Plex Server Raid vs Nas, which should I do??

[Onyxstar1]

Hello, I have a question I can not seem to find the answer for, and I am hoping someone in here can direct me on the right path. (Sorry, if am a little wordy). I have recently purchased a HP mini G2 pc, with 8gb ram a 256ssd with an i5-6600 cpu. I am currently using a WD Mycloud EX2 to store my data, and a Orico 2 bay for a little back. I would like to buy a 4 bay "something", and here is where the question is: Should I get a NAS or a Raid storage? This is for my Plex home server, I have about 4tb of movies and TV shows, photos and documents. I just recently upgraded to 2-8tb and 2-6tb drives. But I would like them all to be in 1 device. I don't think I need a synology DS220+ or 920+, if I have the mini pc for the transcoding, which is network connected, so should I get a 4-bay Raid, and have it connected to the PC via usb-c or get a NAS that would be directly connected to the network? I am hoping to keep the budget on this change around 250-300 (usd) but not sure which way to go? Suggestions, thoughts, ideas???? (laugh at me a little and poke fun at me??)

[tikker]

You are confusing the two terms. A NAS is Network Attached Storage, so just a bunch of storage you can access over the network. Doesn't matter where or in what form it is. Another PC, a Synology box etc. can all be NASes. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks and is a means to provide some protection against data loss in the case of drive failure and increase uptime. Once you have multiple drives, you can set up a RAID array or whatever equivalent things like Synology offer if you like, or just use the disks as a bunch of disks.

[Onyxstar1]

There are boxes, that hold multiple drives, called Raid storage. That is what I am referring to. 

[SupaKomputa]

If you don't use transcoding any NAS will do just fine. Using a NAS will be more power efficient than using a repurposed PC.

Transcoding is a waste of computation if you ask me, most of your player and files already support HD. Just stream the files as is.

Most NAS with 2 bay and up, can do (usually do) RAID of some sort.

[Onyxstar1]

Thanks for that Supa, but I would like a 4 drive solution, not a 2 drive solution. Can anyone tell me if there would be a difference in things like speed, or connectivity if I move from network connected to USB Connected? A nas would be network connected where a USB-C bunch of drives (like a 4-bay raid storage device) would be connected to the sff PC. I notice people recommend building a PC for Plex, I found/acquired from work a sff PC, and decided to use it for the transcoding, now I am trying to decide how to store all of my media a technical total of 5 drives, in one device, but 4 will do.

[tikker]

8 minutes ago, Onyxstar1 said:

There are boxes, that hold multiple drives, called Raid storage. That is what I am referring to. 

At best that's just marketing indicating that box offers the  possibility of a RAID configuration. RAID itself has little to do with the boxes.

1 minute ago, Onyxstar1 said:

Can anyone tell me if there would be a difference in things like speed, or connectivity if I move from network connected to USB Connected?

I recommend something with a gigabit connection if possible. Helpful for data transfer and a must if you plan to stream 4k from it.

2 minutes ago, Onyxstar1 said:

A nas would be network connected where a USB-C bunch of drives (like a 4-bay raid storage device) would be connected to the sff PC. I notice people recommend building a PC for Plex, I found/acquired from work a sff PC, and decided to use it for the transcoding, now I am trying to decide how to store all of my media a technical total of 5 drives, in one device, but 4 will do.

I wouldn't do an "over USB" type of thing. Something like a 4-bay Synology might be the simplest solution. With 2x8TB and 2x6TB you can get some 18 TB (RAID5) to 20 TB (Synology's SHR) of usable storage if you opt for RAID like protection (N.B. this is not a backup, simply some protection).

[tkitch]

16 minutes ago, Onyxstar1 said:

There are boxes, that hold multiple drives, called Raid storage. That is what I am referring to. 

you're getting bad info somewhere.

A box that holds drives is called an "Enclosure"

RAID literally is an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent (or possibly inexpensive, there's debate on this letter) Drives.

Now, the question is, how does the enclosure work:

A USB Enclosure won't do any work on its own, it just gives you space to attach more drives to your PC.  A USB 3 enclosure will give you a fair bit of speed to access the drives in it.

 

A Network enclosure would directly connect to your network, and would be limited by your network speed (Granted gbit networking is 100MB/s, which is more than enough for basically anything.)

 

Plex is software that is used to stream videos from a central host to remote devices.  It can do this over the network, over WiFi, or over the internet, depending on how you set things up.  This has nothign to do with data storage like RAID does.  

 

Also of note:  Mini PCs like those HPs use the T variant of CPUs, so they're decidedly slower than a full-fledged desktop equivilant.  Because of heat and such in a 1" Thick case.

[SupaKomputa]

You need to understand what transcoding means.

Plex transcode the files in order to play it in non original resolution, like youtube 360p, 480p etc.

So if you have 4K files but you play it in 1080p player (which cannot play 4K), it will downscale the file first before streaming it which need some horsepower.

You don't need transcoding to play it in native resolution, most if not all players today can play up to 4k.

That's why i'm saying transcoding is a waste. Transcoding it from the SFF is totally unnecessary.

 

You don't need to setup Plex server to serve your media, most NAS already support DLNA which can be played in most network video player even smart TVs.

For the player, i suggest trying KODI instead of plex. It's free and can play videos directly from NAS.

 

To add to the RAID argument, you don't need 4 bay to enable RAID, it only needs at least 2 drives.

For RAID (mode) 1 the total capacity of your drives will be HALVED.

So your 2x8tb will only have total capacity of 8TB (not 16), since the NAS will mirror the content in each drives.

It can also operate in non RAID configuration using JBOD mode that will use all the drives capacity.

[Blue4130]

Let's make it real simple. Forget what everyone above said for a moment... 

 

Do you need the info available to more than one computer? If yes, get a nas. 

 

If no, usb is fine. (but know that raid on these usb boxes can be a problem to recover if the enclosure craps out)