NAS and Transcoding? I need a little help.

[Echodamus]

So I am looking to get a NAS, probably the Synolgoy DS414, but I have a quick question about transcoding. I am probably going to use the NAS primarily as a sort of Plex server. I could set it up where plex runs on the NAS itself, but from what I gathered it would have trouble transcoding videos at 1080p. When specifically will a video need to be transcoded? If I just have a lot of .mp4 files on there streaming to my phone or a roku box or what have you, does it still need to transcode? Sorry, this is a really noobish question, but I am fairly lost. Networking is not my strong spot, so any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Vitalius]

Yes. 

It will transcode all videos on the fly. That means any time you request a video, it will transcode.

However, Plex is smart. It won't transcode 1080p for a phone or other mobile device. It will probably do 480p or 720p at most. Whatever is optimal for your device usually.

You can change the resolution it transcodes to in the settings anyway on your device as well. 

[Echodamus]

Yes. 

It will transcode all videos on the fly. That means any time you request a video, it will transcode.

However, Plex is smart. It won't transcode 1080p for a phone or other mobile device. It will probably do 480p or 720p at most. Whatever is optimal for your device usually.

You can change the resolution it transcodes to in the settings anyway on your device as well. 

So I don't need an x86 architecture to transcode? Like I said this is really my weak spot so sorry for the noobish questions. Also, does this mean that ever video will have to be transcoded every time I want to stream it? 

[Vitalius]

So I don't need an x86 architecture to transcode? Like I said this is really my weak spot so sorry for the noobish questions. Also, does this mean that ever video will have to be transcoded every time I want to stream it? 

Yes, that's what I said. Every video will be transcoded on the fly. That means it won't be saved, which means it will transcode every single time you stream a video. 

No, you don't need one. Although it would help, obviously. 

And it's ok.

[SMURG]

Never understood on-the-fly transcoding like plex tbh, why don't you just store all the files in a format compatible with everything? I can't see the CPU in a prebuilt NAS handling that very well at all.

[Tomislav Matic]

I have FreeNAS and I also use plex, my NAS  pc is an old P4-it doesn't transcode the video, the receiving device does (and that is my i7) so it will work fine. You should check freeNAS mybe find an old PC and build you NAS yourself it would be much much cheaper.... 

[Vitalius]

Never understood on-the-fly transcoding like plex tbh, why don't you just store all the files in a format compatible with everything? I can't see the CPU in a prebuilt NAS handling that very well at all.

The hassle of getting to that is kind of a lot. 

I personally have no idea how to correctly convert media from [insert format] to [whatever format works with everything].

I also don't know what works with everything. 

A benefit of transcoding for things like cell phones is that the video is made into whatever resolution the device prefers. 1080p on a cell phone doesn't make much sense imo.

The idea of Plex is that it is as plug and play as possible once it is set up. That I can log into their webpage and access my movies on any device that has an internet connection and it work without hassle. 

The "keep everything in a format that works on everything" approach is fine for at home streaming, but if you want to let other people access it, or do so outside your home, good luck teaching them how to use SSH or FTP programs.

[SMURG]

The hassle of getting to that is kind of a lot. 

I personally have no idea how to correctly convert media from [insert format] to [whatever format works with everything].

I also don't know what works with everything. 

A benefit of transcoding for things like cell phones is that the video is made into whatever resolution the device prefers. 1080p on a cell phone doesn't make much sense imo.

The idea of Plex is that it is as plug and play as possible once it is set up. That I can log into their webpage and access my movies on any device that has an internet connection and it work without hassle. 

The "keep everything in a format that works on everything" approach is fine for at home streaming, but if you want to let other people access it, or do so outside your home, good luck teaching them how to use SSH or FTP programs.

I just transcode everything into .mp4s using Handbrake, and I've yet to find any device that can't play those. I guess for outside access it might make sense, it was the transcoding part I was mainly questioning. There are other ways to do that as well though, I mean you can set up a domain name and make it so people can access files through that.