Cheap NAS solution

[Nishant]

Or you can 3D print a case. There should be templates available. Robu does 3D printing iirc.

 

[madhusudhan7]

I am using refurbished PowerEdge T430 with UnRAID. Using it to run bunch of VMS, Docker and NFS/SMB shares.

How much did this cost and from where can we get reliable refurbished Poweredge

 

[Lolita_Magnum]

It is better use an old second hand x86 system with a gigabit port, that way you can have more drives, better raid performance and overall a much simpler but stable system. Apart from the cost of drives it won't really cost much.
This can also lead to more options, where you can install media apps like Plex which can decode well or simply run your 24x7 private torrent network, if you are into that.

 

[madhusudhan7]

It is better use an old second hand x86 system with a gigabit port, that way you can have more drives, better raid performance and overall a much simpler but stable system. Apart from the cost of drives it won't really cost much.
This can also lead to more options, where you can install media apps like Plex which can decode well or simply run your 24x7 private torrent network, if you are into that.

I totally agree, a used or older desktop with Gigabit is a better and cost effective solution, provided it has enough slot for HDD/SSD.

I've tried using Netgear Ready NAS (RN104) - 4 drive solution in past but they have a lot of limitations in terms of performance. The biggest issue was with Plex Sever streaming capability - basic Ready NAS devices simply can't encode 4k or even Full HD without lags in my personal experience. The more advanced with higher configurations are way too expensive for most users, at least in India.

My current solution is Hybrid, my Ready NAS stays ON all the time for backup & Realtime data access purposes. A nearly eight year old Optiplex desktop (specs below) is turned ON only mostly for Plex Streaming and other tasks which are resource intensive. Keeping the desktop ON all the time will simply result in excess Power bills but Ready NAS is specifically built for the purpose and the drives are mostly in sleep state until there is a data activity trigger.

Desktop Specs: 4th Gen Core i5 with 16GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 645 GPU & option of 3 or max 4 SDD+HDD combination. Running on the latest Windows 10 build.

 

[Aashish.007]

To encore in 4k don't you need Nvidia Nvenc? Is it supported on gtx 645?

 

[wheatbread]

There are cheap 5W TV box boards that come with VPUs that can encode 4k30fps to certain popular codecs without guzzling power and radiating heat like the Sun. Some of them can run Plex, Jellyfin just fine.

 

[wheatbread]

4k don't you need Nvidia Nvenc?

You don't "need" it. It's a dedicated hardware encoder, you can still use a software encoder that leverages your GPU.

 

[madhusudhan7]

To encore in 4k don't you need Nvidia Nvenc? Is it supported on gtx 645?

4k movies worked fine when I tried the last time around with that config. So I suppose it does support. I did not research on the matter since worked just fine for me after the initial setup

+Edit, added comments:

There are cheap 5W TV box boards that come with VPUs that can encode 4k30fps to certain popular codecs without guzzling power and radiating heat like the Sun. Some of them can run Plex, Jellyfin just fine.

I just had this old desktop lying around and we don't stream using Plex as much these days, since we have Netflix + Prime + Hotstar + Sony LIV + Zee5 etc. - so turning ON the desktop for a couple of hours once in a month or so does not hurt much

You don't "need" it. It's a dedicated hardware encoder, you can still use a software encoder that leverages your GPU.

I think that's what is happening in my case

 

[Aashish.007]

Maybe but also maybe you are using direct stream as 4k encode is highly resource intensive.

 

[madhusudhan7]

I wouldn't know for sure but is interesting to know.
Will check when I use Plex the next time around