(Part 2) Top products from r/PleX

In terms of consumer NASes, the only two choices IMO are QNAP and Synology. Others will get the job done, but they just don't have the features and polish nor can you expect support because they're made by companies who make other things as well. QNAP and Synology primary products are NASes.

The difference between the two. QNAP has slightly more powerful hardware and even higher end hardware if you want to pay a premium. Synology's strength is their software which is very very polished and easy to use. QNAP however is constantly updating their software and it's constantly getting better to. I have an old QNAP TS-439p running off an og Intel Atom from 2009 and it's still getting all the latest updates and features and is a different machine then when I got it, for the better though. It's not my primary NAS anymore but it's still kicking.

Unfortunately, in terms of hardware you'd be comfortable running Plex on, consumer NASes are kind of in no mans land at the moment. And even if you only direct stream, Plex can still hit lowend hardware hard, especially if the NAS is doing other things.

The QNAP TS-451 @ $530 has a quadcore Celeron, but it's passmark is about 1100, when 2000 is recommended for a single 1080p transcode. This is the NAS for you IMO if price is your main concern. You might run into a problem occasionally but it'll get the job done.

The QNAP TVS-471 @ $990-1090 for the Pentium and Core i3 respectively, will give you peace of mind but is very expensive as you can see. The Pentium has a passmark score of 3330 enough for 1-2 simultaneous transcodes, and the Core i3 has a passmark of about 4900, enough overhead for 2-3 simultaneous transcodes.

That's what I mean by no mans land, there's not an inbetween option at the moment, or sweetspot IMO for consumer made NAS's and Plex yet.

In terms of hard drives. Stick with WD Reds and HGST Deskstar NAS drives. Avoid Seagates, especially their 3TB models.

I'm looking into getting this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019ZUR5WQ/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I'm happy not running Plex off it, I just need a NAS and a place to store hard drives. Have a few questions if you don't mind:

First, I currently use two Seagate 5tb externals. A trusted source said I can connect externals on this with an easy fix? True?

Second, I heard my hard drives should stay the same size? Like I can't later add a 8tb hard drive as the third? That's fine if so, just curious.

Ty. I'm new to the NAS idea so I'm lost and any info would be appreciated! :)

Hey JDM! I'm literally 5 minutes into my NAS server research. Looking to stream mostly music but movies/plex is absolutely something I'm looking at. Anyways I'm just curious why you call your build the NAS Killer? How is it better than say if I just went on amazon and bought something like this:

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https://www.amazon.com/Synology-bay-DiskStation-DS218-Diskless/dp/B075N1BYWX?ref_=Oct_BSellerC_13436301_2&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=13436301&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30

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or this:

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-bay-DiskStation-DS218j-Diskless/dp/B076G6YKWZ?ref_=Oct_BSellerC_13436301_1&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=13436301&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_r=RBXMZ9ZBTG36MNNW4N28&pf_rd_p=2028c04d-42d7-5f82-a3ec-2aaeb0d7bb30

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Also your website looks like an amazing resource, I'm looking forward to digging through it!

I used a 4 tb WD external drive on an old Dell laptop forever, until I recently upgraded to a TS 440. I bought a 4tb WD red drive (and drive caddies) and de-shelled the external to install internally. So I have the 4tb red and a 4tb green. Not raided or anything. It's working pretty well!

I'm Canadian. Trick is you buy the drives when there are good deals. I don't see any right now, but $400 is a bit high for 10 TB even in Canada. This 10 TB drive is CAD$300 or $315 after taxes on the Canadian Amazon store. This 8 TB drive is only CAD$184 on Amazon Canada, meaning you could get 16 GB for $368+tax.

Is the NAS really worth it for the premium price in storage? Guess it matters how much you care about redundancy. I personally don't because I can just re-download stuff fairly quickly if anything happened (~1.5 days for 16 TB and 1 Gbps connection) and nothing in my hard drive is that sensitive. Of course you might have other circumstances that make the premium price worth it.

I agree with swiftpanda16, plex probably isn't the right tool in this case. YouTube might be better?

Or skycoach.

If you're set on using plex, you could get a portable router like the Hootoo Titan and use that to connect your phone and laptop without internet.

Edit: It just occurred to me that the Hootoo can act like a NAS, just connect a flash drive and have everyone download the app. That may also work well.

I've always loved the WD Greens.

Cheap over in the US!

Naked drive: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Green-Desktop-WD40EZRX/dp/B00EHBEUZO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418753182&sr=8-2&keywords=wd+green

Same drive (I think) in an enclosure for cheaper (rip it out and plug it in): http://www.amazon.com/Book-USB-Hard-Drive-Backup/dp/B00E3RH61W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418753221&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+book

As others mentioned, 4K content is usually about 60-70mbps, so that's the minimum bar you'll need to avoid network issues slowing down your content.

>ethernet (plugged into power outlet)

If you're talking about powerline adapters, I'm not surprised that you're getting poor performance. Although they're advertised as 1300mbps+, in most cases you'll be lucky to see 100mbps, and right around 60-70mbps is very typical - so your house might be right on the edge of 'good enough'. A lot of people experience worse performance than wifi, both in throughput and in latency.

Wifi:

In general, your real max throughput on wifi will be about 40-50% of the advertised 'link speed' (the number on the box). So a 450mbps Wireless AC connection will max out at around 200mbps in real-world throughput.

If you're going through a wall or more than 10 feet away, you should cut that number in half again (~100mbps on a 450mbps AC adapter).

So from there you can look at what your requirements and options are. A solid start would be to get a 2x2 AC wireless card (advertised at 867mbps, so realistically 200-400mbps of potential real-world throughput).

Another great option:

If you have COAX TV cable running through your house, check out MoCA adapters. They'll pricey, but will give you solid 1gbps connectivity with next-to-no added latency: https://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Bonded-Ethernet-Adapter-ECB6200K02/dp/B013J7O3X0/.

For 4K content, I would strongly recommend using an ethernet cable, and if running one directly isn't an option then MoCA will be your next-best bet.

Your options in this case are somewhat endless. There are hundreds of “right” ways . The only “wrong” one is the one that doesn’t work for you.

I started with Plex about a year and a half ago. As everything, the setup has evolved . Here’s some things I personally do:

1 - Put Plex data on another disk (SSD). This way, if you end up having to reimageplus, reformat, etc, you can just reinstall Plex, point the data directory and you’ll be up and running quickly.

2 - If you’re using Windows, make sure to avoid using drive letters, but mount the drives into sub folders . This will make for easier upgrade and switching in the future .

3 - Avoid using single drives, spanning multiple drives to look like one, or using software / hardware specific options (ie; raid). As your collection grows, you can expand your setup. My own rig (currently)

D: (50 gig SSD partition)

• Plex data
  
• TV
  
• 0-F (disk 1)
  
• G-M (disk 2)
  
• N-S (disk 3)
  
• T—Z (disk 4)
  
• Movies
  
• 0-F (disk 5)
  
• G-M (disk 6)
  
• N-S (disk 7)
  
• T—Z (disk 8)
  
  Each of those is mirrored onto another (larger) disk which can be swapped out in case of failure or space upgrade necessity.
  
  I use a mediasonic probox ( rather 4 of them ) to store the drives and work with them. The USB interfaces make them hot swappable, though e-Sata not so much
  
  Hope that helps in some way

You can totally do that with Ubuntu, not familiar with Amahi though. You might want to look into something like this if this will be a long term solution, I've found it super convenient for adding new hard drives and if one fails it gives you easy access for swapping out.

Hi!

I am very new to Plex and am currently running some videos from an external HDD by using an old MBP. My fear is that if the disk fails, I lose everything so I was wondering what to do and someone I talked with suggested I got a QNAP like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015VNLGF8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I, however, have never used anything like that so I'm not sure what would happen. If I get something like that, I understand that I need to buy HD to put in and it offers some redundancy but can I connect the one I already have? And then, how do I run Plex on that? It seems to be more of a device to serve media to a tv than to stream.

Thanks in advance for any help!

If you're connecting them to your computer, you could get a box like this one and add drives as you go. Always get the biggest you can afford, and get them one at a time (unless you get a great deal).

Might have problems transcoding with that, its not a very strong cpu at all.

edit-
this one is a little more but definitely a better cpu

I was looking at this for being a power efficient Plex Media Server and possibly other lightweight tasks.. I have a Shield, but I fear that storage will become an issue sooner rather than later. With the gpu transcoding, this may be a great solution now. https://www.amazon.com/Intel-NUC-Kit-NUC6i5SYH-Mini/dp/B018Q0GN60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483714359&sr=8-1&keywords=NUC6i5SYH

I would highly recommend this one if you don't need a NAS. It's about $200 +drives and Amazon can't keep them in stock (bought mine in May and they've been in and out of stock 2-3 times since). Mine is connected to a Win7 box running PMS and PHT via esata but it's got USB3 and firewire. Easy setup, hardware RAID and cheap.

I just ordered one of these and love it!

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkServer-70A4001MUX-E3-1225v3-Desktop/dp/B00FE2G79C

Do you know why it's called a "quad" tuner when it has only one Co-ax input?

EDIT: I answered my own question.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DZSVLTW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

• Four Tuners on a half height PCI Express board
  
• For use in both full and half height PC's
  
• Watch, pause and record up to four ATSC or clear QAM HD TV programs at the same time
  
• Supports four tuner picture-in-picture

What's the difference between these two hard drive bays which one is best for my use?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078YQHWYW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074VB8DY7/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1

This has plex! hard drive

WD 3TB My Passport Wireless Pro Portable External Hard Drive - WiFi USB 3.0 - WDBSMT0030BBK-NESN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F5LVTPS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ce8RBb3V5CN1Z

Are you running Plex Media Server on another machine and want the NAS just for storage? If so, go cheap: https://www.amazon.com/Synology-bay-DiskStation-DS218j-Diskless/dp/B076G6YKWZ?keywords=synology+ds218&qid=1539186120&sr=8-4&ref=sr_1_4

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Do NOT go that route if you want it to run PMS. You'd have to step it up a bit to something more powerful.

I run Windows 10 pro on my HTPC/server and I use this Mediasonic case for my hard drive storage.

It can hold 4 drives and each drive can be up to 12TB each. It uses usb c with speeds up to 10GB/s.

I use Stablebit Drivepool to manage my drives. It’s well worth the money.

If I ever need to add more drive enclosures and I’m out of usb c ports I can just add a PCI card in to give me more ports and then I can just add the new drives to stablebit.

It’s a very simple solution that works for me.

Here’s my setup.

Scenario: Where you are going, all you have is a TV with an HDMI port.

Resolution: You make the network.

What is needed:

• Plex Pass
  
• Plex Client: Android Tablet, or other that allows media sync like Windows 10 Store Plex App.
  
• Mobile Router: HooToo TripMate Titan is what I use.
  
• Roku Stick.
  
  Initial setup, Must do before you leave!
  
  
• Connect your Plex Client as normal to the network and sync your media.
  
• HooToo: Update firmware, Setup the Router security.
  
• Add HooToo to the Internet.
  
• Add the Tablet and the Roku to the HooToo.
  
• Setup Roku, add Plex App.
  
• Roku: Run Plex, go to Plex.tv/link to get the code to sync to your account.
  
• Plex Client: While the device is attached to the HooToo, Open up the Plex App
  
• Roku: At the top right where it shows the Plex Server, select the Plex Client from the drop down.
  
• Test the connection.
  
  Now you have an independent network with Plex running with 0 delay. I make sure to power on the HooToo Router prior to powering on the Roku.
  
  
  

You could look at something like a 4-bay Qnap or Synology:

https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-TS-451-Personal-Quad-Core-Transcoding/dp/B015VNLGF8/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&qid=1551036590&sr=8-31&keywords=synology

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-bay-DiskStation-DS418-Diskless/dp/B075N17DM6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1551036686&sr=8-4&keywords=synology

I have a synology (not this one in particular) and I love it but as far as I am aware Qnap makes damn fine products as well.

If your problem is that you can't run cables, then the next best wired option is to get a set of MOCA (if you have cable) or DECA (if you have DirecTV) adapters and just run your network over the existing coax wiring. I've had excellent reliability with both over the years. They can coexist with your TV service over the same cables and are both plenty fast for Plex.

Bonded MOCA 2.0 can do gigabit and it looks like you can get a 2-pack for $150.
https://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Bonded-Ethernet-Adapter-ECB6200K02/dp/B013J7O3X0/

DECA is quite a bit cheaper at $12 for a two pack, but is only 100mbit.
https://www.amazon.com/PACK-DIRECTV-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation/dp/B01AYMAV1Q/

I think im just going to go with this setup get ram and ssd for it cheap but this should be a good setup with a 1903 passmark https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Nuc5ppyh-Components-Silver-BOXNUC5PPYH/dp/B00XPVQHDU/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473259122&sr=1-8&keywords=intel+nuc

Yes, those are called DAS's (direct attached storage). Something like this? They are RAID capable but it's not required. You would connect it directly to the Shield rather than over the network.

Do you have a portable hard drive of any kind? If so This might be helpful

You can plug a portable hard drive or thumb drive into the travel router and each of your three iPads can stream a different movie at once. It also comes in handy while traveling to hotels. While it does not have its own cellular data it does work great off line or when connected to a public WiFi

Here's the one I got. I've had two transcodes going at once without a hiccup. Immediately make sure you have bios 0042 or higher installed, mine bricked and I had to get a replacement. Been running fine since.

I think my power bill actually went down after switching from my Rpi3, though that may have to do more with getting rid of my old plasma TV. Not to worry though, electric company is planning on raising rates again.

FYI , a similar product is $194 in amazon right now

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMH78R5/ref=twister_B07YNJS3HY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Enclosures that turn three 5.25 into five 3.5 drives. They had a good deal on them on Black Friday so I loaded up.

Like this...iStarUSA BPN-DE350SS-BLACK 3x5.25 to 5x3.5 Trayless Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RRZI14/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Qr4NybPVBH7EV

Except they were $35 bucks or something low.

Looking to downsize hTPC, take a look and give some pointers?

Currently have a nzxt h440 with 3x 4tb drives in it. Its too big. I want to put all my stuff in a ncase m1 eventually. So since the shield can be the plex server itself now can I throw my drives into this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019ZUR5WQ/ref=psdc_13436301_t1_B016EWTC7E
hook that up to the shield and run plex from there? I don't care about redundancy at all for my movies and tv shows so is this thing overkill? All I need is access to the hdd space over my network to drop newly downloaded movies onto it. Is there a cheaper option (don't feel like building a nas right now)
thanks for the help!

For that amount you're going to be looking at a NAS like: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076G6YKWZ/ref=psdc_13436301_t1_B075N1BYWX#nav-top

As long as you're not doing heavy transcoding you should be fine.

​

If you're looking for a PC that you can build yourself head over to r/buildapc for component lists.

I'll recommend exactly what I got: ThinkServer TS140 with a Xeon E3. Now, that may seem a bit overkill, but for us it's been absolutely perfect doing:

• HTPC (via VLC for one-off videos, Plex for Home Theater, Netflix Windows 8.1 app, YouTube in Chrome, etc.)
  
  
• Plex Server (library is currently distributed amongst 3x 1 TB externals, and one of these, looking to get a few more of them to replace the older drives)
  
  
• Seedbox using Deluge
  
  
• Lite gaming rig using an old Radeon 6670 I had laying around collecting dust. Not going to run Crysis or anything, but it's enough to get 80 FPS in iRacing on maximum settings, Portal 2, etc.
  
  
• Transcoding (when needed) for all of our devices (three smartphones, two other desktops, five laptops, a chromebook, two tablets...).
  
  But the most important feature: It's dead silent. I mean really, with absolutely nothing else on in the room, I have to get within three feet to barely hear the CPU's fan even when it's ramped up to 100% on all four cores at 3.6 GHz, transcoding new Blu-ray remuxes to generate media index files, thrashing a few dozen torrents, and Steam hammering the bandwidth downloading games to the SSD.
  
  It's a terrific little beast. The HDD it comes with isn't too great (500 GB, 5400 RPM), so I threw an EVO 850 Pro in for Windows 8.1 Pro, Steam, and Plex's metadata, while all torrents go through a 500 GB WD Black laptop drive I had sitting around. The 4 GB of RAM it came with has been plenty so far, but I'm looking to upgrade as there have been a couple of moments when it ran dangerously low due to one roommate or another leaving Chrome open overnight with a few dozen tabs open.

They don't. It's the Intel iris 6100 in this NUC

Intel NUC Kit NUC5i7RYH Barebone System BOXNUC5I7RYH https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WAS1FX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_EOKdBbH7FXZ99

They're just that much more efficient at h264

Just checked peak transcode in the last 30 days. I had 5 simultaneous transcodes and cpu was at 12% when it was happening

There are things like this that emulate a screen attached that might work. I think people normally use them for servers sometimes that do not display anything if nothing is plugged in.

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https://www.amazon.com/CompuLab-fit-Headless-Display-Emulator/dp/B00FLZXGJ6/ref=pd_cp_147_3/138-8630224-6385933?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00FLZXGJ6&pd_rd_r=3b76fb96-a51e-484d-a0d0-79d3d52bcd94&pd_rd_w=0dHtD&pd_rd_wg=AFFip&pf_rd_p=0e5324e1-c848-4872-bbd5-5be6baedf80e&pf_rd_r=ZKVN7PFYWWAZXYKC3RE9&psc=1&refRID=ZKVN7PFYWWAZXYKC3RE9

Something like a Kill-A-Watt would let you plug everything into a power bar then plug the power bar into the Kill-A-Watt and measure the total power draw of everything.

Yeah - those Synology solutions look pretty bad ass. My holdup with them is that it's way too much power for what I need. I have the dedicated Mac Mini that I've already thrown down on (I bought it used, but still) to do any "heavy" lifting required (transcoding, serving, etc. it also has a 25/7 bt client that's web accessible from anywhere in the world, gravy) so spending more money on a NAS that can also do that just seems like...a bad kind of redundancy. I just was looking up something like http://www.amazon.com/Mobius-trade-5-Bay-FireWire-Enclosure/dp/B00CH94GMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381912811&sr=8-1&keywords=Mobius%E2%84%A2+5-Bay+FireWire+800%2C+eSATA%2C+USB+3.0+RAID+Enclosure and holy cats, I think I have found what I need!

Link: https://www.amazon.com/HAUPPAUGE-WinTV-quadHD-Express-Tuner-1609/dp/B01DZSVLTW

Yeah, it's Plex's list of compatible devices. I think the only issue is the OS drivers. It's internal, PCIe.

And you may need a headless monitor adapter to get full screen resolution. This one works well.

Would not suggest NAS but rather a DAS(Digitally attached storage)!

Personally use the Mobius 5 bay DAS, however it is 5-Bay and not 6-8 Bay as you want!

CDN$375 (Including shipping)

https://www.amazon.ca/Mobius-trade-5-Bay-FireWire-Enclosure/dp/B00CH94GMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462870220&sr=8-1&keywords=mobius+5+bay

It is okay.
For the same price you could get 50% more cpu power with a TS140.

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkServer-70A4001MUX-E3-1225v3-Desktop/dp/B00FE2G79C/ref=pd_sim_147_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=41iMAS9dYVL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR96%2C160_&refRID=0WDWVFQX2X7JNJSB9RWB

Amazon is selling it now:
https://www.amazon.com/Passport-Wireless-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B01F5LVTPS/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1466539874&sr=1-1&keywords=WDBSMT0030BBK-NESN

So I'm planning on buying a few more 4TB hard drives and putting them in this thing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019ZUR5WQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I was planning on putting all my media content on there and pointing my media server to there.

This should work fine correct? I'm not planning on having the server run off of it. Just a raid with the media hosted there.

Mind sharing the adapter? I used the ActionTec ones and have no issues - but I had to add my own switch in between


Actiontec Bonded MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter, 2 Pack (ECB6200K02), Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013J7O3X0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_X.wJDbZWEMZG7

I recently moved my plex server from an old laptop to this NUC. I wanted an i7 and got the dual disc model because I pulled a 1TB SATA SSD from another laptop. It runs Sickrage, Couchpotato, and nzbget on Fedora 23 in addition to plex. I have it hooked up to a TV for those few cases where I want to watch something that is only available on a browser.

Has anyone used this for PleX?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XPVQHDU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I found an older /r/plex post about it but it has a newer version with 2.4 ghz. Wondering if anyone has this version and would be able to transcode 1080p on the fly.

Would this one suffice?

Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation DS218j (Diskless) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076G6YKWZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lGe4DbR0HSMKX

I bought one of these

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

I just set up one of these today. So far so good. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078YQHWYW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll be getting mine on Sunday so I'll let you know how it works.

I bought this one for reference: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DZSVLTW

After having the same issue, I finally bought this. Works great and allows 4 drives per one USB port. I have 4 8TB drives in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B01CFLOV4M

I went with this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019ZUR5WQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm measuring from the wall using one of these things.

• Idle: ~120W
  
• Plex transcoding (1-2 users): ~220W
  
• Full CPU load: ~335W
  
• Full CPU + GPU load: ~540W
  
  I actually had to underclock my GPU a little to stay within the 600W limit of the PSU, otherwise the system would reboot under heavy GPU load.

>Its 234 dollars when I look?

Look "from other sellers"

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B07CMH78R5

10gig


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078YQHWYW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm not sure how many streams, but these devices can run a plex server. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F5LVTPS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=LQD2OI7NPKL1&coliid=I2SKUCU86BVNCH&psc=1

I use mine headless. I use vnc to access locally, and used to use the chrome remote desktop for when I wasn't home. Problem with that was, if you don't have a mouse hooked up, you don't get a cursor.

Also, the resolution can get jacked up if you don't have a monitor, so a headless hdmi dummy plug fixes that problem. This is the one I have

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FLZXGJ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_McChAbWEZN581

Don't listen to these fools. Buy a usb 3.0 card they cost about $20 get drivepool and then buy western digital my book 4tb usb3.0. They have the same speed as internals, they're cheaper and they don't take up chasis room. Also, whenever you need more space just plug in a new one and add it to the pool. Boom. done.

Also, no proprietary recoveries like you do with most nas boxes.

Edit: link
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E3RH61W?cache=b6ec3bec497a21117d715dafbe944414&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1408461817&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

Wait, your WiFi router is plugged in to power line? Stop it. Get an this router and connect it directly to your modem. If the signal isn't strong enough, use wifi repeaters as necessary. My router provides coverage through an entire 3100 sq ft, 3-story house.

For your second problem, I had similar issues on my old home network. In my case, it was only when someone was streaming something from the server, though.

Anyhow, after doing tons of testing, I determined that my router was just not capable of handling what I was throwing at it any longer. I threw money at the problem and got a router that is overkill, but it completely fixed all my issues. I have a feeling your #1 and #2 issues are probably related.

We were having things happen like... if we were streaming from the Plex Server to the Roku (which is on WIFI), then page requests on our phones' web browsers would take 30-60 seconds to complete. It was pretty extreme and really bad. We just started using 4g at home, but then started running out of bandwidth.

You probably don't need a router as crazy as the one I got, but I would look for something in the $200-300 price range that has a dual core.

P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_R0vLDb5YFAEF9

I'm not sure why you're having trouble with Teamviewer, I use it exclusively to control all my PC's remotely. Have you reformatted the Plex server PC at all?

Can you elaborate on "the thing works about once every 10 tries." Are you getting an error message when you try to connect? Does it time out? Is Teamviewer just not starting up with your PC?

I also run my Plex server on a dedicated Windows 10 PC and initially had some problems connecting and controlling it.

I'm not sure if you're experiencing the same problems, but I had to enable Mouse Keys in Windows for it to read my keyboard commands: http://imgur.com/dwCURbV

I also had to buy one of these as the resolution was way too low: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00FLZXGJ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T1_ZP6EzbKN8HTVW

No, it is obvious

The lowest this item has ever been on Amazon is $196 … out of the blue going down to $80 is an obvious pricing error. The reaction in this thread also shows people knew it was a pricing error and could be used as evidence.

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https://camelcamelcamel.com/10TB-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBBGB0100HBK-NESN/product/B07CMH78R5