In practice, this means Plex will be running like a dream. This can actually be upgraded to 48 GB, not that you’ll need to. This beast of a NAS comes with a quad-core Xeon processor to ensure you’re never short on CPU power. In our opinion, the best Synology NAS for running Plex is the DS3617xs, without a doubt. Now that we know why transcoding is important and what to look for, the choice is pretty clear. Consequently, that is why you need a NAS with the hardware to keep up with these demands. However, it also requires a lot of processing power. Transcoding is at the heart of what makes Plex so versatile and popular. When the client device contacts the media server, Plex will make all the necessary changes to the video in order to make it compatible with whatever device you’re trying to watch it on. You don’t need to store multiple versions of a file for different devices because Plex will do the hard work. Secondly, your client device might not recognize the file extension (this can happen with. If you’re trying to access it from your phone and the Wi-Fi is slow, this might make the video unwatchable because it will be constantly buffering. And it goes beyond being optimal, they may not even be supported.įor example, the file may be extremely large. However, since you’ll be accessing the file from different devices, not all of those characteristics will be optimal in each case. When you store a video on your NAS, the file has certain characteristics. Namely, the computing power of a NAS is essential when it comes to one fundamentally important feature of Plex. This is the main point we considered when we made our choice regarding the best Synology NAS for running Plex. They offer a wide variety of NAS devices, including our absolute favorite.ĭifferent NAS devices come with different hardware, which means their processing power can vary to a great extent. Synology, a company founded by two former employees of Microsoft, is one of the global leaders in this field. You store files on it and they become available over a network.įurthermore, the fact you’re reading this means you’re interested in getting a Synology NAS. In the form that is relevant to you, a NAS is a specialized computer purpose-built with this use in mind. The other part of the equation is a NAS device. Plex works with videos, music, and photos, but we will be focusing on the videos as they are the most labor intensive and require the biggest amount of processing power to stream effectively.
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You will no longer be constrained by physical limitations – you can watch any movie you own however you want. Once you have that, your enjoyment can begin. Again, it is a simple matter of installing the appropriate Plex app. These are the devices you’ll be using to actually access the media. For optimal results, you want this to be a NAS (network-attached storage) device. You achieve this by installing the Plex desktop application to a compatible device. In order to do this, it requires two components.įor one, you need to have a media server. Plex is a media application which allows you to unify your personal media and access it from wherever you want. That is why you need your media files to be playable on all your devices. Plus, more than one person might want to access the media library at a time. We have moved beyond sitting behind a desk all day. However, as we already said, our lives are on the go these days. It is also better in terms of security if that is a concern for you. This makes all your files much easier to manage, organize, and find when the need arises. It is only natural that you would want to centralize it and keep it in a single location. Over the years, you’ve accumulated a very large and ever-expanding library of videos, photos, and music. What Is Plex?īefore we can answer the eponymous question, we have to go over the basics of Plex as that provides insights which are integral to how we made our choice. You are thinking about media and you’ve heard about Plex. However, your options in this regard are far more extensive than mere Word documents and presentations. You save your Word file onto the cloud while you’re at the office and then you open it during that meeting on the other side of town. Naturally, businesses have caught wind of this and it is the foundation of the cloud storage industry. – all these devices look to the Internet as their lifeblood. Smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, video game consoles, etc. The advent of smart devices has made this all the more pronounced. It would be very safe to say that a large portion of our lives takes place online these days.