing files" simply means "flat files" like documents and photos, no, transcoding is not a factor for you and yes the AMD solutions will be a general performance improvement. But many people use NAS for their significant media streaming features, as a legal digitization/streaming of their owned content, and thus the spirited conversation on this post.
Hope this helps!
Plex users aren't "made obsolete" By Synology because they've chosen to shift their "+" line to the SMB market. That has no bearing on Plex Users, Transcoding, or even the previous gen "+" models. They didn't lose QSV transcoding capability overnight. They still transcode exactly as well as they did the day they launched.
Synology has just chosen to end that product line's support for Intel iGPU assisted transcoding going forward. Weighing their customer base for these lines, and choosing SMB customer needs for CPU performance, over enthusiast Plex users.
And as for being "limited to 4 bays" there's always the DX517.
But if your storage needs are growing that much, you should either be replacing aging low capacity HDDs, or transitioning to a more robust storage solution.
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Plex users aren't "made obsolete" By Synology because they've chosen to shift their "+" line to the SMB market. That has no bearing on Plex Users, Transcoding, or even the previous gen "+" models. They didn't lose QSV transcoding capability overnight. They still transcode exactly as well as they did the day they launched.
Synology has just chosen to end that product line's support for Intel iGPU assisted transcoding going forward. Weighing their customer base for these lines, and choosing SMB customer needs for CPU performance, over enthusiast Plex users.
And as for being "limited to 4 bays" there's always the DX517.
But if your storage needs are growing that much, you should either be replacing aging low capacity HDDs, or transitioning to a more robust storage solution.
Worth it depending on your needs, but if the DS218 is doing exactly what you need it to, with no hiccups, or desire for more performance/capacity, nothing wrong with NOT buying a new thing...
You need a Cat5e/Cat6 ethernet cable.
Fortunately, if for whatever reason, you want to keep your NAS seperate from your router, you could adopt Synology's new Wifi6 mesh router system (or another, preferably with a dedicated backhaul channel) and simply pair your NAS with one of the satellite WAPs.
Maybe if you load the thing down with the complete library of available apps it could give you problems but mine has been and still is snappy as ever even with the latest version of DSM installed.
I'm just using two 18TB drives in Raid 1, and considering a newer 4-bay model but at that point I'd probably just build my own NAS with an AMD CPU, so in my eyes the base models are the perfect affordable option to get started with NAS and learn your own personal needs and requirements.
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For example you would want to employ something like a 3-2-1 backup strategy (3 copies, 2 media types, 1 off site). A NAS can play a role in this strategy and Synology has excellent options via 1st party apps that can help with backups.
There are additional time and cost to buy additional storage (another NAS, cloud, etc.) and set up, maintain, and secure it all yourself so there is added appeal to simple solutions like iCloud and Google Photos.
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