Upgrading Home Media Storage for Plex - NAS vs Server

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jokesonme

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Jun 28, 2012
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I currently have a Plex Server on a stand alone computer, and have a NETGEAR ReadyNAS 204 4-Bay running 4x4TB drives in Raid-5 (12TB avail.) for my movies and tv to push to the computer, and I have maybe 1TB free and its closing fast!

I now am trying to find a solution on how to grow my media. The hard drives are only a year or so old (I ported over a lot of media onto these when I bought them) so I dont want to just buy upgraded drives. I am wondering if I buy an additional NAS for storage and new drives, or if I go another route.

I currently have 2x Dell PowerEdge R620 servers lying around from some contract work I did, but I don't necessarily want to run rack mounted servers in my house unless I have to (would also then have to buy a rack and find out where to put it). I thought about potentially building the Plex Server there, but again, only so many drives available as I dont have a rack mounted storage server. I also don't want to spend Oodles of money either. The current ReadyNas and 4x4TB drives I got for maybe $900-1000.

I would love input from you guys, as I feel I am making a jump from a smaller media collection to something a bit larger, thanks in advance!!
 
Solution
azaran
It's going to be the same general options anyway you look at it. You need more space, and the only way to do that is to increase your storage.

You could just build a simple file server in a full tower case and fill the sucker with hard drives. More management than the Netgear but depending on the case it'll give you more options for increasing your hard drive count. Not the most elegant solution but it'll be a much quieter than running one of those Dell servers. Put a good cpu cooler on it and you wont even hear it sitting next to your TV. Given the price of 5+ TB drives, which is what you'd have to move your Netgear to, it may be worth considering.
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azaran

azaran

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Feb 17, 2010
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It's going to be the same general options anyway you look at it. You need more space, and the only way to do that is to increase your storage.

You could just build a simple file server in a full tower case and fill the sucker with hard drives. More management than the Netgear but depending on the case it'll give you more options for increasing your hard drive count. Not the most elegant solution but it'll be a much quieter than running one of those Dell servers. Put a good cpu cooler on it and you wont even hear it sitting next to your TV. Given the price of 5+ TB drives, which is what you'd have to move your Netgear to, it may be worth considering.
 
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Solution
J

jokesonme

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Jun 28, 2012
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10,510


So I was looking at the Synology DS1815 as well. Maybe picking up 4x4TB drives, or 4x6TB drives, which would give me the ability to add more drives in the future as it fills up.

I guess the question now is would everyone recomend going the additional NAS, or building a file server. I have been researching the pros and cons of each one. Obviously the NAS handles your RAID etc for you and is less configuration. I know there are tons of options out there like FreeNas etc for the self built one. Wondering if anyone has recommendations for the file server vs nas debate?

 
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azaran

azaran

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Feb 17, 2010
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That'd be a good topic for a new thread I think. Since this one is a couple days old you're likely only going to get my opinion :)

I like NAS systems, they're easy and I spend all day working tech so I like being lazy at home. That said, you will likely get more punch for your money with a server. I've never set up a home system for it so sadly I'm not a good source of info for that in detail.
 
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