[QUESTION] What Budget-Friendly NAS to Get?

[elvinguitar]

Currently, my network storage is just an external HDD (5400 rpm) connected to my router (TP-Link Archer C2 AC750) via USB. I'm using this network storage for storing large files, watching movies (by directly playing the file), and watching movies on my smart tv using plex (using my PC as the plex server). The reason that I'm looking for a NAS is that there are times, when many users are accessing the storage network, wherein the transfer speed is so slow (10Mbps) and the movies that I'm watching lags.

 

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to transfer the plex server to a NAS or just keep using my PC as the server. All of my movies' codecs are compatible with my smart tv so I'm just using "Direct Play" in plex and I think I don't need any transcoding. If I'm using the NAS as the plex server, plex and transcoding does not support all NAS available. So my first question: Is it wise to buy plex compatible NAS or just keep using my PC as my server? My next question (based on what will be the answer to my first) is What NAS should I get that is budget-friendly? Lastly, What HDD should I use on my NAS?

 

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[Xenift]

(http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Diskless-Network-Attached-Storage/dp/B00I2P53NY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1450440855&sr=8-4&keywords=nas)

+

(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) x2

 

 

 

 

Or you could build a NAS system, those range from 300-700 depending on storage sizes.

(http://www.freenas.org/)

Edited December 18, 2015 by Xenift

[Oshino Shinobu]

(http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Diskless-Network-Attached-Storage/dp/B00I2P53NY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1450440855&sr=8-4&keywords=nas)

+

(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) x2

 

 

 

 

Or you could build a NAS system, those range from 300-700 depending on storage sizes.

(http://www.freenas.org/)

This is a good option, but I would advise changing out the Blue drives to Red, as they are designed specifically for NAS applications. They're a bit more expensive, but worth it if you ask me. 

[elvinguitar]

(http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Diskless-Network-Attached-Storage/dp/B00I2P53NY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1450440855&sr=8-4&keywords=nas)

+

(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) x2

 

 

 

 

Or you could build a NAS system, those range from 300-700 depending on storage sizes.

(http://www.freenas.org/)

May I ask why did you suggest WD Cloud? I've searched the net and it shows that Synology is the common choice of the consumers.

[Xenift]

May I ask why did you suggest WD Cloud? I've searched the net and it shows that Synology is the common choice of the consumers.

As WD drives are very reliable, their products come with no bullshit.

I expect this to be of no exception, with other products, you can come to expect sub 100MBps transfer rates.

This however, has a good processor in it and can even RAID 0 your drives.

 

There is a more expensive option of course, (http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-EX4-Diskless-High-performance-reliability/dp/B00G4JZ2T0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450444755&sr=8-1&keywords=mycloud+ex4) but is an uncommon option as it is generally too many disk slots and people usually look for a self built option rather than a prebuilt at this price point.

 

Would ask @Captain_WD about this, but unfortunately he is offline .

(If you came here then sorry for bothering you :#.)

[elvinguitar]

As WD drives are very reliable, their products come with no bullshit.

I expect this to be of no exception, with other products, you can come to expect sub 100MBps transfer rates.

This however, has a good processor in it and can even RAID 0 your drives.

 

There is a more expensive option of course, (http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-EX4-Diskless-High-performance-reliability/dp/B00G4JZ2T0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450444755&sr=8-1&keywords=mycloud+ex4) but is an uncommon option as it is generally too many disk slots and people usually look for a self built option rather than a prebuilt at this price point.

 

Would ask @Captain_WD about this, but unfortunately he is offline .

(If you came here then sorry for bothering you :#.)

Thanks for your help and for the info I'll wait first if someone will be able to provide a decent and budget-friendly build for a NAS.

[Xenift]

Thanks for your help and for the info I'll wait first if someone will be able to provide a decent and budget-friendly build for a NAS.

Just a friendly reminder, you might want to post this at a later time if no one replies.

Posts gets buried real fast around here.

[elvinguitar]

Just a friendly reminder, you might want to post this at a later time if no one replies.

Posts gets buried real fast around here.

Thanks for the reminder. Hopefully this post will not get buried easily. Hehe

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there elvinguitar

 

If you are looking for a pre-built NAS solution for PLEX I could suggest checking out WD My Cloud Mirror as a good budget NAS that offers RAID0 and RAID1 options, comes with WD Red drives and supports PLEX without a problem. It also has USB ports on the back so you can plug your external drives for backups or to extend the NAS's storage capacity. 

Pre-built NAS devices are usually the better choice for simple home usage due to the ease of setting up and managing, user-friendly interface, provided support and general warranty. You can get a longer warranty on some of the parts if you go for a self-built NAS, but you don't have support and the procedure of setting it up takes longer and is more complicated, though you have more options for customization and upgrade-ability.

Here's more info on the WD My Cloud Mirror: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=XnN9Ii

 

Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions

 

Captain_WD.