Plex Media server - rack mounted NAS - newbie

[drchrisdvm2009]

Hi! I just upgraded our home theater systems (2 4K 7.1 systems, theater and by the pool). I hate having discs laying around and have ripped all my DVDs/BluRays to a hard drive and play through there. I used to connect my Mac mini with 4 external hard drives connected straight through a receiver and watch movies that way. My local IT company set up our Mac mini as a Plex media server connected to the 4 18tb hard drives and then stream media via two Apple TVs to the receiver for the theater and the pool.

I now have a rack that has 2U space still available and would love to use a dedicated server so I can access things away from home as well as stream to multiple locations in the house at the same time. I have never used a true NAS and would love some recommendations. I'm looking mainly for something with a good processing speed that can handle multiple streams concurrently, large storage space (100TB or higher), hot swappable drives would be ideal and the ability to transcode 4K 7.1 UHD movies across multiple streams. I would also love to be able to access PDFs, Word documents, and powerpoint, and all other documents/photos from off-site. I don't know how to make that happen. Cost is not the biggest factor when deciding on a set-up, more about if it will work appropriately. The computer systems we use are Mac based, and we are iPhone users, in case that makes a difference. Thanks in advance for any help that can be given. I have been looking for weeks now and just keep getting more and more confused. I also would need some guidance in setting things up to work on our home network, as servers are still exceptionally foreign to me.

I contacted Synology and they recommended their RS2421+ for this project. Thoughts or comments?

Thanks!

 

[robijito123]

I would recommend an Intel 11gen i7 with built in igpu, make sure your rips are encoded with a format native to your devices h265, and it will make up the difference with quick sync. Other than that a ssd for os, and a ton of spinners to meet your needs. For os there are a few options like free nas and a jail to run plex, or win 10.

Should save you a bundle over the Synology and give you more hp to transcode more concern streams.

 

[drchrisdvm2009]

I would recommend an Intel 11gen i7 with built in igpu, make sure your rips are encoded with a format native to your devices h265, and it will make up the difference with quick sync. Other than that a ssd for os, and a ton of spinners to meet your needs. For os there are a few options like free nas and a jail to run plex, or win 10.

Should save you a bundle over the Synology and give you more hp to transcode more concern streams.

Thank you for much for the reply! This is still like a foreign language to me, so trying to learn as much as I can before I buy something I won't be happy with.