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Greetings from Croatia ! I am new to NAS stuff and on this forum, I need you to help me decide . I need a NAS for data backup on mac (iPhoto library, Time Machine) and on windows (File history and some other things), I also need NAS because of torrent downloads and media files streaming to my Apple TV 3, iPhone, mac and PC. I really would like if I could install xpenology on some hardware that is capable of doing transcoding and fast data speeds (I also wanna try put my games for PC (steam and origin library folders) on NAS and run games from NAS). Are all that things doable with xpenology? Is it better to go and buy something like DS215play for that things or is it better to go with custom build? How does synology "play" versions do transcoding video, via plex media server or somehow different, is it the same as with xpenology? I'm not new in IT stuff, I am familiar with OS X, Windows, Linux and other oses, so... installation and setup would not be a problem. Is it hard to do updates on xpenology without reformatting HDD's. What hardware for custom build do you recommend? Is Asrock Q1900B-ITX enough for things I plan to do or I need better hardware? I have just asked a lot of questions, I hope that someone would answer me Thank you!

Can you play those same files from a local HDD connected to those media players? What about to a PC across an Ethernet cable? If you can you can rule out your NAS and wired network performance. If you are accessing the media as files on a share, you should be fine on the NAS side, but if you are using something like plex to present the media, maybe it is doing server side transcoding and just running out of CPU on your NAS side?

Hallo, Da sich die Preise zwischen dem HP N54L und dem MicroServer Gen8 inzwischen nahezu angeglichen habe würde ich gerne wissen was für Probleme es mit den Microserver Gen8 und XPEnology 5.0 gibt. Mich interessieren hier nur die direkte Installatin also kein Virtualisierungen. Funktionieren zum Beispiel folgende Komponenten 1) Wake on Lan? 2) USB3? 3) Lüfterregelung? 4) Festplatten und CPU Temperatur? 5) Festplatten standby? 6) langt die kleine Version des Microserver für das Video transcoding? 7) Verwendung des DVD Brenners? 8) Link Aggregation und was euch sonst noch so einfällt. Vielen Dank Boris

Still, for the price of low end synology (e.g. DS213j) you can build more powerful unit, with upgrade options (I'm not sure if DSM will benefit from the quad core CPU?) Of course, when you pay for the original device, you got the support, upgrades and no compatibility problems (mostly). Yet, building something on your own gives plenty of fun... I was about to buy Qnap TS212p, but was told on qnap forum, that I should go for at least ts251, to avoid lags etc. Since I have some spare parts from my older PC, I consider the probably most popular configuration here: asrock q1900itx, 2GB ram, chieftec 410W power unit, and 2xHDD I wonder it it's possible to use the HDMI to send video directly to TV? DS214play has HDMI too, so there should be some kind of media player? I understand, that access to nas from WAN via synology.com won't be possible? But is it other way to do it (I have dynamic IP unfortunately)? I want one device for storage, download station, and player, I don't care about transcoding, since my tv can handle most of the containers. DLNA or direct HDMI connection - both are acceptable, in favour for the HDMI. I would like to have WOL. Since it is my first such project, I will be thankful for every advice. Thank you

Hello, I just bought a Qnap TS-451 and for the money it felt a bit short, especially for transcoding. Thinking about returning it. I have always wanted to build my own Xpenology rig, but have always had a question about hardware compatibility. I am planning on taking parts from my current rig for this build. Please let me know if Xpenology would work with the following component: Node 304 case Asrock Z87E ITX board (hoping to use the onboard SATA for a raid 5 setup) CPU - open for suggestion. I have a friend that can buy it for me cheap. I am currently running a 4770k. Looking at the following 3 - E3-1275LV3, i7-4790T, and i7-4785T 8gb crucial ballistic 1.35 low profile (I also have some 16gb ecc dimm. Can this be used?) power supply - ? I would use this for the following: Plex server File server/sync Camera recording Learning! When I built my last PC, I was already planing on using most of the parts for future xpenology build. Another concern is the idle power. Any estimate on the draw at the outlet with 4 x 4tb drive? Thanks ahead of time for any advise.

Moin, Ich habe momentan einen HP-PMS-Gen8 mit einer Xeon E3-1220L am laufen (BareMetal), das Image habe ich genauso wie meinen HP-SA-212 von meinem N54L übernommen. Es funktioniert momentan bei mir nur mit einem Gnobootimage (10.5Alpha) da es die einzige Version ist, bei der die HP-SmartArray Treiber enthalten sind. 1. WOL ist möglich, gab dazu einen Konsolebefehl und musste im Bios auch aktiviert werden, gleicher Weg wie beim N54L. War bei mir mit Fritzbox möglich, nutze aber die HP-ILO-APP und dort den virtuellen PowerKnopf. Einzig, wenn ich DSM runterfahre braucht der PMS ein wenig bis er startet, d.h. er geht nach 2 sek nochmal kurz aus und der POST ist doppelt so lang. Man sollte die Standard Konfiguration im BIOS speichern sonst wird diese zurückgesetzt 2. Im DSM voll nutzbar 3. Funktioniert, Iddle 9-15% bis max 49% unter Volllast und Quälerei;) 4) Wird nicht angezeigt da der Smartarray diese nicht weiterleitet, sollte mit einer HBA möglich sein. CPU temp wird auch nicht angezeigt steht aber meistens bei 40º 5) Kein Spindown mit dem SmartArray 212, bei einer HBA solls möglich sein. 6) Ja, aber ist dann bei FullHD Transcoding an der Grenze bei einem User. 7) Als Laufwerk machbar, als Brenner, nicht getestet 8) Wozu? Bringt meines Wissens nur was wenn zwei verschiedene Rechner drauf zu greifen, dann lieber mit 2 Rechnern auf je eine Verbindung zugreifen, 2 platten gestrippt schaffen es eine 1Gb leitung mit 125MB/s voll auszulasten, zumindest bei mir... MfG

You need to do your homework and decide what you want. If you need a movie box, get a TV box, IMHO NAS works best when it's used as a file server, not transcoding movies. Unless you need 6+ drives, why go for the trouble and not get a 2-disk Synology instead?

In your Plex front end select direct play and no transcoding should take place. Your front end will need to be connected to your AV via a suitable connection.

Have build 3 bare metal setups now all with different boards/CPU's always shows 40°C Can people with bare metal setups please check theirs? I'm pretty sure this is a glitch and will always show 40°C Even with the system in sleep it is 40°C even with the case open, same with the CPU at 90% transcoding with Plex. CPU core temp is 26°C with SSH

Hi Guys, I've updated my Video Station a week ago onto a Beta Version (I forgot to disable the function since last Installation ) Now the Streaming is not working correctly. If I start a stream, it's only working in "Original" Mode (Highest available quality). As soon as I want to reduce the quality for transcoding the "ffmpeg" process is stopping to work. Re-Installation with older Video Station is not working. Which package is the correct one for the N54L? Maybe i use the wrong one? http://global.download.synology.com/download/spk/VideoStation/1.3-0560/ Doesn't matter if in my Home Network or from Outside with/without VPN Some Ideas? Thanx

I've updated to in 4493 a beta of video station. Since then only transcoding in High Quality possible.

Hi everyone! I just bought a Q1900-ITX with a 3TB WD Red, I installed everything but I saw that the system doesn't recognize all 4 cores of the cpu, just 2 of them! Is there any fixing or it's just a problem of the DMS which is not properly showed? Are they used anyway or not? Is there any way to check about it specially during the transcoding? Last question, i still not tryied if the hdmi is working, someone tried it out already?

I have a 411j, which is about as weak knee'd Syno as there is. When I discovered xpenology I was faced with the same issue/decision. What I did in the end was keep the 411j with its 4x2TB, and bought new 4Tb disks for my xpenology. I use the 411j just to store backups of the various pcs that I have, and use rsync to transfer these across to the xpenology box. Even with the relatively old Mobo & only 4Gb Ram I can run VMs and host media with transcoding now, which just wasn't possible with the 411j. Not sure about what I will do when I decide to upgrade the Mobo on the xpenology box, I am hoping that with the same disks and boot cd xpenology will boot and keep on marching on.

HP gen7 N54L 2gb ecc ram (the ram that the unit ships with). Anyway judging by what I have read on the plex forums, extra ram doesn't really help with transcoding, the process is cpu-dependant.

I have used Plex to transcode 15gig 1080p DTS videos to 720p on the fly. I use Plex a lot to stream to devices outside my lan and it works fine up to 720p. For streaming within your lan, most devices should be able to handle direct stream without need for transcoding. I don't know how well things would work if you want to have multiple streams running at the same time with transcoding. if that is the case you should consider a custom built i3 and above. N54 should be able to handle 3x direct play streams with no problem. I have no idea how synology video station behaves as I use Plex.

Thank you spammy for your reply. About transcoding: yes, I think that is better to see the client side. My Samsung TV perhaps can do the job without problem, I must check. So at this point for me these questions remain unanswered. 1) The CPU of the N54L can not transcode 1080p video. Can a dedicated GPU help? 2) About RAM: more memory helps or not? ECC is reccomended or with XPEnology doesn't matter? 3) Re-installtion and/or upgrading XPEnology is generally possible WITHOUT data loss?

Hi. also 3 user sind im selben Netzwerk Streaming wenn es möglich ist. Transcoding nur mal so für Handy oder so. ist bis jetzt nur eine Idee den N54L als hatte ich wegen der Baugröße rein genommen das mit der Poer dachte ich mir schon. das mit 5 X user war nur ein Gedanke, wenn es nicht reicht halt nicht. Bist du mit dem DELL T20 zufrieden? Der T20 scheint mir vom Preis her gut zu sen. Alternative? Gruß P007

Ich hab sowohl HP N54L als auch T20 mit XEON. Spontan würde ich sagen das der N54L kein 1080p, schon gar nicht für 5 User packt. Wenn du eine Grafikkarte einbaust dann evtl. Der T20 mit XEON sollte seine Anforderungen locker bewerkstelligen. Wie nutzen die 5 User Plex, auch remote per Transcoding und Streaming? Kann Plex synology das? Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk

The NL40 (slower proc than N54) serves all my Plex transcoding needs, although the majority of my source files are 720p or less - it manages to transcode at 3-4x so I'm not too concerned. I've not seen any issues with the 1080p sources I have, but I might have been lucky - worst case I can manually transcode these if I really need them. Generally however, as many will tell you here, the solution might be to look at the client side and see if they even need transcoding. Ideally they should not. I have 8GB in both of my microservers which is probably overkill, but RAM was cheap when I filled them up.

bonjour a tous je cherche une config qui est principalement destiné a plex surtout pour le transcoding et la lecture en local pour profité de ma biblioteque aussi a l'etranger lors de mes vaccance et faire heberger mon site web l'ideal c est d'avoir 6 port sata sur une carte mère mini itx avec processeur bass consommation merci pour votre aide je galere

Hi again mate, DSM is not power hungry at all. Most of us are running our XPEno boxes on low-power dual-core CPU's like Atom. Some like to add more power to their machines just to use the transcoding feature as good as possible. I personally don't use Plex that much. I use DLNA a lot. I am using an ASRock Q1900-ITX because it can host up to 6x SATA ports, has an embedded low-power 10w TDP, quad-core, x86, passive-cooling CPU. Normally, you wouldn't need an i7 or i3 unless you're doing transcoding for plex but even though, transcoding will work on a less powerful CPU just that the task will take a bit longer. DSM is working with 512MB RAM and will work pretty good for normal usage, without any databases or memory intense applications. Most of the users are adding 2 to 4GB of RAM to their boxess mainly because of... commodity Here are 2 screenshots of my system usage when doing a rsync backup to my 2nd NAS http://i.imgur.com/lHX4vCA.png http://i.imgur.com/yEKQ6m0.png I have 16GB of RAM because i want to switch from a bare-metal installation to ESX but didn't managed to get the time :-/

The AM1b-ITX cannot be compared with the Q1900-ITX unfortunately as the Q1900 comes with an embedded J1900 quad-core, low-powered Intel processor and the AM1B with no CPU. Both boards can be used for XPEnology and both have advantages: - AM1B-ITX can be fitted with another, more powerful 30W TDP CPU (that comes in handy only in transcoding cases-Plex) - AM1B-ITX uses normal DIMMS DDR3 memory that can be used in a desktop and theoretically can be adjusted to more than 16GB of RAM (not that you'll need it on bare metal XPEnology) on the same 2 DIMM slots - AM1B-ITX has a PCIe 16x port - AM1B-ITX comes with more USB 2.0 ports (+2) - AM1B-ITX comes with 4x SATA3 ports comparable with 2xSATA2 & 2xSATA3 ports (in case you don't run your XPEno box on SSD only, you'll not need more than SATA2) - Q1900-ITX comes with an embedded low power, quad core, fanless, 10W max TDP CPU @ 2GHz - Q1900-ITX comes with a mini-PCIe x1 port that can be fitted with a mSATA half-size SSD or half-size mSATA to SATA adapter (theoretically and practically, 7 disks can be installed on this board) - Q1900-ITX consumes less power than the AM1B and is cooler and more silent due to fanless CPU and low power SO-DIMM capability Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

hi, ich kann mich nicht entscheiden, ob ich ein DS1513+, ein microserver mit FreeNAS oder ein microserver (N54L oder Gen8 Xeon) mit XPEnology 5.x kaufen soll. besitze einen uralt DS108j, der einwandfrei funzt. kenne den HP N40L, der mit W2003 & RAID-karte solide als fileserver läuft. bei FreeNAS ist zwar ZFS und die konfig-freiheit toll, finde aber das rumfrickeln und die bedienung zeitaufwendig. nehmen wir an, dass ich... - das originale BIOS nutze, - 4x standard-2TB-WD-festplatten einbaue, - 4 GB RAM oder mehr brauche, - keine weiteren karten einbaue, - der microserver immer läuft, - der microserver nur als fileserver nutze und - wenige apps, wie plex, DSfile oder cloud nutze. 1. läuft XPEnology 5.x auf dem HP N54L gut? 2. läuft XPEnology 5.x auch auf dem HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 (Xeon) gut? 3. kann ich per hotplug am micro-server eine festplatte auswechseln (hw-seitig ohne RAID-karte & BIOS-mod nicht, aber vllt. beherrscht es das XPEnology)? 4. wenn ich im dvd-schacht eine fünfte festplatte einbaue, wird sie erkannt? 5. funktionieren in XPEnology 5.x die plex-, DSfile und cloud-app gut? 6. kann ich über DLNA am tv einen film streamen? 7. würden beide microserver das transcoding beherrschen? 8. liegen die lese- und schreibgeschwinigkeit bei beiden microsevers gleich oder höher als beim DS1513+? 9. funktioniert das auto-update in XPEnology 5.x? 10. funktioneren RAID-1, 5 und SHR gut? 11. ist der lärmpegel und der stromverbrauch der microserver (beim neueren höher) höchstens "aushaltbar" höher? besten dank für das feedback, libroc

Hi, because my current NAS - QNAP TS-419P + 4TB Seagate 3x3TB Seagate and 1x each as a single HDD - soon is full, I once searched for solutions to extend or switch and am now times ended up here. Would the following hardware go; Main board: Asrock C2550D4I http://www.asrockrack.com/general/produ ... l=C2550D4I # RAM: 8GB DDR3 ECC HDD: 3x 3TB in Raid 5 (Hyprid) If that works, I would always play a single panel from QNAP on the "New-NAS", then remove it from your QNAP integrate us into the RAID5 with ... etc. If this were so doable? If the Atom quad-core CPU and sufficient for authenticity transcoding with Plex server or the video station? Or would here a i3 is the better choice? Thanks for the help thkogel

The way Plex transcode is by default it will try and transcode 120 seconds of the video as fast as it can, that's why every CPU maxes out regardless of speed. Then it will throttle down and up as it tries to maintain that buffer. While transcoding is CPU intensive it's also I/O intensive as there are combination reads and writes, if you don't want your NAS services to be impacted during the transcode I suggest you put your apps/Plex Temp folders on separate spindles then your media. Personally I use an SSD for my apps/temp and keep my media/files on a separate volume.