Need help building NAS + 4k Streaming server (Plex probably)

PlumpNinja · February 16, 2022

Hi there,

I am totally new to building my own NAS except having watched a few videos on youtube. So I am gonna need all the help I can get figuring this stuff out. I want to build a nas that can also stream 4k streams to my tv. I am planning to use TrueNAS for the os but I am not totally sure about the components I shall use. I understand that I do not need very high end components for the nas itself but the 4k transcoding has me worried. Do I need a gpu or will igpu do the job? If I need a gpu how powerful does it need to be? (1 to a max of 2 streams are needed). Please do recommend the core components for the build. I am from a small town in India and finding reliable used parts are almost impossible so I might end up buying everything new and I do not want it to be too expensive. Also can I mix hdd capacity or does all of it need to be the same size? Thanks for the help.

I am kinda noob with forums so I am sorry if this has been discussed earlier or if its in the wrong place.

Needfuldoer · February 16, 2022

6 minutes ago, PlumpNinja said:

Do I need a gpu or will igpu do the job?

That depends. Plex can take advantage of both Nvidia NVENC and Intel Quick Sync, so either will work.

If your media is in a format the TV can play natively, it won't have to transcode anything.

7 minutes ago, PlumpNinja said:

If I need a gpu how powerful does it need to be? (1 to a max of 2 streams are needed).

All Nvidia cards of a given generation share NVENC hardware, so you don't necessarily need a high end card. The biggest difference is in how many streams the drivers let you run simultaneously. On Geforce and low-end Quadro cards, the driver limits you to three streams. This is only a software limitation and workarounds have been found for most versions of the drivers so far.

15 minutes ago, PlumpNinja said:

Please do recommend the core components for the build.

If you're on a tight budget, go for an Intel-based PC with built-in video that's at least Sandy Bridge or newer. You can always add a video card later on, if you find Quick Sync inadequate for transcoding media in your use case.

12 minutes ago, PlumpNinja said:

Also can I mix hdd capacity or does all of it need to be the same size?

If you're going to run ZFS, all drives in a vdev have to be the same capacity. If you're running a bunch of random drives, you might want to look into Unraid. It lets you mix and match different size drives.

PlumpNinja · February 16, 2022

25 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

If you're on a tight budget, go for an Intel-based PC with built-in video that's at least Sandy Bridge or newer. You can always add a video card later on, if you find Quick Sync inadequate for transcoding media in your use case.

That I am, but if I am not wrong sandy bridge was 2nd gen I can probably afford 5th or 6th gen cpu for the build (will have to check pricing to be sure though) In any case what would you recommend going with an i3 or an i5?

28 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

f you're going to run ZFS, all drives in a vdev have to be the same capacity. If you're running a bunch of random drives, you might want to look into Unraid. It lets you mix and match different size drives.

I am going to use TrueNAS as its free and I want to save money where I can. I know TrueNAS uses ZFS but I do not understand what ZFS actually is and how it works. I do not intend to have the hard disks in raid as I do not need data redundancy in the NAS. Would TrueNAS still need me to have all HDDs of the same capacity? Which is not a huge issue I just want to be sure, so if I cannot mix match them I can choose upon what single drive capacity I want to use; since I will be only installing a single driven to start with (apart from the boot ssd) and add more when I need or when I have the funds for it.

Electronics Wizardy · February 16, 2022

3 hours ago, PlumpNinja said:

That I am, but if I am not wrong sandy bridge was 2nd gen I can probably afford 5th or 6th gen cpu for the build (will have to check pricing to be sure though) In any case what would you recommend going with an i3 or an i5?

Id go with newer cpus if you can as the hardware encoding support is better, and there just faster and lower power overall. If you can go new, ID do something like a 11th or 12th gen i5.

3 hours ago, PlumpNinja said:

I am going to use TrueNAS as its free and I want to save money where I can. I know TrueNAS uses ZFS but I do not understand what ZFS actually is and how it works. I do not intend to have the hard disks in raid as I do not need data redundancy in the NAS. Would TrueNAS still need me to have all HDDs of the same capacity? Which is not a huge issue I just want to be sure, so if I cannot mix match them I can choose upon what single drive capacity I want to use; since I will be only installing a single driven to start with (apart from the boot ssd) and add more when I need or when I have the funds for it.

You can have a pool of hdds with no redudancy, and mix drive sizes when doing this, but you lose all the data if one drive failes. Id really suggest unraid for this use case if you can, but ZFS would work here.