Would appreciate on home media server + NAS

[odawire]

Hi
I have been using an external hard drive to watch movies and TV, starting to outgrow this set-up.
Would like to get a NAS drive + use it as a media server to run Plex. After doing some research on the "off the shelf" NAS drives it seems they are not really up to it.

I might be up for building something myself although I have no real experience with this. Can you buy something that will do what I want in a stand alone box?

I will be mainly using it for Media locally but will also use it to back up files and would like the option of accessing it remotely.
I think a drive 4/5 bay is what I want with the RAID type set-up.

If I build something myself will I have to buy an operating system?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[thiggins]

There are NASes that can handle video streaming quite well and will even transcode to selected apps, including Plex.

Look at NETGEAR, QNAP, Synology to name a few.

 

[System Error Message]

For an embedded NAS which can run plex you want something that uses an x86 CPU. The better the CPU the better quality it can transcode plex. Plex will not perform transcode if the server is ARM based so you would need your network fast enough for the raw files.

 

[odawire]

Thanks for the replies. At the moment the smart TV plays everything straight from an external hard drive, does that mean it doesnt need to be transcoded?
If so can I get away with a cheaper NAS Drive? Will a basic NAS Run the software?
Thanks

 

[odawire]

There are NASes that can handle video streaming quite well and will even transcode to selected apps, including Plex.

Look at NETGEAR, QNAP, Synology to name a few.

Thanks
Would this one do the job?
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...nas-104-nas-enclosure-4-bay-21755041-pdt.html