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
21% offB&H Photo Video
Visit B&H Photo VideoGood Deal
Bad Deal
Save
Share
Leave a Comment
Top Comments
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.
364 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
But I have a ton of Google photos I just want to keep and put on a SSD and in the file cabinet it goes (have 3 copies at different locations) Probably won't ever look at them until 2065, if I don't die unexpectedly before then. The few movie every now and then? USB attached to router works flawlessly and I just delete media I know I won't ever watch again.
Is this the digital version of hoarding? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised with self storage still being the big business it is.
enjoy spending money.
Anywho I will enjoy spending my money and retiring my server, the cost will pay itself off as soon as it turn it on
But I have a ton of Google photos I just want to keep and put on a SSD and in the file cabinet it goes (have 3 copies at different locations) Probably won't ever look at them until 2065, if I don't die unexpectedly before then. The few movie every now and then? USB attached to router works flawlessly and I just delete media I know I won't ever watch again.
Is this the digital version of hoarding? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised with self storage still being the big business it is.
You'll see in the thread storage, NAS, pihole ect.
My use case is to have a silent nas that I can attach a 5 gb NIC to, to have my personal laptop/main desktop access to edit photos/videos. And when I record videos (timelapse of simulations) I can record it into the NAS instead of my primary machine.
For my coding projects, this can act as a longer term storage for a couple of things I'm generating (permutations of genetic algorithms yadda yadda)
If I choose to, I can use this to store photos from my phone like you mentioned, have this replicate snapshots from desktops in my household, and have this synced to a different synology nas (or in my case a personal NAS at my parents household for offsite backup).
Yeah there's also a lot of digital hoarding (/r/datahoarders), but it's a fun little toy as well since you can run other apps pretty easily (dns/pihole/unificontroller/homeassistant/vpn/websites/gameserver).
But I have a ton of Google photos I just want to keep and put on a SSD and in the file cabinet it goes (have 3 copies at different locations) Probably won't ever look at them until 2065, if I don't die unexpectedly before then. The few movie every now and then? USB attached to router works flawlessly and I just delete media I know I won't ever watch again.
Is this the digital version of hoarding? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised with self storage still being the big business it is.
I am wondering if just paying $120/yr for 1 TB Google storage is less headache on the long run because I don't have to worry about power, nor the backups (NAS gives redundancy, not backup), and most things I watch once and never return again.
I guess I am FOMO buying it for now and will return if after playing it for a while I determine Google storage is better than this.
I am wondering if just paying $120/yr for 1 TB Google storage is less headache on the long run because I don't have to worry about power, nor the backups (NAS gives redundancy, not backup), and most things I watch once and never return again.
I guess I am FOMO buying it for now and will return if after playing it for a while I determine Google storage is better than this.
I would look into other use cases, but there's lots you can dive into.
But I have a ton of Google photos I just want to keep and put on a SSD and in the file cabinet it goes (have 3 copies at different locations) Probably won't ever look at them until 2065, if I don't die unexpectedly before then. The few movie every now and then? USB attached to router works flawlessly and I just delete media I know I won't ever watch again.
Is this the digital version of hoarding? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised with self storage still being the big business it is.
Having said all of that, this isnt for you if you dont care for that stuff. Just backup your photo manually to an external hdd and cloud (google photo) and you shouod be good
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I also dont think I need raid. It will cost me a bunch of usable storage, I'd have to buy more new HDDS rather than just adding/condensing, and/or I'd have to have an entire drive dedicated just for parity. I've read people say with massive drives its not even ideal because it can take SO long to fix/replace, and the process of doing that can really wear down the other drives, Also anything I could theoretically lose I'm fairly confident I can replace it in a decent timeline and even if I dont it's not the end of the world.
I've been doing this for 15+ years and never had an issue. I've heard that keeping them as externals makes them spin non stop and wears them out quicker, but again I've never had an issue.
I'd prefer a desktop with 11ty HDD bays inside but again, dont want to spend a bunch of $ and am too dumb to really know how to spec out and build a computer and not smart enough to be able to build one cheap etc etc
Having said all of that, this isnt for you if you dont care for that stuff. Just backup your photo manually to an external hdd and cloud (google photo) and you shouod be good
Backing up just my stuff over the years, it's insane the amount I keep, and don't even remember what I have. Between phones, tablets, computers... The only thing that I never delete is emails. That's where all my Google storage goes to. Indispensable to search for ANYTHING for past 10 years and have instant results.
Even if a NAS could help with email, it's too important to keep just one backup. At the same time I cringe at the privacy aspect of my entire life history (emails!) in the hands of Google (or any company, though personally Google, MS, Apple are the only ones I "trust" (ha!)).
maybe i'm a little thick and someone correct me where i'm wrong.
each of my TVs have a roku 4k which can play H264/H265 vids natively, right?
rarely do i play vids off my plex server (no plex pass) on my iphone or ipad.
in my setup, does transcoding really matter to me?
The fly in the ointment turned out to be subtitles. Most of the newer anime and kdrama videos use .ass subtitles, which support features like different fonts, different color fonts, placing the subtitles anywhere on the screen, etc. The Roku can't deal with those. So whenever I try to use the Roku to watch a video with .ass subtitles, Plex ends up transcoding it.
Do note that you need a Plex Pass to get hardware transcoding, even with a NAS. I'm debating paying $90 for a lifetime Plex Pass (normally $120), or just running Plex on my virtual machine server which has a beefy CPU. $90 at my electricity prices = ~6700 hours of my server at max CPU load. I'm kinda doubtful I'll need that many hours of transcoding.
Anywho I will enjoy spending my money and retiring my server, the cost will pay itself off as soon as it turn it on
I think the flexibility in what it can do is why it's popular. There's no one single use case.
You'll see in the thread storage, NAS, pihole ect.
My use case is to have a silent nas that I can attach a 5 gb NIC to, to have my personal laptop/main desktop access to edit photos/videos. And when I record videos (timelapse of simulations) I can record it into the NAS instead of my primary machine.
For my coding projects, this can act as a longer term storage for a couple of things I'm generating (permutations of genetic algorithms yadda yadda)
If I choose to, I can use this to store photos from my phone like you mentioned, have this replicate snapshots from desktops in my household, and have this synced to a different synology nas (or in my case a personal NAS at my parents household for offsite backup).
Yeah there's also a lot of digital hoarding (/r/datahoarders), but it's a fun little toy as well since you can run other apps pretty easily (dns/pihole/unificontroller/homeassistant/vpn/websites/gameserver).
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Would the 2 bay variant be a good option for storing home pictures / videos of my kids? I'd like to be able to provide access to multiple phones remotely
Thank you!
Leave a Comment