Best products from r/PleX

Your budget is generous not "cheap" so with the goal of $1000 plex server here is what I would do...

EDIT: THIS WON'T TRANSCODE 4k... however thats ok because 4K transcoded are washed out... use high bitrate 1080P looks just as good if sitting 4' or further away.. if you want 4k for the HDR then use a player that can play 4k hdr(almost any tv does now.. i have a $600 65" TV that does it just fine)

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• $110 a Node 804 Case(or really use any mATX case) https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Supply-MicroATX-FD-CA-NODE-804-BL/dp/B00K6OVG0I/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Node+804&qid=1573235254&sr=8-1
  
• $48 - beQuiet 400Watt ATX PSU(even 400watts is twice what is needed mobo will use 100watts under load and hd use max 3atts each)
  
• $540 - 3x 12 TB HD Here: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-easystore-12tb-external-usb-3-0-hard-drive-black/6364259.p?skuId=6364259&intl=nosplash <-- this is a 12tb WD Red drive just need to remove the shell.
  
• $32 - Kingston A400 256GB SSD for cache drive - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5IB20Q/ref=twister_B07YTKD3J6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
  
• $59 - unraid for up to 6 HD
  
• $45 - X9scm motherboard off ebay for $50 this looks good.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Micro-X9SCM-F-LGA-1155-Intel-C204-Micro-ATX-server-motherboard-with-i-o/352558745024?epid=127396627&hash=item52162385c0%3Ag%3AIfsAAOSw09xZ8mUk&LH_BIN=1
  
• $45 - intel Xeon E3-1230V2 (8,800 passmark) such as this... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-E3-1230V2-SR0P4-3-30GHz-4-Core-8MB-LGA-1155-Processor/133228992846?epid=28011033095&hash=item1f0511194e:g:Z4oAAOSwA5RdwFUZ <search ebay for "sr0p4" to find them
  
• $45 - 16GB of ECC Un -Buffered Ram: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-16GB-4x-4GB-PC3-10600E-ECC-Un-Buffered-DDR3-Server-Workstation-Mac-Pro/303346347609?epid=6016691535&hash=item46a0d9ee59%3Ag%3AuzUAAOSwmdxco3tX&LH_BIN=1
  
  Total of $924 for a system than can transcode 4x 1080P with ease and store 24TB of Parity protected Datam if you want 4k then just make sure your player can play it natively(which this system could with a video card in a VM)
  
  If you wanted rack mounted then this is a well priced case... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07957B2VF/ref=twister_B079C7QGNY?_encoding=UTF8&th=1
  
  If you want to be able to play from the Server then still use Unraid and make a VM with windows or a Linux plex OS and pass through a PCI-E Video card of some sort to the VM.
  
  Of course since its unraid you can now easily run the Plex Server, Sabnzbd, sonaar,radaar and all the other goodies you need to automate your system for the ultimate watching experience as unraid has a great docker experience.

Right... just reporting back on my findings on this and also looking for some help.

I've not been able to watch 4K films on my TV up until this point.

FIrstly, I bought this adaptor:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BBD7NFU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I "forgot" my WiFi settings so the TV had no internet connection. Plex was showing "No Connection".

As soon as I plugged it in it started flashing and Plex started working again! So... result so far!!!

Then I tried to play a movie that had the following audio...

• Codec HEVC
  
• Bitrate 85343 kbps
  
• Bit Depth 10
  
• Chroma Subsampling 4:2:
  
• Color Primaries bt2020
  
• Color Range tv
  
• Color Space bt2020nc
  
• Color Trc smpte2084
  
• Frame Rate 23.976 fps
  
• Height 2160
  
• Level 5.1
  
• Profile main 10
  
• Ref Frames 1
  
• Width 3840
  
• Display Title 4K (HEVC Main 10 HDR)
  
  The video was "direct play" but the audio (detailed above) transcoded and, unfortunately, it still buffers now and again?
  
  However, if I play another audio stream which is "direct play" then the film plays fine without buffering?
  
  Does anyone know what's causing it to buffer when I'm transcoding my audio??
  
  If I check the bandwidth, CPU and RAM whilst it's transcoding the audio, the bandwidth seems to spike around 260Mbps (the CPU and RAM seem very low and steady - around 20% for both). However, the bandwidth spikes don't seem to correlate with the buffering? It can go to 260Mbps and then drop to 150Mbps - then drop to around 100 and suddenly 'buffer'?
  
  Anyone know where to direct my attention next to fix it so that I can also transcode audio?
  
  (BTW X-play seems to be worse than Plex for some reason - unless there's settings in X-play I don't know about - I've only used it once before?)
  
  This is a massive leap forward as it is. Just being able to play 4K films is great. But it would be amazing if I could also play the proper audio?
  
  Thanks for your help :-)
  
  Note: TV is LG OLED65C7V

/r/PlexACD Refugee here, looking to bring everything back in house. Curious if anyone has been in a similar boat and has some feedback?

Here are some details about my situation:

• I'm trying to optimize for space and minimize heat generated so i can run server/data from a closet
  
• I'm planning on buying a storage solution (to save space and cut down on my complexity) instead of building one
  
• I have maybe 4 TB of media, looking to grow a TB per year
  
  • Redundancy in data is not critical required
    
• Concurrent transcoding is a rare situation - maybe 2 720p concurrent streams @ worst case
  
• Happy running Ubuntu
  
  my approach (feel free to tear it apart or suggest alternatives)
  
  
• NUC for Computer (this one has a CPU Passmark of 3824, so should be good for a 1080p and 720p concurrent) -
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4EOJNG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
  
  • I'll add 4 GB of RAM to it - seems like plenty
    
• PRORAID drive enclosure (gives me the option to use RAID or some software equivalent like flexRaid if i want in the future) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YFHEAC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
  
  • I'll probably go with RAID5 and just buy some drives up front that will last me a few years - sounds simpler than the software raid stuf
    
    My findings through this research:
    
    
• a NAS likely won't give me enough horsepower to feel comfortable in the transcoding department
  
• If i use a NUC to serve up data, i don't need an underpowered NAS for storage - i could do just fine with drive enclosure
  
• There are WAY too many software RAID options out there
  
  Thanks!

Hello to all! I need a little help with Live TV....

I've been running Plex for about 4 years now but only as a bit of a lightweight. Nothing fancy at first just some basic media serving. I run an @home server only, no remote access. Plex is v 1.15.3.876-ad6e39743 and running on a Synology 918+ with three 8TB drives running a redundant BTFS configuration with about 14TB of usable space. My Radarr and Sonarr integrations are great and don't cause any problem. I own three TCL branded Roku TV sets. I don't typically have any issues watching any movies or TV shows. Little to no CPU and fairly small bandwidth (10-20Mbps). Almost nothing needed to transcode until I got to the TV stream from an HDHomerun. I started with a two tuner connect. It was having lots of problems including a wonky power connection. I replaced it initially with a quatro but I had the same performance issues. I read a few more posts and swapped it out yesterday for an Extend. I thought things would be great but when I installed the extend, the synology CPU goes to about 50% with hardware encoding enabled. On the dashboard screen it says it's transcoding from 1080i to 1080p for the video and the audio is direct stream. The stream buffers a lot and in the course of about an hour will be 15 minutes behind because of the buffer time.

I want to cut my cable so this is a pivotal component of that transition. Any help that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

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Antenna is in the attic with a pre-amp on the mast and a power component inside.

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Amp is - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQN3R9O/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Antenna is - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MYMVPVX/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

Thanks!

Prebuilt NAS from the likes of Synology is a huge waste of money. The ones that can transcode 1080p media properly cost upwards of $600, and that's without the storage.

For well under $600 (again excluding storage) you can build a kick-ass dual socket Xeon based server that will transcode one 4k stream without breaking a sweat, 2 would be a stretch, but maybe.

• Gigabyte GA-7PESH2 mobo - $175
  
• 2x Xeon E5-2650 V2 - $110
  
• Couple of half-decent coolers - $45
  
• 4U server chassis - $145 often on sale for $100
  
• 16GB 1066 or 1333 ECC REG memory - around $50 on eBay
  
• Decent PSU with dial EPS connectors - $60 on Evga B-stock site
  
• 2x SAS break-out cables if you want to run the SATA HDDs at their full potential speeds - $30
  
• As much SATA storage as you can afford. I usually buy the 8TB WD MyBook external drives when they go on sale, for around $130 each, and shuck them.
  
  You won't even need a GPU. Just make sure your monitor has VGA input for setting up the server, and after the initial setup it can run headless. The passmark score on the 2 CPUs is over 20k which is plenty.
  
  For more information check out https://serverbuilds.net site and Discord channel. Based on their guides I built a very capable server for under $400, and it does extremely well transcoding multiple 1080p streams simultaneously. Besides Plex Media Server it also runs all my automation like NZBget, Sonarr, Radarr, Bazarr, Tautulli, MCEBuddy (for converting 4k to 1080p,) Commskip (for removing commercials from recorded OTA programs,) and is my backup target for 4 Duplicati sources. The CPU load never goes above 50%, so I may throw all my home automation on there as well.

Ok so I think your going about this the wrong way.

I’m try to keep it as simple as possible.

Most people use a NAS along with a Plex server because a NAS just can’t do it on its own. They don’t have the proper hardware to perform as good as a computer. You will not be happy!

If you want simple the I would buy a Nvidia Shield and set it up at your server.

I would also buy an external storage device for your hard drives. You can use a nas but you can also use something like this.

The shield might be a little intimidating to you when you set it up but trust me it’s your best plug and play solution available.

I've been using this Mediasonic enclosure for the last few months and it works great, with USB 3.0 transfer rates are pretty decent. I have 4 reds in there and the cooling fan rarely turns on or gets hot. I am supporting both LAN and remote streaming and it works great.

Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 4 Bay 3.5" SATA HDD Enclosure - USB 3.0 & eSATA Support SATA 3 6.0Gbps HDD transfer speed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_0wbvDbDZRJHCN

I used the free OpenMediaVault as the OS and built my server in an old cheap computer to start. I am tech savvy so I built my own second server and put it at a family members house as my offsite backup, but it sounds like that wouldn't be a good option for you.

With you wanting as much as 30TB of data on the server, an off site backup is a must and I would highly recommend some sort of RAID or redundancy. I decided to do mine on the cheap and use ZFS Raid1/RAID 5(only one disk of redundancy between 3 disks) and the offsite backup as a secondary.

When your talking about that much data you have to seriously look at whether or not your ISP imposes a monthly data cap. For my Comcast I can only use 1TB of data a month without incurring a bunch of extra cost. So regular offsite backups of a 30TB library would push me way over the edge, even if I backed up incrementally. And Restoring from any failures would push it over the edge again. If you have a data cap like I do I would recommend using an enclosure like this for backups. Plug it in and back up your stuff, then bring it to work or a friends and leave it until you want to run another backup. Restore process is quick since it isn't using the internet and it protects your data from a natural disaster at home.

The Winegard Pre-Amp is what made the biggest difference for me.
https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-LNA-200-Preamplifier-Antenna-Amplifier/dp/B00DQN3R9O/
I use the RCA Yagi for my antenna, and it has been solid.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024R4B5C
This site can help you aim and know what you should get pretty easily as well.
https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

Good Luck!

Hey JDM! I'm literally 5 minutes into my NAS server research. Looking to stream mostly music but movies/plex is absolutely something I'm looking at. Anyways I'm just curious why you call your build the NAS Killer? How is it better than say if I just went on amazon and bought something like this:

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https://www.amazon.com/Synology-bay-DiskStation-DS218-Diskless/dp/B075N1BYWX?ref_=Oct_BSellerC_13436301_2&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=13436301&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30

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or this:

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-bay-DiskStation-DS218j-Diskless/dp/B076G6YKWZ?ref_=Oct_BSellerC_13436301_1&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=13436301&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30

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Also your website looks like an amazing resource, I'm looking forward to digging through it!

Hey, I'm on an upgraded Dell Poweredge T20, too! I ended up picking up a couple of these to house all of my media drives. I installed Mediasonic's eSATA card, so I could get the full speed from the drives. It's a beautiful solution to a (kind of) cramped case. I'm up to 39.2TB of usable space (4.12TB free).

I also did the SSD boot drive upgrade.

I also upgraded the CPU, but I went with a Xeon E3-1240. I do lots of sharing.

I'm still running the stock 4GB ECC ram that it came with, and I've been blown away with the performance. I'm running every Plex related webapp you could imagine (Sickrage, PlexPy, etc) and I usually peak my ram usage around 85-95%. I do want to upgrade the ram very soon so I have room to grow, but I'm still so happy with how far that 4GB has gone.

Oh and I'm running Server 2012 R2. Great OS.

Some updated links from 7/12/17

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unless you already have the i3-7100, i'd suggest taking a look at some of the Build Recomendations. Specifically probably the $297 or $350 ones. If you're super concerned about CPU power draw, go with an e5-2630L, only has 60w TDP vs the 54 of the i3-7100, plus passmark gets bumped up to almost 8000 vs 5600, and gets 6 cores vs 2. Likely will end up cheaper that what you're planning also. And, bonus, up to 14 SATA drives are supported by the mobo there. I recently even found alternative links to most of the items, see below. Notice you mentioned CAD, so may not be able to find as good of deals on used server parts as here.

---

Build

Type|Item|Price (eBay)

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Xeon X5670 2.93GHz, 3.33GHz Turbo 6-Core, 12-Thread | $35 $24.98
Motherboard | Supermicro X8ST3-F LGA1366 (comes w/ 6 SATA cables) (PSA: Always make an offer!)| $105 $110 |
RAM | 3x 4GB 2GB DDR3 NON-ECC 1333MHz | $22 $19.99 |
CPU Cooler | Intel 1366 Heatsink/Fan for Xeon | $23.85 $19.99 |
PSU | EVGA 430W White 450W Bronze PSU | $37.14 $24.99|
Case | NZXT Source 210 (white) | $54.99 |
Tax, shipping, other fees | | $15.99 $24.59
Total | | $294.87 $279.53

Ebay Cart
Amazon Cart

I don’t know about that— quicksync hw transcoding does pretty well. No one has been able to pull numbers but my nuc7 (last gen) i7 which has only 2cores was able to transcode 10 streams at same time during my own test. Plus I run blueiris with 10 cameras running. It probably can handle more streams but i didn’t try more simultaneous tests since I don’t ever get that many simultaneous users! Hardware transcode is huge.

I used these Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 4 Bay 3.5” SATA HDD Enclosure – USB 3.0 & eSATA Support SATA 3 6.0Gbps HDD transfer speed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.-JxCbGXEJE0M

I had a icydock and it had a firmware problem that caused issues ... I am never going to use them again. I have 3 media Sonics and they work pretty darn good.

Edit: they even have hardware raid built in. Never tried those versions, more expensive

Alright thanks. Nah, the Seagate was an 8TB with 16MB of cache. At least that's what a reviewer said. I have all WD drives. The 500GB is an old WD that I used for my first Plex drive.

Is it a "Late 2012" model with 4 USB 3 ports?

Here's what I'm doing with a similar Mac mini...

I have 8 * 8TB Drives. 4 are live and 4 are used as cloned backups. This supports my 32TB library. I just keep adding in pairs, and I'm about to add 2 more.

Just add USB hubs if you need more ports. This is what I'm using. There are other hubs with more ports, but this meets my needs.

I then connect these drives in pairs. I currently have 8 of them in use. I have 1 in standby in case one of the others ever fails, I can bring it into use. I travel a lot, so being able to do that remotely is nice.

I run Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the drives instead of Time Machine. This allows me to schedule exactly when I want them cloning or I can manually click a button to clone on demand if I've just updated the library. It will send email alerts and notifications if there's a problem, and it will optionally mount/unmount the cloned drive (as well as other actions/scripts).

Really this is all a super easy way to go without any network issues you may encounter with a NAS.

There are some downsides as ultimately NAS/RAID can be less expensive and certainly less cluttered. My whole set up is in a giant server cabinet which houses a bunch of other equipment in for our home theater and the rest of the house, so that's not an issue.

You are correct. It looks like Lowes.com is sold out online, says Currently Unavailable. Maybe they are just out of stock, or maybe they decided to stop selling them.

As of today, 4/23/19

Newegg currently has them for $150, free shipping

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815345030

Wow, and so does Amazon, free prime shipping $150

https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-EXTEND-FREE-Broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B01IRJQB1C

I was a longtime Harmony One user. And I decided to try the cheaper Logitech Harmony Smart Control (after the One finally kicked the bucket). And I love it. Give it a look and see if itll suite your needs.

Edit: link

I'm fairly certain that they will not be Reds, but worth a shot I suppose. Even with $100 off, $110 isn't that great of a price though - but if you're on a budget to start it's an understandable position.

8TB Elements (Red/White) is $205 on Amazon, and 8TB MyBook (Red/White) is $210 on Amazon and Best Buy. Still cheaper $/GB, but not a very good deal right now. Some other options would be Amazon Warehouse deals (if you're feeling risky), as they have the 8TB Elements on for $183. Or if you're close to the border, bestbuy.com has the 8TB EasyStore on for $140USD (~$186CAD).

10TB for $169 was a pretty decent price (the sale from a few days ago you were probably thinking of). But Amazon has 8TB for $139 on a regular basis, basically has been at that price all year. $17.50 a gigabyte, and according to reports the internal drives are largely white label and pretty good quality.

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Desktop-Hard-Drive-WDBWLG0080HBK-NESN/dp/B07D5V2ZXD/

Not bad to strip out the drives and put in a home build, if you need / want that much space.

I have this this harmony remote and hub and until your comment, didn't know it worked over bluetooth. Thanks!

Looking at the details page of the Shield TV (non-Pro 2017 model), and in the customer Q&A, a person says:

> I have used that with a Logitech harmony elite remote which uses a remote hub to control the shield tv via Bluetooth. Looks like i should be good to go!

I just built my first NAS/PLEX server and things are going great. Total cost was around $1300

SilverStone Mini-ITX NAS case

32GB DDR3 ECC RAM

4x HGST Deskstars

this sweet mobo ties it all together. It's got a quad-core Atom processor, 12 SATA ports across 3 RAID controllers, and supports 64GB of RAM, all in a Mini ITX form factor.

I'm running FreeNAS with a Plex jail

Not a problem man i can't remember the last time i purchased a drive locally PB is only good for small SSD's but anything over 4TB they are ridiculously priced. If you dont necessarily need NAS drive these are a good drive to shuck and great for media purchased 12 of these over the last 2 years for my server and have not had any issues and probably the cheapest way to get 8tbs to NZ.

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https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB8000100/dp/B01HAPGEIE/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1549133006&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=8tb+ironwolf&psc=1

I have what will be perfect for you.. And it runs at 45-50 Watts. Easily runs 3 streams+ . Any low wattage Powersupply will work. I am using an ITX-case with 8 Hot-swap bays with backplane included. I am running FreeNAS as the OS, and also using a IBM Megaraid 1015 flashed to ITmode but it isnt necessarily needed.
Case also has internal storage slots.
On the FreeNAS os I am using Plex in a jail, transmission as the bittorrent client, in a jail with VPN, and couchpotato and sickrage for media search and management. Love this setup. and once again, 45w power consumption. Thats less than your average lightbulb

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0YROSC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

32GB of this.
Kingston Technology ValueRAM 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L PC3-12800 ECC CL11 1.35V SODIMM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CUYOGRM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

SilverStone Technology Premium Mini-ITX / DTX Small Form Factor NAS Computer Case
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IAELTAI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01

Watch for the wd easystore / element drives to go on sale, as of this post the best deal is this 8tb for $125 at amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D5V2ZXD/

So, I'm a complete novice where a lot of this stuff is concerned and after a few hours spent reading about NAS and RAID and what not, my head is sort of spinning. The thing is, most everything suggested here and most other places seems like overkill for my needs, and also too expensive for my budget. Also, something like "build your own NAS from the ground up" is beyond my capabilities, so I need to just be able to buy something and throw a bunch of drives into it. Basically what I need is more storage to fill up with movies and that's pretty much it. I currently have three external drives (an 8 TB, a 4 TB, and a 2 TB) hooked up to my computer, which is also my media server. I'm running out of space on all the drives and usb ports to plug them into. My computer is a Dell XPS 8500 with an Intel i7-3770 3.4 GHz CPU and 16 GB of RAM with Windows 10. I'm only running Plex for my home media setup; there's never more than two people/devices using it at once, and most often, just one. I've never had any issues with my home computer being the server, everything is speedy and runs perfectly. Do I need a NAS if all I'm after is more storage and I don't need it to serve as a server? Could I just get some kind of dummy box like this and just put some drives in it and call it good? I don't really care about backup, which I'm aware is a ridiculous thing to say, but I'm talking about disks of questionably obtained movies and tv shows. If one of them failed, I'd be sad for ten minutes and then just reacquire a bunch of stuff. I could just upgrade one of my external drives, but that's starting to feel a bit wasteful, and I'd like to get something that's not as clunky as having three separate external disks sitting on my desktop. I'd like to start with at least 20 TB of storage with the ability to upgrade to more in future by putting in a new drive. Is a 4 bay Hard Drive enclosure fine for my needs or is there something else I need a NAS for that I'm not aware of?

I run my plex server on a dedicated laptop without any major issues. As already mentioned by others, occasionally updates are installed that reboot the machine and my external drives do not re-mount. This is pretty rare and not a big deal for me to go remount the drives. Make sure to store it in a well ventilated area, as laptops tend to get hot.

As far as external storage goes, I would recommend investing in a DAS, I use this one. This gives you external storage, but also allows you to buy a bare hard drive like WD Red's.

No, not worth it. If you are going to look into servers, start hunting ebay for used Dell r710 / r610 / r510 servers. You might be able to find one for ~$200, and it will be soooo much better.

You really want to be looking at xeon 5600 series CPUs, or newer... Here's a comparison with the xeon e5645 I have in my server, to the 5160 in that server:

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E5645-vs-Intel-Xeon-5160

Really, the i5 should be great for plex, what else are you running on it? Does it have USB 3? If so, maybe you could just look at something like this instead:

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4

It appears to be a 4 drive enclosure that can connect via USB 3 to your PC, for $99

Yes stock OS X is what I use. Apple has made OS X server a separate application that you now purchase from the App Store and run as if it were a regular program. It configures more advanced features of OS X and then can be closed out while the background processes still run.

I went the cheap route and purchased the linked enclosure below with 4 3TB WD Red drives.

Mediasonic HFR2-SU3S2 PRORAID 4 Bay 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - USB 3.0 & eSATA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YFHEAC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zx8Ezb4TCGKTN

Because my Mac Mini is older than USB 3.0 and only has 2.0 ports, I purchased this device:

Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA plus USB 3.0 Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LOLBBQQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_YA8Ezb8J5GRKV

With that I am able to run the raid via the eSata port which is extremely fast and it provides a USB 3.0 passthrough port if I want to attach another device. Since my older Mac Mini only has one thunderbolt port, I first connect an older desktop Seagate GoFlex drive which has a passthrough thunderbolt port, which I've linked here.

Seagate GoFlex Desk 3TB External Hard Drive for Mac in Black with Thunderbolt Adapter STBC3000102 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007IJ7UHC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0C8Ezb2R96464

This empty thread needs some love

My new Plex server runs on a:

• Plex from a FreeNas Jail
  
• ASRock Q1900B-ITX motherboard with an integrated J1900 Celeron quad core 2.00ghz processesor (10w TDP)
  
• 8 gigs Ram
  
• Intel Gigabit CT PCI-E Network Adapter EXPI9301CTBLK
  
• Two 3tb HDDs running in Mirror (raid 1)
  
  10/10 I am very happy with it
  
  This was a small scale experiment with a <$200 budget. I'm now planning out a larger 6-8 disk server that will handle a larger workload in addition to Plex.

may i suggest https://www.ebay.com/itm/FreeNAS-4U-36-Bay-Storage-Server-2x-Intel-Xeon-Hex-Core-SAS2-6Gb-s-48GB-9211-8i/142754052203?hash=item213ccdf86b:g:xuYAAOSw1cNaAKd2

not knowing your budget you can pair this with these

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB8000100/dp/B01HAPGEIE/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1525915442&sr=1-3&keywords=seagate

you can remove the drives from the enclosire and add drives as needed. that said i suggest installing crystal disc to make sure your drives are not dmged on arival since they were not ment to be used in this way if there all set the drives should run flawless for several years


that said if your not looking for huge storage options then
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Poweredge-R720xd-R720-Server-2x-Intel-Xeon-E5-2650-2-00Ghz-32GB-24-Bay/192522805869?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D50999%26meid%3D7c484cd71eb94670abdbbf359eb783ae%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D142754052203%26itm%3D192522805869&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

this is efectivly 50% better for processing videos and will have u encoding atleast 7 videos at 1080p X264

My current setup is fifteen 4 TB drives in a Rosewill RSV-L4500 chassis.

I use unRAID for the OS so I dedicate two of the 4 TB drives to parity, and the rest to data (13*4TB = 52 TB of usable space), and have a 500 GB SSD velcroed to an open spot in the case for thumbnails and caching. It runs headless and mostly just handles Plex and backups for my other computers.

My rule of thumb is that if I have 3 or more external drives, it's time to consider moving everything in to a single chassis - either a dedicated multi drive NAS, DAS, Thunderbolt or USB enclosure, or a dedicated server like this one.

You can upgrade the case without upgrading the motherboard. A mATX mobo will fit into most full-ATX cases as they usually have mounting holes for both.

Another option if you want to just put more drives into your existing PC is to get one of the Mediasonic 4-bay external enclosures:

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4

I've heard a few people suggest them around here. Has space for 4 drives, there is a hardware RAID version you can get, and it's got a cooling fan in it.

This way your PC would still be able to serve up the transcoding, where a NAS can be pretty expensive with generally not as much transcoding capabilities.

Instead of buying the overpriced red drives for $230 each you could shuck 8TB WD Elements external drives for $140 each. The hard drives inside are thought to be re-labeled Reds. That will save you $900.

Well, it's not strictly a NAS, but for the past few years, I've created my own pseudo-NAS by using two MediaSonic ProBox's attached via USB3 to my Win10 Plex server. It can also connect via eSATA if you want. It's alot cheaper than a NAS box at $100, and they do have versions you can RAID. I run StableBit DrivePool to make management of the media files I put on it easier (and DrivePool can setup a parity drive as well).

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4.

This doesn't answer your question, but wanted to give you another thought for setup. I bought 4 WD Red's along with a Raid Enclosure. I set the RAID up with 1 + 0 so I have a total of ~7.5 TB and they are mirrored for redundancy.

I'm happy with my Mediasonic PRORAID 4 Bay Enclosure with 4 - 4 TB Western Digital Reds. I have it configured with RAID 5 (distributed parity) so 10.9 TB capacity.

It's probably not the most cost effective setup at $826, nor future proof--when I'm out of space I'll either need another set of enclosure and drives or have to upgrade all my drives to 6 TB+ and find a use for the old ones.

EDIT: additional details

They're $205 currently on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB8000100/dp/B01HAPGEIE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1482265360&sr=1-1&keywords=8tb.

I've never paid more than $100 for 5TB and $200 for 8TB. You mostly just have to wait for deals on externals and then shuck them. If you are in it for the long haul, it is worth saving money shucking as long as you have a backup. Example for $750 you could get 6 x 5TB of shucked Seagate drives. You would only be able to get 3 x 5TB of WD Red.

>The only reason to put a home server in a rack is because you want to, because it's cool.

I respectfully disagree. It's a quick and easy way to add 15 internal drive bays, which is a lot harder to find in a traditional desktop PC case. There's absolutely a function for both setups, beyond just someone's personal choice because they might find it "cool". But at this point I don't think either of us is going to convince the other!

I was in the same situation, I ran out of space in my case for drives. I am using a USB enclosure for Plex and it works great:

Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 4 Bay 3.5" SATA HDD Enclosure - USB 3.0 & eSATA Support SATA 3 6.0Gbps HDD transfer speed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pGIiDb44DMDJJ

I have a B7A and I bought this Adapter:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BBD7NFU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

At first I didn't think it was working when I plugged it in it said "unknown device connected" and under network connection it said "not connected". However I opened up plex and I played a 4k HDR 100Mbps+ movie and it works great with no stuttering at all, and this is in plex, not XPLAY. Well worth it.

Just thing to note you have to forget your wifi SSID otherwise it will default to that.

EDIT. Just did a speed test on it. Was able to get 250 down. When my computer can get 300. So pretty happy, this was my only complaint about this tv

Kind of like u/RedXon said, I would recommend against a USB 3.0 hub you will probably run into more headaches than it is worth.


If you are dead set on continuing to use your Nvidia Shield as the server I would recommend getting something like this drive Enclosure

Just glancing, but it looks like there's some integration of it and that the app is free (maybe just for me since I own it already). I guess it works like Roku and you set it up then download the plex app onto the device? Then you could access the remote PC from there.

I have the ProBox and have been using it for a few years.

About a year ago I put a noctura fan on the back as the stock one was a bit loud. Over time

Works great

I could be very wrong but I don't think there is a difference between the two stores....?

Under amazon link: "What's new in version 3.6.3.269" Link

Under google play link: "Fixes (v3.6.2)" Link

From their notes it looks like amazon has the newer version but I would assume you can update either of them once in the downloaded app? Now I'm confused.

Cheapest Synology unit that can handle transcoding comfortably would be the 218+: https://www.amazon.com/Synology-Bay-DiskStation-DS218-Diskless/dp/B075N1BYWX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542135271&sr=8-1&keywords=218+synology

Look over the "Celeron" units on this page for their other units that scale up in features: https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/General/What_kind_of_CPU_does_my_NAS_have

Based on the descriptions for the QNAP TS-251+, which indicates an unnamed Celeron at 2.0ghz burst up to 2.42, I am guessing the CPU is the Celeron J1900. That CPU is from 2013, so the hardware encoding in it might not be nearly as good as more current CPU's, even with the higher Passmark score it appears to be sporting compared to the J3355 in the 218+ I linked above.

Try a ProBox; its still external, but can hold 4 or 8 drives and is relatively cheap (unless you need the RAID version). I have 6 of the 4-bays and they work perfect.

I ended up using this remote:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Control-Smartphone-Simple/dp/B00BQ5RYI4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

It has been able to control my Onkyo, Shield, TiVo, and TV without any problems. If you pick it up and find that it's being really, really, REALLY slow with commands, disconnect the IR Blaster and everything will clear up nicely.

Just bought one on Amazon the other day.
WD 8TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBWLG0080HBK-NESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D5V2ZXD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_9zU.Bb6TK88AG

Oh yeah? OK. Thoughts on Mediasonic?

https://www.amazon.ca/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1502056429&sr=1-1

I've done a fair amount of reading on plex servers and file sharing, but I still have a pretty elementary understanding so I'm hoping for some critique/constructive criticism on my plans. I plan on supporting up to 4 plex streams all through Wifi to TVs, tablets, laptops, phones. No remote access at this point. I plan on using a NAS device as storage for tv shows/movies/music and it will also be a torrenting machine. Then have another computer serve as the plex media server. This is probably overkill, but here's what I was planning:

File Storage/Torrenting server

Synology 2 Bay NAS

WD 4TB Hard Drive (x2)

​

Plex Media Server

Micro ATX Case

Gigabyte Motherboard

Ryzen 5 2600 CPU - 13000 passmark

8 GB Ram

Graphics Card

​

Still trying to figure out the power supply for the PMS. I think 550w should be ample. I also have a 1TB hard drive from years ago that I think I can use with this. If not I'll just get another one. My understanding is PMS transcoding isn't burdensome on RAM, but more processors cores/threads so I made sure I have ample room there.

​

The one caveat is this will be in the living room right underneath the main TV, so I wanted to try and keep noise level down. Or is this all just unnecessry overkill and I should just look at a T710/T310 dell server as the PMS?

No, what I am saying is that usb enclosure is good for now. But be sure to get drives that can be removed, that way if you ever upgrade to something like this the drives are still useable.

Here's another idea...https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HFR2-SU3S2-PRORAID-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003YFHEAC/ref=pd_ybh_a_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1J6T87862ZPTQF0G9NJ9

It has built in Raid 5 support. I've never used one, but the description seems to fit your needs and the price is right....

Yeah, I got the 4 drive one as well and loaded it up with 10TB drives.

I suspect that by the time I need more storage, I will need to break down and invest in a server chassis like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091IZ1ZG

Room for 15 drives in there.

My ultimate plan would be to get a server chassis like the one above, max out the hard drives, put in a couple SSDs for caching. Run UnRAID as the OS and Plex on top of that. I would probably drop in a Quadro card for hardware transcoding and a 10Gbe Ethernet card.

That project is at least a year away though.

Hey there - sounds like you are just trying to consolidate a bunch of external HDs, is that right? When I was at that "stage" in my Plex build I got something like this ProBox, connected to the computer running Plex. Never had issues with it, started with 2 drives, had 4 before I moved them over to my current unRAID server.

The deal is mentioned in the product description of the Plex app on the Amazon app store.

> ... (annual Plex Pass on sale in-app TODAY ONLY through the Amazon app store for 50% off: $19.99 USD, normally $39.99! - tablets only) ...

> After the first year, the price of an annual Plex Pass will revert to the regular annual price, currently $39.99. Prices may vary in other currencies.

Note: You must install the Plex app from the Amazon app store to get this deal. You cannot install the app from the Google Play store. The deal is for the annual Plex Pass subscription only, and not available for the monthly or lifetime subscription.

I'm not sure about the tablets only. Someone please confirm. Thanks. Edit: Confirmed working with phones and Fire TV.

My current setup is just my old laptop with an 8TB external hard drive


The laptop is fairly powerful so I’m not planning on replacing that but am looking for an expandable storage option.

I was looking at getting a NAS but was wondering...can I just use an external HDD enclosure that I can add drives to? Would there be major disadvantages to this?

Was thinking of something like this Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 4 Bay 3.5” SATA HDD Enclosure – USB 3.0 & eSATA Support SATA 3 6.0Gbps HDD transfer speed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_JN77BbPATW4YJ

Since it is much cheaper than a NAS

Intel is the best from personal experience

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CY0P7G/

Do they have to be 4TB? I just bought two of these bad boys for $300 and shucked them. The 4TB drives in your OP are $48 + $15+ shipping meaning you'd only be paying around $15 more for brand new WD drives with the capacity (and price) of two of those used drives. I would also suggest waiting for black friday and checking out if there are better deals available.

A mediasonic enclosure and 4x6TB WD Red hard drives.

They are 160

WD 10TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBWLG0100HBK-NESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G3QMPB5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Mq5VCbX6YHXGJ

Any reason you're not just upgrading to larger HDDs? Grab a couple of the 10Tb drives on sale right now (Amazon Prime Deal) and move the data over. You could copy all your data to a single drive for a short period, wipe and rebuild the server on something easy like mergerFS (https://blog.linuxserver.io/2017/06/24/the-perfect-media-server-2017/) which lets you expand without any issues.

Much cheaper than buying additional hardware and then going through the trouble of running plex via NFS/SMB mounts.

But to each their own...

That depends on the OS you are running on that box. If it is Unraid for example you would be able to add external drives in an external enclosure for example. Or you could "simply" switch to a bigger case and just go from there. Or as an extreme case scenario you could buy another server and mount the disk there as network mounts (assuming your network is fast enough) or something like that. THe question is what you are willing to pay for that expansion. But yeah, the simplest I guess would be something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=sr_1_2?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1568789811&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A2886986011&rnid=2886899011&s=pc&sr=1-2

(NOt this one in particular, I have no experience with this one, it was just the first I found. Just look for eSATA or if possible external SAS could be even possible, and not USB).

I would go with an unraid server, buy one big drive, like a 10TB for $189 take it out of the enclosure and start with that, then slowly transfer your data onto it, and when you empty a USB drive take the HD out of the enclosure and add it to your server. You would be able to do this for $300-400 to start, then add on as you go. There are some really good guides to get you started, here is one

I ran into this with a mini-itx whitebox build, but a $30 network card solves it just fine.

They're only $139 freedom dollars

Western Digital 8TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBWLG0080HBK-NESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D5V2ZXD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_qpiyDbYHD2D86

Amazon is always a good bet. The Connect is cheaper but Extend transcodes for you.

https://smile.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-EXTEND-FREE-Broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B01IRJQB1C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1472829145&sr=8-3&keywords=hdhomerun

https://smile.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHR4-2US-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472829145&sr=8-1&keywords=hdhomerun

I am running this little guy connected to my TV Shows box which already has 12x 3TB drives in it. I am using it to expand as well as upgrade my drive pool

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X26VV4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Harmony Hub is currently on sale at Amazon too. Hub plus the basic remote for $80

For that amount you're going to be looking at a NAS like: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076G6YKWZ/ref=psdc_13436301_t1_B075N1BYWX#nav-top

As long as you're not doing heavy transcoding you should be fine.

​

If you're looking for a PC that you can build yourself head over to r/buildapc for component lists.

I wonder if I can use all the parts in the guide, but with this case

https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Supply-MicroATX-FD-CA-NODE-804-BL/dp/B00K6OVG0I

I like the aesthethics

Not on sale, but you can pickup a Seagate 8TB external for $139 on Amazon whenever you like.

Is it one of these?

I bought two of these to temporarily migrate all my data to while I was rebuilding my primary array and they were great, solid units. but with a soft power button. It never bit me, but that was a deal breaker for using them long term.

It looks like the Plex app is also only $0.99 on the Amazon App Store

Direct Link: http://www.amazon.com/Plex-Inc-for-Android/dp/B004Y1WCDE/ref=sr_1_1?s=mobile-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1396455296&sr=1-1

http://9to5toys.com/2014/04/02/plex-media-server-for-android-temporarily-0-99-at-amazon-down-from-5/

They had this for $70 on Black Friday. This is pretty incredible with the Shield TV.

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-996-000118-Harmony-Smartphone-Refurbished/dp/B00BQ5RYI4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483628175&sr=8-3&keywords=harmony%2Bsmart&th=1

I'd obviously rather that the Shield came with a more useful remote, but this is a nice enhancement.

Sounds good. I just ordered: Intel Gigabit CT PCI-E Network Adapter EXPI9301CTBLK

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CY0P7G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Add on something like this?

Would something like this work, plugged in to the USB 3.0 port?

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1497399191&sr=8-4&keywords=das

Do usb drives work ok for streaming off of? Also anyone have any experience with this guy? https://www.amazon.com/10TB-Elements-Desktop-Drive-WDBWLG0100HBK-NESN/dp/B07G3QMPB5?ref_=Oct_DLandingS_PC_3785a9aa_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 4 Bay 3.5" SATA HDD Enclosure - USB 3.0 & eSATA Support SATA 3 6.0Gbps HDD transfer speed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_PamHzlHkrmcjv

This is the adapter that is tested: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00BBD7NFU/ref=pe_3044161_189395811_TE_SCE_dp_1

I have ordered it as well to use on my LG C8. The adapter is said to be working despite the TV not recognizing it or showing the settings.

edit: made a table with the reported working results so far:

|Model|Adapter|Chipset|User|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|LG B7|CM B00BBD7NFU|?|cipher7777|
|LG B8|CSL B074THPF3L|?|wilberforceReginald|
| LG 65B7V|CM B00BBD7NFU|?|sliyk|

Keep an eye on the Amazon App store for Fire TV and Android - right now, for example, the Plex client is free - http://www.amazon.com/Plex-Inc/dp/B004Y1WCDE

May I recommend one of these or one of its larger brothers? https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HFR2-SU3S2-PRORAID-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003YFHEAC

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07D5V2ZXD/

Okay $129 but 15% off with Amazon account.

I"m running either that same mediasonic box or a very similar one, and I'm very happy with it. The only issue I have is the blinking blue lights are stupidly bright.

EDIT: It's acutally this one that I have, which is the same thing but without the RAID. I use ZFS so I didn't need the hardware RAID functionality.

That would work.

Or, you could use an external drive enclosure, like this one if you're concerned about the cost of a NAS. this is a lower cost solution. Instead of a few hundred dollars for the NAS (before the drives), this is only $100. It connects to your PC either eSATA or USB 3.0 (2.0 also works, but a little slower). Each drive shows up as an individual drive, but you could set up a software RAID for redundancy. And if you run out, you can always add more enclosures later.

yep.

https://www.amazon.com/10TB-Elements-Desktop-Drive-WDBWLG0100HBK-NESN/dp/B07G3QMPB5/ref=sr_1_2?crid=88MMKZLU27D5&keywords=wd+elements+10tb&qid=1551293041&s=gateway&sprefix=wd+elements+10%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-2

Sure.

My tv is LG65B7V

the dongle I bought from Amazon is at the following link;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BBD7NFU/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_8?smid=A2HI77ZYQGGRR3&psc=1

​

Please keep in mind that I have also tried a usb 2.0 dongle which the TV didn't recognise, I randomly tried this 3.0 one (got the tip from the LG Wbos forums) and it really did the trick for me. I was going towards bashing-head-against wall frustration levels.

It's still $0.99 on Amazon store.

It is not worth your time wondering about unofficial apps when $0.99 will get you the official app with mainstream support (new features and guaranteed updating). Normally I would want to qualify such a statement with "each to their own", but if you don't got 99 cents you're gonna wanna work on that before your media server.

I'd probably go with the cheaper NUC, 256GB m.2 ssd (OS on the NUC), and get one of these for bulk external storage. I've used several of these mediasonic boxes before connected to both Mac and PC. They worked just fine for external storage. Also leaves plenty of room for adding in more drives later as your Plex libarary goes. That was a few years ago...now I have a proper server with 64TB storage (16x4TB drives).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B07G3QMPB5/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=new&utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app


It’s on the top

Amazon is showing $2.49 for some reason. It was 1.99 an hour ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Plex-Inc/dp/B004Y1WCDE/

And yes, it's live on the Amazon AppStore too! (for Fire TV)

I would suggest getting a(n)

• Odroid-Xu4 - $70
  
• Sandisk Ultra 200GB Micro SDXC - $50
  
• Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 4 Bay 3.5” SATA HDD Enclosure - $100
  
• Seagate Baracuda ST8000DM004 8TB Internal Hard Drive - $160-170
  
  You would have to flash the Odroid-Xu4 with a OS, I used Ubuntu, Not sure if windows can be put on there.
  
  If you choose this you can pm me and ill help you set it up. You would need to go the plex media server settings after install and make sure Transcoding is set to a folder in the external hard drive bay and not the SD card.

somewhat like that yeah though I would go rather to something like this.

The case you linked has two bays and I can't find any mention of the drives included and for the price I also don't think that they are. This supports RAID level 0 and 1.

RAID 0 stripes your data by writing it first to one and then to the other. This is good to combine the drives and one but if one of the drives fail the whole array fails as well.

RAID 1 mirrors your data so you only can actively use 1 of your drives but when one of the drives fail you can always use the other drive.

So, it looks good as a drive but IMO a bit expensive for just two bays.

This little guy looks legit:
https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I was just looking into this one....not sure if I'll buy or not...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X26VV4/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2WSTUX2A6RQ1A

Non-mobile link here.

Check out the following Reddit thread for info on adapters - https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/cg0y03/someone_got_a_usb_gigabit_ethernet_adapter/

This is the one I'm using - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00BBD7NFU

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Bronze-Warranty-Supply-100-BT-0450-K1/dp/B01N9X3F8F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504822904&sr=8-1&keywords=450bt

Would this one suffice?

Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation DS218j (Diskless) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076G6YKWZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lGe4DbR0HSMKX

Buy this and take it out of the enclosure (plenty youtube guides) and then install inside your PC.

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Desktop-Hard-Drive-WDBWLG0080HBK-NESN/dp/B07D5V2ZXD

There is also the same deal in Germany for around 180€.

​

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07G3QMPB5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use two of these. They're 150 each on Amazon. It's over 100, but you get what you pay for.

Technically there are some bluetooth unviersal remotes on the market.

But they are few and far inbetween.

It is also a matter of getting the right codes for the FireTV which I am not sure if most vendors have released their codes for it.

I see the Elements HDD for $124.99. Not sure if there's any functional difference as they're both USB 3.0. Maybe the internal drive is something other than what the EasyStore uses?

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Desktop-Hard-Drive-WDBWLG0080HBK-NESN/dp/B07D5V2ZXD

Not a fan of WD too many burned out drives. Doing well with these as archive storage, mirrored from Linux, one used one as backup. Seagate Expansion 8TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0 (STEB8000100) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HAPGEIE/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_U88VCbT4HV3TH

How hard do you think it would be to move the t7500 parts into this case? ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0091IZ1ZG/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1517489109&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=rosewill+rackmount+case&dpPl=1&dpID=41Hs6LEhJ5L&ref=plSrch )

I have an 8TB Seagate Expansion external hooked up to my Shield, and I've had no issues with sleep/wake issues.

Odd, mine got the latest version Saturday. You can see for yourself it was updated by checking the version info here: http://www.amazon.com/Plex-Inc/dp/B004Y1WCDE

I hate mobile links. Here's the non-mobile version