Media Server - will this work?

PostMedia Server - will this work? by **Dowbocop** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:34 pm

If I bought this WD My Cloud drive and connected it to a router I could rip all my films to it via some software, and then use something like Plex to stream it to my TV.

That's all there is to it, right? I'm not missing a massive chunk of hardware, and I've not misunderstood some limitations of the WD device?

Thanks in advance for any help - I know there's a thread for this but I can't find it...

PostRe: Media Server - will this work? by **False** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:10 pm

Where are you going to set plex up?

Can it cope with media libraries connected via a dumb drive to the router?

Yeah, plex runs on a host machine, i.e. a PC (or a chromecast) that's running and connecting to NAS over the network. If you're running Plex on a PC it needs to be able to "see" media in a media library that includes a networked drive, not sure about that, and that would mean your PC needs to be on all the time.

A lot of Smart TVs can stream media directly from a networked drive like this though using a variety of protocols. Falsey knows way more about networking than me, but that might be a dealbreaker for you.

It's possible there is version of Plex you can install on the NAS though.

Edit: Nope, you need a proper Linux-based NAS like a Synology, these are supported NAS you can install Plex on (click "NAS"): https://plex.tv/downloads

Bear in mind an "always on" NAS can cost a little in electricity to run over time.

PostRe: Media Server - will this work? by **False** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:28 pm

I havent played with a WD cloud drive, but Id guess that it probably supports apps or at least has a bespoke library of them. Plex should be there if so.

Now I think about it Im sure someone at work was talking about how easy it was to setup his WD drive and stream content into the office. Does it not do it out of the box with no plex required?

I missed that it was a cloud drive on first read, thought it was a dumb disk.

This post on the Plex forums covers this scenario, you need to run plex on the PC and include the MyCloud in the Plex library there: https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/ ... cloud-4tb/

There is no official support at a glance.

In the end it looks like it's possible to install Plex on the MyCloud but you need to dick around a lot with a custom install of Debian Linux.. with the MyCloud coming in at over £150 for decent capacity, I'd go for a "proper" NAS that supports Plex or build one (using FreeNAS), myself. https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/ ... d-mycloud/

E.g. £86 for this entry level model (no disk) http://www.ebuyer.com/666129-synology-d ... ure-ds115j

Then pop in any capacity disk of your choice (can be had for £45-80 - I recommend Western Digital RED for 24/7) and you should be able to run Plex on there.

PostRe: Media Server - will this work? by **False** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:37 pm

Then you have to remember that you are leaving your PC powered on all the time too. Seems like a hassle and waste to me.

I just built my own NAS with an energy efficient CPU and PSU etc. Has the benefit of being headless (no monitor or interface gooseberry fool) so it can go pretty much anywhere with a power socket and is small. Then if you buy the right CPU you can tweak Plex to allow for clever streaming and transcoding stuff.

Obviously Im an edge case and it costs a bit more up front.

I think GGs idea about a smart NAS with a plex client is probably the best 'cheap' way to go.

I priced up loads of these NAS solutions at work ages ago, in the end directors couldn't make head or tail of it and never bothered with backup (fail) but the Synology hit me as the best value, most consumer friendly option. I priced up some lightweight NAS builds and they still work out more expensive unless you're using spare parts. Much better value for capacity though, obviously off the shelf NAS aren't very generous with capacity as that's where the money is made.

Edit: And yeah, power consumption was my main concern, still haven't got my own running. While I have spare hardware lying around, the PSU is massively overpowered (500W but 80+ certified). My mate who's run a server in his attic for about 10 years says it really does take a hit out of your electric bill. I think some NAS can smart power on an off though (wake on LAN).

PostRe: Media Server - will this work? by **False** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:45 pm

Mine was built to be best in class with plenty of room for the years of upgrades ahead. But I digress

I want to use my Antec P180 no less - empty shell of my former self (built it when I was 16 and moved onto mATX), but it has space for something nuts like 8 3.5 inch drives for all the porn I can stash until...

This sort of thing gets to the point where you have so much data you can't even remember what's there.. it's a slippery road.

Falsey wrote:Mine was built to be best in class with plenty of room for the years of upgrades ahead. But I digress

Speccing up for cheapskates is no fun at all.

Hold it - done some more digging and it seems Plex is really quite demanding because of all the transcoding - maybe you will need a dual core NAS with more RAM - http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic ... 93&t=91116

Hmmm..

Just hit gold - the Plex community maintains a Google Spreadsheet of all compatible NAS if you want to go down this route - go wild: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =314388488

PostRe: Media Server - will this work? by **False** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:54 pm

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/prod ... -304-black

:mrgreen:

Green Gecko wrote:This sort of thing gets to the point where you have so much data you can't even remember what's there.. it's a slippery road.

Tell me about it. I built my array with 2TB disks and at the time I thought, strawberry float it, I dont need parity. Its only movies.

Now I have a strawberry floating huge array and its become very clear I need to trash it and add a parity disk. Good job I got a 5TB drive as my work christmas present. Just dreading doing it now.

Green Gecko wrote:
Falsey wrote:Mine was built to be best in class with plenty of room for the years of upgrades ahead. But I digress

Speccing up for cheapskates is no fun at all.

What you need is to spec it up for an idiot who wants a shitload of feature room for stuff they'll never use. (Yourself)

Green Gecko wrote:Hold it - done some more digging and it seems Plex is really quite demanding because of all the transcoding - maybe you will need a dual core NAS with more RAM - http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic ... 93&t=91116

Hmmm..

Plex can get quite greedy, but Id have expected a nas built for the purpose would be ok.

How does Plex work if transcoding isn't supported? E.g. it isn't on any NAS with an ARM CPU. Does it just not work with the plex app on that device? I guess if you make sure all your gooseberry fool is in a format compatible with your end device i.e. TV, phone, console it should be fine.. Just whack everything into a transcoding queue on your PC for H.264/MP4. That might take an age though, half the fun of a media server is that you don't have to dick around naming and converting all your files.. it just plays anything.

Edit: that fractal case looks mint, but at the moment I can fit enough disk drives directly into my HTPC. Makes me wonder what I'm meant to do with my little Antec case though, the same one you have. I should save room under the telly, have a plex server burried in a cupboard somewhere.

Right now I'm running my PC and Mac at the same time just because I ran out of space on the Mac and have all my music on my gaming PC. That's retarded.

Home servers are the future. I already own so many strawberry floating PCs (or rather empty cases) it's ridiculous, and none of them can get all my media in one place.

PostRe: Media Server - will this work? by **False** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:09 pm

Id have guessed that it just streams the content as is rather than making it smaller and more suitable for broadcast

That might be OK. In which case several Netgear (ReadyNAS) and Synology NAS are on that list, they just won't be able to transcode unless you go for a pro model.

PostRe: Media Server - will this work? by **False** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:16 pm

Moves the stress onto your router etc then, so if you have gooseberry fool wireless or something - prepare for stutter

Gigabit ethernet 4 lyf.

Thanks so much for the advice!

Obviously the WD I linked to wants to be hardwired to the router, but it seems that doesn't need to be the case? Being able to chuck it in the spare room opens up many more possibilities. I'd be using a BT Homehub which is apparently good enough for streaming what I want wirelessly (if that changes I can go wired).

Plex is not a deal breaker, it just seemed like a perfect example of what I want. Streaming will be to either an iPad, Android device or a TV (via Chromecast now, maybe via a smart TV later). I'm assuming my plan of just having Plex installed on my phone for the day to day streaming direct from the hard drive (and just having the PC turned on for ripping discs) won't cut it then! FreeNAS might be the answer...

Energy consumption is a big factor, I don't want to spend loads on electricity. The synology one that you linked to GG is apparently low power (4W in sleep mode, genuinely no clue if that's good!). And that model will work independently of a PC once I chuck a hard drive into it?

Falsely - building is not out of the question, but my wife will be using this as well so it has to actually work :lol:

Lots to think about, but I'm getting my head around it I think!

Yes you can put the cloud type hard disks anywhere and they hook up via Wifi and their own power supply, like any other computer on the network. You can also get some wireless NAS, but most people put these things on their wired network to avoid latency issues.

You can set up the Synology range with Plex but most of them don't support on-the-fly transcoding, so all your media needs to be in a format that your device(s) support - Plex App is just going to be essentially a browser to serve stuff up from the Plex Server (installed on the NAS). I didn't realise Plex was so intensive (should have known, transcoding definitely is CPU intensive) - if you want that, you need a high end NAS or make one yourself, like Falsey has.

I'm pretty sure the WD CloudBook includes its own software for streaming stuff to your devices and host apps, but it's probably not as good as Plex. Plex's main strength is its really good UI, transcoding (but you won't be able to do that) and filetype/subtitles support. Plus with the Synology or any other NAS you can get one with 2 or more drive bays - just chuck in an extra hard disk when you run out of room, and the OS on the NAS sorts it. With the MyBook you're stuck with whatever they pack in, which imo is quite expensive for what it is. I really hate getting stuck with built in drive capacity. In fact for that reason I've never bought one, all my drives are desktop drives in caddies.

You can also use the Synology as an incremental or full back-up server, that's the original reason I was looking at them, and you can log into them remotely to access your files from anywhere.

And yeah, 4W is real low power consumption. It's only about 512MB RAM and an ARM CPU. That's like a Wii. Your average self build is going to idle around 200W which is why you go for a small form factor, passively cooled machine with as efficient, low wattage PSU you can get (limiting what else you can do with the hardware but the point is you don't put a massive GPU and an i7 in it). If you're going for low power usage you're going to struggle to make something yourself that's as efficient because all the stuff in a pre-built NAS is going to be on one board and heatpipe cooled etc. The downside is you can't upgrade it - although I think you can upgrade RAM in a few of them.

Thanks for that, that pretty much seals it for me, so I'll pick that up with a decent 4GB HDD.

In terms of transcoding, can I just skip round that problem by ensuring that all my DVDs are encoded to the same format in the first place?

Media Server - will this work?

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