Best NAS Device to use for backups and storing media for Plex.

[DudeWazap]

I recently upgraded my router to the Netgear x10 which has a built in Plex server.

I have also been wanting to save all my physical media (movies, tv series) digitally and stream it using my routers Plex server.

 

What would be the best way to store all the media? I do have some external HDD's but figured it would be better to use a NAS.

 

I saw that Synology makes reliable NAS devices, which one would you recommend?

this is the first time I setup a NAS.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id probably just get this model https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-TS-451-Personal-Transcoding-TS-451-US/dp/B00KXP9RJC/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1498449875&sr=1-2&keywords=4+bay+nas

 

Then use plex on the nas. Normally using things like plex can be a security issue and isn't supported well.

[KuJoe]

I personally prefer Synology because I make use of a lot of the built in software but if you just need a to serve files on your network then any NAS will work. Find one within your budget or grab an ARM device with a 1Gbps port and hook up your external drives to it.

[DudeWazap]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id probably just get this model https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-TS-451-Personal-Transcoding-TS-451-US/dp/B00KXP9RJC/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1498449875&sr=1-2&keywords=4+bay+nas

 

Then use plex on the nas. Normally using things like plex can be a security issue and isn't supported well.

OH okay, this might work for me since It is $50 less than the Synology one I was looking at. That will give me some extra money to buy the Wd red drives.

[DudeWazap]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

I personally prefer Synology because I make use of a lot of the built in software but if you just need a to server files on your network then any NAS will work. Find one within your budget or grab an ARM device with a 1Gbps port and hook up your external drives to it.

At first I was going to be lazy and just plug in 2 TB external drives to my routers USB 3.0 ports but then figured that might not be a really good idea in the long run.

[KuJoe]

4 minutes ago, DudeWazap said:

At first I was going to be lazy and just plug in 2 TB external drives to my routers USB 3.0 ports but then figured that might not be a really good idea in the long run.

I would try it out and see. It won't hurt the router or the drive and it might save you some money if it works.

[DudeWazap]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

I would try it out and see. It won't hurt the router or the drive and it might save you some money if it works.

Like a Seagate expansion 8TB drive? I might try it out for a bit and see how it goes then. 

[KuJoe]

Just now, DudeWazap said:

Like a Seagate expansion 8TB drive? I might try it out for a bit and see how it goes then. 

Any drive just to test it out. USB 3.0 is significantly faster than a 1Gbps ethernet port and it will use a lot less power than even an ARM based NAS. Not to mention, it will be silent if there's no fan on the external drive.

[DudeWazap]

4 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

Any drive just to test it out. USB 3.0 is significantly faster than a 1Gbps ethernet port and it will use a lot less power than even an ARM based NAS. Not to mention, it will be silent if there's no fan on the external drive.

I'm going to buy a Seagate External drive. Mainly because even though I have been using Wd black internal drives for years. Both WD external drives I have bought died within 2 years. don't understand why that is.

[seagate_surfer]

Hi DudeWazap,

 

thanks for considering some Seagate drives for your new NAS environment!

We noticed that you took a look at our EXPANSION DRIVE which is a pretty well reviewed drive but not necessarily the best choice to be used in combination with a NAS.

 

Although you could plug just about any type of specific-use optimized drive in your system and as long as your interfaces and minimum requirements line up, it will technically work. A NAS drive connects in the same way a standard desktop drive would. Why it is branded as a NAS drive is because it was engineered with use in NAS enclosures in mind. A lot of this has to do with the firmware that is used on the drive. A NAS drive is designed to be up and running 24/7, so its priorities include constantly being ready to go at a moment's notice, like in a cloud storage environment where you might have a number of users who want to access any information held on the drive at any given time, and not have to wait a long time for access.

 

NAS drives, as mentioned, are rated for 24x7 use, and also designed to push bigger workloads year round. For example, a standard Seagate BarraCuda drive is rated to handle 55TB of data a year, whereas a standard Seagate IronWolf (NAS) drive is rated to handle 180TB a year, bump up to the IronWolf Pro, and that is rated for 300TB per year. So how hard the drive is going to work does come into play as well. There is also the warranty to consider. A standard BarraCuda drive comes with a 2-year warranty, whereas a standard IronWolf drive comes with a 3 year warranty, and the IronWolf Pro comes with a 5 year warranty. One reason that some users prefer to buy NAS rated drives is that warranties can be longer for them.

 

NAS drives are also designed to handle more vibration than your standard desktop drives, the reason for this: Imagine a NAS enclosure with, say, 4-8 huge 8TB or 10TB drives all stored right next to each-other in that enclosed space. Hard drives used in this capacity tend to have the potential to "beat up" on each-other just with the raw force of all of those spinning platters and the operations taking place on them, causing performance and longevity issues. So the firmware on NAS drives is designed to account for, protect against issues with, and manage these vibration considerations. Some NAS drives actually have what are called RV (Rotational Vibration) Sensors on them as well for this same reason.

 

Whatever your hard drive choice might me - thanks again for considering Seagate and enjoy your new NAS!

[DudeWazap]

15 minutes ago, seagate_surfer said:

Hi DudeWazap,

 

thanks for considering some Seagate drives for your new NAS environment!

We noticed that you took a look at our EXPANSION DRIVE which is a pretty well reviewed drive but not necessarily the best choice to be used in combination with a NAS.

 

Although you could plug just about any type of specific-use optimized drive in your system and as long as your interfaces and minimum requirements line up, it will technically work. A NAS drive connects in the same way a standard desktop drive would. Why it is branded as a NAS drive is because it was engineered with use in NAS enclosures in mind. A lot of this has to do with the firmware that is used on the drive. A NAS drive is designed to be up and running 24/7, so its priorities include constantly being ready to go at a moment's notice, like in a cloud storage environment where you might have a number of users who want to access any information held on the drive at any given time, and not have to wait a long time for access.

 

NAS drives, as mentioned, are rated for 24x7 use, and also designed to push bigger workloads year round. For example, a standard Seagate BarraCuda drive is rated to handle 55TB of data a year, whereas a standard Seagate IronWolf (NAS) drive is rated to handle 180TB a year, bump up to the IronWolf Pro, and that is rated for 300TB per year. So how hard the drive is going to work does come into play as well. There is also the warranty to consider. A standard BarraCuda drive comes with a 2-year warranty, whereas a standard IronWolf drive comes with a 3 year warranty, and the IronWolf Pro comes with a 5 year warranty. One reason that some users prefer to buy NAS rated drives is that warranties can be longer for them.

 

NAS drives are also designed to handle more vibration than your standard desktop drives, the reason for this: Imagine a NAS enclosure with, say, 4-8 huge 8TB or 10TB drives all stored right next to each-other in that enclosed space. Hard drives used in this capacity tend to have the potential to "beat up" on each-other just with the raw force of all of those spinning platters and the operations taking place on them, causing performance and longevity issues. So the firmware on NAS drives is designed to account for, protect against issues with, and manage these vibration considerations. Some NAS drives actually have what are called RV (Rotational Vibration) Sensors on them as well for this same reason.

 

Whatever your hard drive choice might me - thanks again for considering Seagate and enjoy your new NAS!

Does Seagate offer any external drive that uses a NAS hard drive inside? If not I will just purchase the 4 bay NAS case and buy the Iron Wolf drives separately.

[seagate_surfer]

21 hours ago, DudeWazap said:

Does Seagate offer any external drive that uses a NAS hard drive inside? If not I will just purchase the 4 bay NAS case and buy the Iron Wolf drives separately.

The external drives mostly contain BarraCudas and are intended for regular computing and backups.

 

It seems like you are looking to go for multiple drives anyway (with possible redundancy in a RAID setup), so we would definitely recommend considering a NAS enclosure with NAS drives. The IronWolf disks work with any major NAS enclosure but if you like you can also look at one of our complete solutions with NAS drives already included in up to 6 bays HERE. 

 

We hope you'll enjoy your new NAS!