NAS For Plex Media Server – 8 Mistakes People ALWAYS Make

Recently set up a NAS and thought it was a great idea to use the plex application on the NAS and immediately regretted that decision. Basically the processor is too weak to do the kind of transcoding that is necessary for my use, and keeps the processor constantly pegged at 100% for watching 1 4K hdr video.

Switched plex to be installed on a Ubuntu server with an RTX graphics card and mount the NAS shares for the library and its way better. The only reason to use the NAS server to run plex is if you don’t have another capable, stationary computer on your network. Literally any other computer is probably better.

I've found that when I experience weird troubles with PLEX server, I restart the machine, make sure Windows is updated, make sure my video drive is updated, update the server to the latest version, update the client to the latest version. Restart the machine again.

1) NAS - is just storage device, what i7/Xeox are you talking about? If collecting TVs with different resolution is somebody's hobby - just use $20 Android based TV box instead of purchasing 20x times expensive NAS,
2) it's impossible to hear noise from NAS in the farthest closet. Wireless interface inside TV is enough (WiFi5 - for 1080p, WiFi6 - for 2160p and 4320p) in most cases, and for spacious estates there're WiFi extenders,
3) don't tell my NAS about that, because it has 512 MB RAM (Plex utilizes less than 1/4 of it), and doesn’t realize that this can’t be done,
4) converting/transcoding - is client device's task. Plex has no issue with direct streaming of supported H.264 & H.265 (30 fps/8 bit). If the device is used only for storing and viewing video, it is obvious that it is more economically profitable to convert all the video ONCE into a single format than to warm the house with Xeons every time during transcoding,
5) instead of a bunch of words: if you wanna access your Plex library with Plex client from the outside and/or you need to manage clients access - subscribe on Pass,
6) simply think about NAS' HDMI as management tool for initial setup,
7) it is a mistake to think that by purchasing expensive NAS with hardware transcoding acceleration, you will be able to use this acceleration without purchasing Pass subscription,
8) a very realistic fairy tale, but there is a setting to access local Plex for both uses (listening & managing) when offline called 'List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth', and DLNA as backup for AppleTV. It's clear, that you'll not get pictures & descriptions update, but everything that was downloaded before the Internet was turned off will remain available in the same form.
Summing up: don't mix NAS with media station and video editing workstation. If you just need to watch cinemas on your TVs & mobile device, it will be more comfortable pay for multiple subscriptions of popular streaming services instead of purchasing and configuring some powerfull NAS with drives.

i'd rephrase this very interesting video as "8 ways brands mislead their users". People spend their hard earned money on stuff when is marketed a certain way and then companies drops some codecs or some software, false marketing products and then we re really here blaming people in the first place ? Cmon.

how many people are watching fricken videos on their phone and flipping out if it buffers?All Synology NAS work fine, like my old 220+ for my needs, no buffering or stuttering and remote play just as seamless and now my 1522+.... could you seriously get off this topic already? 

....there seriously tens of thousands of people using their NAS to share their library and expecting 10 for more simultaneous transcoding streams to all their kids or friends or.... customers? it's lunacy to see all the complaints about this one feature not being optimized with their choice of a new CPU which frankly is so much faster and efficient on every other task I use my NAS for like video and photo editing on the fly, backing up and accessing Synologydrive, music streaming and everything else. And no problem playing and I guess transcoding a stream when needed. My god y'al seem obsessed with being able to have multiple transcoding streams at once, and who needs that? someone who needs to get a life I imagine

I use T-Mobile wireless internet which does not have Port Forwarding. I do not have issues with streaming but, If I use the paid Plex Pass services will I be able to use all the functionality of the service without Port Forwarding?

I don't agree wıth HEVC comments. If we would be talkıng about AV1 then yes. It is a bit of a problem to play natively. But HEVC is very common.

I have just purchased an Orange pi5 to be used solely as a Plex Server. It has a Rockchip RK3588S 8 core 64bit Processor and 8GB Ram and says it supports 8K video codec, what i want to know is would this cpu work well with a NAS? Operating system i am using Ubuntu on a NVMe. Thanks

I've had Plex for around 5 years now, and in that time, I have yet to find a single device that doesn't support native h265 support. Almost all my media is in h265 to save space, and the only transcoding I've seen is when someone doesn't change the Plex app's default to 720p for remote plays. I tell them to adjust the settings to original for remote streams, and no more transcoding. (2Gbps internet upload, so no buffering either)

I'm considering the DS1621xs+, is it good for Plex?

I have bought the Plex lifetime pass, never regretted it.

plex work great. I think is ok to pay those people who make it. lifetime pass Is not expensive.

If it isn't fast enough I can just use the PC for the server again and the NAS as storage. I have a 7950x/4090 combo with 64GB.

Another idea don't use 4k video

My celeron j3455 transcodes 4k hdr material perfectly fine with hardware acceleration. The performance of my system isn't really impacted

Touching on transcoding and Plex pass, have I interpreted it fought that if I don’t pay for Plex pass, the benefit of the Celeron over the Ryzen is irrelevant?!

I'm still very new to the NAS space, but I've been slowly upgrading my system for about 2 years now, I built it for cheap and it's been running excellently.

-I used my first gaming PC, AMD a10-5800K. It's an unimpressive processor but has pretty decent graphics for the age. That's paired with my 16gb of ram from the same machine.
-I went with a corsair carbide 100R case (old PC cases are your friend. They're cheap and have lots of drive bays).
-I got a 700W bronze power supply (wildly exceeds my power consumption needs, but it's very efficient and has plenty of power for drives at a low cost)
-For storage, I bought 3x 3TB WD red drives running in RAIDZ, and an old 2TB for extra storage of non-critical files. I went with Truenas, which is a bit daunting to work with, but once you're up and running it's pretty easy to manage.

Truenas also supports a direct Plex plugin, which took all of 5 minutes to set up. My process now is ripping DVD's directly to my NAS using an SMB share.

All in, I think I spent less than $300 for the whole system using my old parts. I couldn't put it in a closet or attic, so it's in my dining room. By selecting a case with a lot of fans and good noise dampening, I've managed a quiet hum from the system. you can hear it's there if you listen for it, but it's quieter than my AC or a house fan.

If you're interested in getting a NAS and using plex, my main advice is to view it as a project and a learning experience. It will take time, you will feel out of your depth, and you will have a lot to learn. But, at the end of the day you're learning a lot of valuable skills, owning your media, and you can venture into other projects like running your own VPN, game servers, and lots of other projects.

Is there a limit of length of cables between the NAS and TV's or Laptop/computer, where length MAYBE will lower the throughput between the units? And if storing the NAS in an enclosed drawer/cabinet where maybe the heat can't get away easier, can that temperature be to high for the NAS so you'll have to install a fan to extract the heat from that cabinet?