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OT: NAS/personal cloud for a home media server & Plex or Kodi?

I cut the cord a few months ago. If you want OTA and stations like CNN, AHC, MSNBC, Nat Geo, Discovery etc look at PlayStation Vue and SlingTV.
With those you don't have to have a HD antenna.
I'm in Mercer County and get NYC tv stations CBS, NBC, ABC. With antennae I only got Philly and local PBS stations, though that was with a Mohu leaf. I was going to get an external antenna, but I'm happy with PS Vue.

Ps Vue and SlingTV are monthy subscription plans that give you access to "cable" stations plus OTA for much less than you pay for a cable TV subscription.

I dropped phone and TV from Verizon and just kept internet service. I purchased Amazon Firestick, added Terrarium TV app, subscribed to PS Vue and have Ooma Telo for free VOIP telephone.

With this setup get all the live stations I need, all the TV shows and movies I want for 1/2 price of the Fios Triple option. I run my home security system off mobile. I pay 1/2 what I was paying for Fios.

It take very little up front investment. For me 3 Firesticks ($120) to replace cable boxes, Ooma Telo ($89) - which I use with my existing phones. So far I'm happy.
 
Hey// maybe you plex guys can help me out.

I have a Tivo and cable. I use KMTTG (a java based app to talk to tuvo to xfer and decode files to my PC. Mostly classic movies off TCM. I used to have KMTTG make them into MP4s using Handbrake but that was slow. And I noticed that Tivo's TS files (transport stream MPEG2, I think) is supported by Plex. And oddly, in many cases, the TS files are smaller then the MP4s.. I found that odd. But I don't think I was favoring quality quite a bit in my settings.

So... do you think I should be compressing those TS files or leave them be?
 
Is anybody using an HD Homerun Prime in coordination with Kodi?
Looking into partially cutting the cord and reducing costs.
Since Plex has added a DVR Feature using the HDHomerun I am starting to think about going this route along with the Plex for Kodi add-on.
 
GoodOl'Rutgers said:
Love the plex software but use it on a pc. I did some preliminary NAS research on it around xmas time.. and at that time one of the WD MY CLOUD PRO NAS devices was my leader. The reason was Intel x86 processors and their ability to transcode on the fly. That is the key to being able to stream effectively. Well, that and a nice wifi net in the house..

read this page from Plex on NAS devices
Click to expand...

drewbagel423 said:
I've always built my own. Gives you much more flexibility and room to expand down the line. I've got a home theater computer (HTPC) connected to the living room TV for over the air (OTA) HD TV. We got rid of cable about 4 years ago.

It's got roughly 11TB of storage space, runs Plex Media Server and transcodes to 2 Rokus and our phones/tablets, CherryMusic/Madsonic for our own personal Spotify, Seafile to replace Google Drive and back up photos from our phones, PiHole to block unwanted ads from even entering our network, and obviously acts as a NAS for the entire house. Going to add OpenHab eventually to replace my current smart home hub. Plex, CherryMusic, and Seafile are all accessible from outside our home network.

Here is the parts list if you're interested. It's obviously overkill for what you're doing but can be easily scaled back. Would probably come out about the same as a prebuilt one once you start adding drives, but much more powerful and flexible.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/drewbagel423/saved/8cNRsY
Click to expand...

ashokan said:
For whatever reason, new Lenovo TS-140 servers have been selling for cheap. I got one with an Intel Xeon E3-1226 v3 3.3 GHz (compares to an i7), 4 GB ECC RAM, 1TB enterpise WD drive for 275 (it was usually 750). Runs so quiet you don't know its on. There was one for sale on slickdeals just a few days ago. They go on sale all the time.

https://slickdeals.net/f/10010256-l...-rw-drive-for-299-99-ac-s-h-newegg-com?page=3
Click to expand...

ashokan said:
Yes - there are lots of threads online discussing TS-140 set-ups.

I don't use mine as a server but as a gaming unit. I pulled the 280w power supply and put in a 650w. Lenovo power supplies are enterprise and connect to mobo differently than others but a $10 adapter fixed that. I put in a SSD, Blu-ray drive and a AMD video card. If I bought the CPU on Newegg it would cost $270. So getting the whole thing for about that price was pretty good.

You'll see Dell T20s on sale a lot too. Their power supplies are generic but I like Lenovos cases, fans and USB ports (Lenovo has more ports - 4 are USB 3.0). Check slickdeals and computer forums for deals that pop-up. Some will come with i3 cpus and no hard drive. You can get the more potent Xeons and a drive for same price or a little more. The newer Xeons have hyperthreading too.

https://slickdeals.net/f/9782667-poweredge-t20-e3v3-4g-1tb-279-dell
Click to expand...

Sorry for reviving an old thread.
Going to pull the trigger today or tomorrow on a TS-140 Server.
A few dumb questions (perhaps someone could provide a link to setting up a TS-140?):
1. What operating system to use? Where do you buy the OS?
2. How do you load the OS without a monitor? Do you need to add a video card if a monitor is needed?
3. Do you need to buy hard drives for the storage? If so, how many and what size?

Thanks.
 
I bought a used HP DL165 G7 server on eBay for $150-- has two 12 core AMD Opteron 6172 processors and 48 gb of ram. I threw 3 8tb drives in and run FreeNAS with Plex on top of it. It's great! Uses ~130 watts idle and ~180 watts when transcoding from 4k to 1080p.
 
Whatever solution you choose, make sure it's portable. This allows you to access all your media even when the internet is not available and you don't need to pay for cloud usage. Pure genius. Visual specs below
52179294.cms
 
I considered a NAS a few years back and decided against it. I'm pretty good with tech, but not an IT professional. In addition to the network skills needed to manage a server, there wasn't a good back-up program for PCs available, which was the driving factor at the time. For work stuff, I use carbonite -- I can't risk losing data. I recently bought a WD hard drive an hooked it up to my home router and we use it to view MP4s on a fire stick. It's an inexpensive solution for playing media, but no RAID. Family photos and other important stuff is backed up to Amazon. If you have prime, then you have basically unlimited storage online.

We cut the cable recently and subscribed the Playstation view. It has all the local networks, cable news, multiple ESPNs, Big10 network and YES. Once the NFL starts, we'll sign-up for RedZone ($40 for the season). We have multiple fire sticks and are happy with it so far. We also use an Obihai for the phone -- it works with google voice and there is no monthly cost (Magic Jack and others still require a $5-10 monthly charge for 911 service, which we don't have).

We cut our monthly cable, phone and ISP bill in half and the cost won't go up after a promotional period. The biggest upfront cost was a high end router that assures coverage everywhere in the house.
 
Knight Shift said:
Sorry for reviving an old thread.
Going to pull the trigger today or tomorrow on a TS-140 Server.
A few dumb questions (perhaps someone could provide a link to setting up a TS-140?):
1. What operating system to use? Where do you buy the OS?
2. How do you load the OS without a monitor? Do you need to add a video card if a monitor is needed?
3. Do you need to buy hard drives for the storage? If so, how many and what size?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I put Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on my TS-140. I got it off of gold star seller on ebay for $60. If you dont want to shop around Newegg sells Windows etc. The OEM builder version is cheapest but will generally be tied to one motherboard technically. A full retail version is more expensive but its can be moved to different computers. Windows 10 wasn't quite out yet when I bought so I stayed with 7. I didn't like 8 or 8.1

You don't have to have a separate video card. TS-140 has integrated video on the motherboard. Just plug monitor in (there are VGA and HDMI ports). If you want to play games then you can get a video card. Some of the smaller, fanless video cards can be used with the standard power supply unit. A more powerful card will mean a bigger power supply has to be installed (modular is best - less cables) and you'll need a $10 adapter.

My TS-140 came with a 500 gb Western Digital enterprise drive (designated with "RE"). I added a 250 gb Intel SSD for OS and kept the 500 gb drive for a second drive. I only use Western Digital drives. I like the RE and HGST drives (WD bought them from Hitachi but you see the Hitachi name still) but the basic black (vs blue or red designation)) drives are ok. I'll probably go all SSD at some point. The hard drives are pretty quiet though. The whole TS-140 is pretty quiet. Size is up to your needs but stay away from 3 gb drives - they have more problems than 2,4,6 gb drives. Newegg/Amazon sells drives but I get Newegg since I usually pay no shipping or tax being out of NJ.

When you install OS you should go into bios and check your boot-up order. Hit F12 key as computer starts. Chose DVD or USB depending on your install method

https://newspaint.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/accessing-lenovo-thinkserver-ts140-bios/
 
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drewbagel423 said:
I've always built my own. Gives you much more flexibility and room to expand down the line. I've got a home theater computer (HTPC) connected to the living room TV for over the air (OTA) HD TV. We got rid of cable about 4 years ago.

It's got roughly 11TB of storage space, runs Plex Media Server and transcodes to 2 Rokus and our phones/tablets, CherryMusic/Madsonic for our own personal Spotify, Seafile to replace Google Drive and back up photos from our phones, PiHole to block unwanted ads from even entering our network, and obviously acts as a NAS for the entire house. Going to add OpenHab eventually to replace my current smart home hub. Plex, CherryMusic, and Seafile are all accessible from outside our home network.

Here is the parts list if you're interested. It's obviously overkill for what you're doing but can be easily scaled back. Would probably come out about the same as a prebuilt one once you start adding drives, but much more powerful and flexible.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/drewbagel423/saved/8cNRsY
Click to expand...

mdh2003 said:
Agree with GoodOl' above. Most NASs, while awesome for storage, are just not well equipped for transcoding. Your average $500 desktop will crush it in performance. I don't have experience with the above NAS, but I would not trust that it can push 1080p (or any video taken with a smartphone) down the line.
Click to expand...

demauroj said:
I, like Drew, have been using Plex since inception, and have 12TB's of 20TB total storage running through it.
I agree with Drew go with a windows based system, and don't sell yourself short on the initial build if you plan on using this as a cord cutting helper. Buying something without planning for expansion will end up being a waste of money.

I just recently upgraded my build to a new 8 bay Hot Swap server using this new Silverstone ATX case, a highpoint solutions RAID card, and the new Ryzen 1700 processor with 16gb's of RAM.
This processor handles 8 1080p transcodes without breaking a sweat ( I share my stuff with family members).

Before buying Storage Hard Drives you can build this machine for relatively inexpensive, and it would allow you the ability to expand as you need it so long as you set the RAID Storage up properly to allow for adding of drives.
Plex has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 4 years and is only getting better. Also trust me once you start down this path the $500.00 you spend on that QNAP and drives will be a waste when you see how fast your storage starts filling up.
Click to expand...

ashokan said:
I put Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on my TS-140. I got it off of gold star seller on ebay for $60. If you dont want to shop around Newegg sells Windows etc. The OEM builder version is cheapest but will generally be tied to one motherboard technically. A full retail version is more expensive but its can be moved to different computers. Windows 10 wasn't quite out yet when I bought so I stayed with 7. I didn't like 8 or 8.1

You don't have to have a separate video card. TS-140 has integrated video on the motherboard. Just plug monitor in (there are VGA and HDMI ports). If you want to play games then you can get a video card. Some of the smaller, fanless video cards can be used with the standard power supply unit. A more powerful card will mean a bigger power supply has to be installed (modular is best - less cables) and you'll need a $10 adapter.

My TS-140 came with a 500 gb Western Digital enterprise drive (designated with "RE"). I added a 250 gb Intel SSD for OS and kept the 500 gb drive for a second drive. I only use Western Digital drives. I like the RE and HGST drives (WD bought them from Hitachi but you see the Hitachi name still) but the basic black (vs blue or red designation)) drives are ok. I'll probably go all SSD at some point. The hard drives are pretty quiet though. The whole TS-140 is pretty quiet. Size is up to your needs but stay away from 3 gb drives - they have more problems than 2,4,6 gb drives. Newegg/Amazon sells drives but I get Newegg since I usually pay no shipping or tax being out of NJ.

When you install OS you should go into bios and check your boot-up order. Hit F12 key as computer starts. Chose DVD or USB depending on your install method

https://newspaint.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/accessing-lenovo-thinkserver-ts140-bios/
Click to expand...

We got our TS140 up and running with Windows 10 Server.

I'm a unsure what to do next to access files on the NAS. It is plugged into the network.
1. Do I download FreeNAS or something similar? Or do I not do that because FreeNAS is an operating system (not like #FreeRettig)

2. Or just download Plex and I will be good to go by downloading the app to the devices I want to use to access video and audio stored on my NAS?

Sorry for the basic question. Read some Reddits and other info, and it made it more confusing.
 
Is the TS going to be your NAS or the computer your using to play media from your network? If the first, you need to set up sharing permissions so that your other computers can access it.
Then you install Plex on the machine(s) you want to play the media on.
 
Happy Black Friday!

I wanted to see if anyone had experience with a NAS device such as synology or QNAP. I’m wanted to centralize family photos, back up my entire MacBook, my wife’s Windows laptop and possibly stream movies using Plex or similar software. If possible, save photos from my iPhone tonit. My wife likes to use Snapfish so I’d like something that would allow her to access all the photos wirelessly. Also, i would configure the drives to mirror each other.

Does anyone have any feedback, experience, or advice?
 
I like to tinker with technology and computers so keep that in mind. I find those pre-built to be overpriced for the amount of actual storage you get. The apps and QNAP ecosystem are pretty good, but nothing you can't do on your own.

I recently built my own all-in-one HTPC/NAS/server recently. But if I were looking at just a NAS I'd get a used Dell T310 or similar and load it up with drives and whatever OS fits your needs.
 
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