• What Is The Best Nas For Home Use

Jun 20, 2018 - Best NAS box for media streaming and backup. TimeMachine support for backing up Macs, and Rsync for syncing with other NAS boxes.

Media is the cornerstone of every good home theatre setup so making sure you’ve got the best DLNA media server at your disposal is important. Over the years, you’ve probably amassed a collection of DVDs, movie files, photos and music. The next logical step is to start streaming media throughout your network and share it across your devices such as your, or Smartphone. To do that, you’ll need to get a DLNA media server. There’s a number of home media servers available which will do this either free or economically. However, with all the options out there, it can be a challenge to find the best DLNA server software that meets your needs.

We’ve pulled together a handy list of our favorites. If you’re just wanting a quick solution, our pick for the best DLNA media server software of 2018 for most users is. Not only does PlayOn allow you to stream media using to DLNA-compatible devices, it’s also the only DLNA media server software to offer strong integration with streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and more. You can find more about PlayOn. What Is DLNA? The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is the name of a non-profit organisation that controls the DLNA certification standard.

The DLNA standard establishes how enables networked media devices to share data. This means that using DLNA-compliant devices means that you can easily share media. For example, you can stream music from your PC to your TV. DLNA is often used interchangeably with Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) protocols. However, this is not accurate as DLNA enhanced the UPnP protocol with a focus on media. Why Do I Need DLNA Media Server Software? So now that you know about DLNA, you’re probably wondering why you need DLNA media server software.

Basically, DLNA media server software lets you to share your movies, music and photos via the DLNA protocol. This means that DLNA compliant devices such as TVs, game consoles and media players can readily playback your media from your home media server over the network easily.

DLNA media servers often add additional functionality too, such as scraping metadata like movie covers and transcoding your video files to ensure playback on a wider variety of devices. Best DLNA Media Server Software 2018 So what’s the best home media server software out there? Luckily, we’ve pulled together a handy overview to help you pick the right DLNA server for you.

PlayOn (Windows). Bad. Only available on Windows PlayOn is easily the most feature-rich DLNA media server available and that’s why it’s made our Best DLNA Media Server Software list. Aside from being able to stream your movies, music and photos from your PC to DLNA-compatible devices, PlayOn’s home media server software can also record from various sources, skip ads from recordings and more. It’s also one of the few media servers that offers support for online streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.

Those wanting to access their media on the go can either use the built-in web interface or PlayOn’s dedicated mobile apps on iOS and Android. Universal Media Server (Windows/Mac/Linux). Bad. Parts are closed-source.

Mobile apps and Plex Pass are paid options Plex is well-known in the HTPC circles for its cross-platform compatibility, wide range of supported devices and ease-of setup. Plex is actually based on but has added a number of additional features such as a separate client/server setup, transcoding and metadata processing. Its comprehensive set of features has made it one of the most popular media servers out there.

Best of all, its free to share media on your local network, with Plex offering a paid Plex Pass to enable additional features such as cloud streaming and media syncing. Serviio (Windows/Mac/Linux). Bad.

Can be buggy. Some Features Require Paid Emby Premiere licence Emby Server is a relatively new DLNA media server that’s rapidly growing in popularity. With an impressively comprehensive set of features including Live TV support, media management, and cloud sync, it’s not hard to see why Emby made my best home media center list. However, like Plex, some of these features are locked behind a paid Emby Premiere licence that may put off some.

Some users have complained about buggy releases though an active community is seeing this improving with each release. PS3 Media Server (Windows/Mac/Linux).

Bad. Uses Java. No Longer Developed Originally written for the PlayStation 3, PS3 Media Server has been expanded to support a range of other DLNA-compliant media devices such as TVs and smartphones. How to Choose the Best Media Center Software Choosing media server is like choosing any other gadget or software. The best media center software is heavily dependent on what features you’re after.

When choosing which is the best media center software for you, ask yourself three things:. What type of media will you be using the most (e.g. Videos or music)?. What devices will you be using for streaming media?. How complicated do you want it to be?

Whilst some home media servers are built for specific types of media, most users will want a media server that handles videos, music and photos for maximum flexibility. Similarly, it’s important to be aware what devices you’ll be streaming media to as not all media servers offer high compatibility. Lastly, you’ll need to decide how much fiddling are you willing to do. Do you want media server software that’s set and forget or do you want something to tinker with? Things to Consider when Looking for the Best Media Server Software Wide Compatibility/DLNA compliance The best DLNA media servers follow the DLNA protocol carefully for maximum compatibility. This means it should offer excellent compatibility with a wide range of DLNA-compatible devices including game consoles, Bluray players and Android TV boxes.

Wide Format Support Whilst most video files are provided in a handful of popular formats like MP4, you’ll always come across at least one video encoded in a weird format. When looking for media server software, you’ll want to ensure it offers support for a wide range of video formats to ensure it’ll handle everything you throw at it.

Furthermore, you’ll want the media server to be able to stream not only video, but also music and photos for maximum flexibility. Transcoding Sometimes you’ll end up in situations where your device doesn’t support the video format that you’re wanting to stream. This is where steps in, re-encoding your media files on-the-fly into a compatible format your streaming media player can play. Real-time transcoding is a relatively demanding task so you’ll want to ensure the NAS or PC you’re using to host your media server has enough grunt to handle it.

Some media servers also offer ahead-of-time transcoding, allowing you to pre-prepare compatible videos and reduce the demands on your system. Metadata Scraping You know when you fire up Kodi and it displays things like movie posters, plot summaries and more? That’s metadata – bits of information about the media files that some media servers will store to enhance your experience. Some media servers like PlayOn and Plex offer built-in metadata collection (known as scraping) so you’ll get an enhanced multimedia experience when using compatible apps.

Media Recording Some media servers like PlayOn will allow you to stream live TV or connect to streaming services and allow you to record them so you can watch them later. Web Interface and/or Dedicated Apps Home media server software has long outgrown being simple software that just lets you stream movies and music using DLNA devices. When deciding on home media software, if you don’t have a dedicated DLNA media player like an, take note of DLNA servers that offer a web interface or dedicated mobile apps like PlayOn Media Server which can make accessing your media so much easier. Best DLNA Media Server Software 2018: Conclusion We’ve listed 5 great DLNA media servers that are ideal for streaming media around your home. However, finding the best DLNA server software for your needs really depends on the functionality you’re after. PlayOn offers an impressive set of features, even allowing you to stream premium content from the likes of Netflix around your house. However, those on a tight budget or who only have local features could opt for some of the other DLNA media servers listed.

Time to get streaming! Have a favorite? Got a suggestion that I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments below!

What Is The Best Nas For Home Use

Tweet Share Whatsapp Email What is the best NAS for a Plex Media Server of 2017 Many users who have large collections of media (photos, music, photos and more) will want to invest is a solid backbone to centralize their files in a single location. The most common reasons for this are to prevent file duplication, to backup sensibly and (in the case of a NAS) to be able to access their files from all of their devices. A NAS server (network attached storage) device is fast becoming the recommended and popular choice for this kind of data storage solution and big brands such as Synology, QNAP, Drobo and Western Digital have tried to outdo each other in their efforts to win the market share.

The most popular program currently to centralise and access all your multimedia in one place from your devices is Plex, a media application that when combined with even a relatively basic NAS will result in you owning your very own Plex Media Server. However building the perfect plex media server is not as easy as it sounds and in order to have a truly powerful and future-proof Plex Media Server, you will need to ensure you get a NAS that arrives with certain hardware on board.

Some NAS devices function better than others and today we want to highlight the top 3 NAS devices for Plex this year. Which NAS hardware do you need for the Perfect Plex NAS?

With literally thousands of types of NAS available to buy, choosing the right NAS for your Plex Media Server can be really tough if you do not know what to look for. So before we discuss the very best NAS to buy for your Plex Server, we should discuss the important specifications to look out for: Plex Media Server Application on the NAS In order to stably and easily set up a Plex Media Server on your NAS, you should always take care to ensure the Application is available in the App Store on the NAS software.

Currently, the following NAS Brands have the Plex App. Synology. QNAP. Thecus. WD. Drobo. Asustor The Plex Media Server Application is Free and very easy to install and setup.

DLNA Certified NAS AS surprising as it sounds, there are still some NAS devices that are not DLNA certified. Take care to ensure that the NAS you buy is DLNA certified/enabled. DLNA, or Digital Living Network Alliance, is the simplified means for all network and/or connected devices to communicate. It is what enabled your smart TV to see the photos on your laptop, how your phone can send media to your chrome cast and it is how your NAS shares data in your internal network.

Although DLNA is largely unneeded when using Plex, it is still a necessary feature when setting up a plex media server NAS. Minimum CPU and Memory of a Plex NAS Although you do not need a particularly powerful NAS to host a plex media server, the more powerful the device means the more you can do and see.

This is, however, a minimum amount of hardware required. Typically you cannot enable a plex media server on a device that is too weak and the Plex Application may well not even appear on the App list via the NAS UI. The minimum hardware required is:.

A Dual Core CPU of at least 1.3GHz. At least 1GB of DDR3 Memory As long as a NAS has these minimum specifications, then you can install the Plex media server application. However, it is highly recommended that you have at least the following hardware specifications on your NAS:.

A Dual or Quad Core x86 based CPU (Such as an Intel or AMD processor). At least 2GB of DDR3 Memory The main reasons for the recommended hardware on a Plex Media Server are to enable transcoding (explained in the next section) and to enabled more than one user to access the media on the plex media server at once. Transcoding Media on your Plex Media Server Playing media that lives on your Plex Media Server, watching on your iPad, Smartphone, Tablet or more is a very straightforward affair once you sign up, but there are a number of factors that users will often encounter during playback, such as:.

The Media File you are streaming is too large and it is buffering constantly whilst watching (1080p etc on a device with a much smaller screen or memory size). The file type/extension for the file is in a format that is not playable on your device – common files that can be problematic are. MP4a.

The resolution of the video or photo is not supported on your device. Such as a 1080p HD Picture on a simple device that only supports up to 360p (older max mobile screen resolution), or visaversa In the cases of the issues above, the Plex on the client device (the one you are watching on) will contact the Plex Media Server NAS and will action (in the background, not ask the user) transcoding. Transcoding is the act of the NAS changing the media file size/type/resolution/format to one more playable on the client device. This uses a lot of CPU power and in some cases, a CPU arrives with a transcoding engine to make this process easier. If you think you will need the option of transcoding on your Plex Media Server NAS, then you should consider a NAS with the following:.

A Dual or Quad Core x86 based CPU (Such as an Intel or AMD processor). At least 2GB of DDR3 Memory However, you will need to consider at least an Intel i3 CPU if you want fantastic playback in most cases and at the very minimum a Quad-Core Intel chip of at least 1.6GHz. How do sign up to Plex and how much does it cost?

To begin setting up your Plex Media Server, you will need to head over to Plex and set up your account (use the below link) so you can have all your movie, TV show, music, and photo collections at your fingertips. Anywhere you go, on the devices you love. If however, you wish to skip straight to the good stuff and set up your Plex Pass Membership immediately so you can get your Plex Media Server at 100%, use the link below to take walk you through setting up your Plex Pass today! What are the Top Best NAS for a Plex Media Server? And so to the finale. The Three NAS servers below are the very best Plex Media Server NAS devices I have seen available on the market today.

Each is the best for their own market. The devices below are just for the NAS itself and do not include hard drive media or VAT, so do bear that in mind when budgeting for your ideal Plex NAS. Best Plex Media Server NAS for under £400 In third place, the WD My Cloud Pro PR2100 NAS.

Featuring an impressive Pentium Quad Core chip and 4GB of DDR3 memory, the device could easily be lost in the noise of all other NAS server devices from the likes of QNAP and Synology. However, it features one tiny component that sets it aside from almost all other currently available NAS – a Plex-enabled Transcoding Engine.

Most NAS with an Intel CPU including a transcoding engine, however, plex is currently unable to use this feature on a NAS and the result is that when you need to transcode a media file, it will use a huge amount of CPU power (70% and above). The result is that more complex files (.MKV etc) or those with high resolution may have regular buffering or stuttering playback. However, the WD Pr2100 NAS Is the exception because those boffins were able to allow the Plex media Server Application to use the transcoding engine on the NAS and therefore it can playback significantly better than the likes of Synology or QNAP with the same hardware.

As plex NAS servers go, it is a truly fantastic NAS, it is just a shame that it is a little lacklustre in other respects when it comes to using other more common NAS applications outside of multimedia. £370+ ex.VAT WD My Cloud Pro PR2100 WDBBCL0000NBK-EESN NAS ServerIntel Pentium N3710 1.6 GHz (Burst speed up to 2.56 GHz)4GB RAM2yr Warranty Best Plex Media Server NAS for around £1000 In second place, the QNAP TVS -682 NAS. Released earlier in 2017, it is very hard to argue with this level of hardware at this price.

Featuring an enormous array of hardware and software options you just cannot find in other units, the QNAP TVS -682 is a NAS for those that want a solution that will last EFFECTIVELY 3-5 years at least. It is that future-proofing that really makes this the best NAS at £1000, not just in Plex, but in many, many ways.

Unlike the WD PR2100, this QNAP NAS will not only perform very well in PLex and in 4K, but can be used for almost any NAS based task that you will ever need. In fact, most people tend to choose the QNAP TVS-682 because they needed for much bigger projects and THEN found out it could run as an excellent Plex Media Server afterwards. There are 4-Bay out there that are lower in price, but few of them will arrive with the software and hardware functionality of this device.

A final Plex highlight worth highlighting is that unlike a large number of NAS devices, the QNAP TVS-682 lets you display and view your plex media server library via HDMI with an included remote control too (or mobile app remote if you prefer). So you have the flexibility of Plex, as well as the localisation and ease of access to an HDMI enabled media player. £1000+ ex.VAT QNAP TVS-682-i3-8G 6-Bay (4x 3.5″, 2x 2.5″)Dual-core Intel® Core™ i3-6100 3.7 GHz8GB RAM2yr Warranty Best Plex Media Server NAS for around £1900 Finally, in first place, the best Plex Media Server NAS we at NASCompares and SPAN.COM have ever seen, is the enormously sized (and powerful) Synology DS3617xs 12-Bay NAS.

Yes, the price tag is around 5x that of the WD PR2100 NAS in third place, but what you get in terms of both hardware and future-proofing is truly staggering. The device arrives with a Xeon CPU that can play ANYTHING! Seriously, this unit will play and transcode anything you want natively all the way up to 4K Multimedia and no doubt higher.

To back this up, the unit also arrives with 16GB of DDR4 ECC memory, so you will see some truly stunning performance too. LIke the QNAP TV-682 mentioned above, this device is not just for plex, but for everything, you would ever want to so with a NAS. To date, there is absolutely nothing that you can do with a NAS that the DS3617xs cannot do (with the exception of HDMI). Likewise, we return to the lifespan of this device and you are looking at 5 years MINIMUM of hardware coverage here – closer to 7 years or more in realistic hardware terms. The unit arrives with 5 years of warranty, the official synology replacement service for an advanced replacement for your unit in the event of any problems and it arrives with 12 hard-drive bays that can be expanded to a total of 36x – so you will never run out of storage today, tomorrow or years later. If your budget is tight, you can run this device on a single Hard drive and just add disks as you need.

Ultimately this is the very best Plex NAS I have ever seen and although the price-tag is intimidating, there is no denying that you are buying a long, long-term solution for your multimedia needs. £1900+ ex.VAT Synology DiskStation NAS DS3617xs 12-bayIntel Xeon D-1527 Quad Core 2.2 GHz(2.7 GHz turbo)16GB DDR4 ECC Memory5yr Warranty For more information of Plex and Plex Media Servers, take a moment to listen to Robbie at SPANTV explain it a little more (the video is a little old, but covers the points well). Buy your perfect Plex Media Server NAS from SPAN.COM today here Need a little more help to buy your NAS? For Worldwide delivery as well as Pre-build NAS and post-sales support, why not chat LIVE with a support agent at SPAN.COM. Just click to start.