Question Plex Server on Synology DS220j NAS

Currently reading
Question Plex Server on Synology DS220j NAS

I think it's important to consider whether you have friends who will be streaming video content from your NAS over the internet. If so, you have no control over what equipment they will be using to watch your videos. So, it may end up being equipment that is not natively compatible with your video formats, and may require transcoding. You could take the view that "that's their problem," but they will be complaining to you. Or, you could get the + series NAS and have less such problems.

Also, the + series runs Docker and the others don't. It would be a shame to miss out on all the Docker fun. It HUGELY expands the variety of things your NAS can do.
 
I see your point. I was thinking that you might want to transcode your m2ts file streams to a file format natively supported by your playback devices and could use a tool such as handbrake to do so.

Yeah, good point. But you know. 8 years of family videos is a lot to transcode, and I am not covering my another 13 years of videos I have to digitize from VHS tapes. It will be a lot of work and it will be great to put all this videos to my new NAS and don't think about it anymore. Because videocamera we are using at home still recording these .m2ts files so I would have to do it every time I record something.

So I think this 300€ + 4TB HDD will be great investment for us. Maybe the another models like DS1019+ will be a lot better but we don't have budget for it now.
 
The biggest advantage of transcoding is that you can access any of your media from any device around the world.
The nice thing about Plex is that you can transcode off-line using the "Optimization" feature. This is light on resources and since it occurs offline there are no CPU over-loading or buffering concerns.

Even so, the Plus series handles "live" transcoding decently alongside a Plex Pass. In that set-up, you can have multiple streams simultaneously encoding with the processor hardly breaking a sweat. Unlike a software program designed specifically for encoding which maxes out the CPU/GPU. Plex has a leisurely time, only having to keep pace with the video bitrate. On a local LAN this is seldom a problem.
 
Yes, the optimization feature in Plex is lovely - you end up with several copies of the same video, each optimized for a particular type of device. So what it does NOT optimize is disk space... but of course, that's a lot cheaper than computational power.
 
Yes, the optimization feature in Plex is lovely
I have a tv series that has on-the-fly transcoding challenges (even for my PC) due to its PGS subtitles. Using optimization, I set Plex to transcode the next 3 unwatched episodes (I rarely watch more than 2 back to back). After I watch episode 1, episode 4 begins to transcode, and episode 1 transcode is auto-deleted, keeping disk storage manageable. I've never had the need to create multiple transcodes of films or tv shows.
 
Right, that's a different use case. You can also keep multiple versions of the same show, transcoded into different formats for different players... that's what I was referring to.

And to be clear; When I said "the optimization feature in Plex is lovely," I wasn't being sarcastic...I think it's great.
 
I’ll add my voice to the others. Stay away from the j series. I have the 120j (like what you’re considering but with a single bay). As the expression goes, it’s slower than molasses running uphill in winter (compared to my other Disk Stations).

You’ll discover many uses for these boxes. Save and try to go up to a plus series and get the highest HD capacity you can afford. With media files you’ll be running out of space faster than you think.
 
get the highest HD capacity you can afford. With media files you’ll be running out of space faster than you think.
And what about when I buy 4TB now and I want to upgrade in the future. Is it difficult to migrate data to higher capacity in this Synology NAS plus models?
 
Last edited:
And what about when I buy 4TB now and I want to upgrade in the future. Is it difficult to migrate data to higher capacity in this Synology NAS plus models?
No, easy. Your options now are either a single drive (but what’s the use of a 2 bay NAS in this case) or fill the two bays and mirror them. Of course you can have RAID 0 without the protection of mirroring, that would be 4+4. A total of 8tb. With mirroring, 4+4 is still 4 :)

When you get a higher capacity drive you’ll just need to follow the process of removing one disk, the 4tb in your example and add the new one (let’s say 8tb) and the contents should be mirrored, then remove the other 4 and add the other new 8.
 
Last edited:
You might find Plex Pass discounts online. I purchased a lifetime Pass recently when they did a 50% discount. For me it also provides Plex users of my Apple TV to have their own PIN protected account and it: provides age classification controls; personal usage; as well as access to hardware transcoding.

From nowhere I receive Plex Pass discount for 75€ on my email from Plex itself. Do you pay for it also 75€/$ or you had a better discount? And is it really worth that money?
 
Ah, I checked and it was a 25% discount on the lifetime Pass back in November, so £71 inc. vat.

I still have kids at home that need to have age restrictions on TV and films, and this is only available with Plex Pass' Home Users feature. That also provides each home user with their own playback tracking.

I might've had a beer before clicking buy.
 
For me it’s well worth it. I got life time on a 25% discount about 4y ago. Never looked back. Also, 25% I think, is the lowest they offer

But when I look on Plex Pass features, it is mostly on music (I use Spotify), backup (I will be using Synology apps for backup) and Live TV (I live in Europe and I don't watch these channels). I would be using maybe parental controls, extras and trailers on films and transcoding.
So only with these features, I am thinking if it's worth it.
 
Hi! I am also considering the DS220j but without any TV/Chromecast connections, just laptop running Plex Media Server and pointing to the DS220j. Is that alright since (if I understand Plex correctly) I should not need to do any transcoding at the NAS?
 
Hi! I am also considering the DS220j but without any TV/Chromecast connections, just laptop running Plex Media Server and pointing to the DS220j. Is that alright since (if I understand Plex correctly) I should not need to do any transcoding at the NAS?
It will be fine. Whatever device is your plex server is the device that will transcode if needed. In your case NAS will be a pure storage device and as such will not be stressed at all.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Similar threads

Hi Fredbert, Thank you for your reply. But I think, I solved it - albeit not sure how! I was using a...
Replies
2
Views
4,559
  • Question
Seems like two queues... I connected to both and they both installed drivers and showed as printers.
Replies
5
Views
3,934
  • Question
Airprint is direct between the iPhone and the printer; it doesnt go via the Synology. If you're not...
Replies
1
Views
1,022
Deleted member 5784
D
That is why I asked - OP wasn't clear on exactly what he planned to use the 1TB Drive for...
Replies
5
Views
1,202
Beat on it harder, so you know where the limitation exists before say “Acceptable”. Just because it does...
Replies
5
Views
2,815

Welcome to SynoForum.com!

SynoForum.com is an unofficial Synology forum for NAS owners and enthusiasts.

Registration is free, easy and fast!

Back
Top