WDTV/ Roku Streamers
- Thread starter piggvomit_sl
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Maybe a stupid question, but are you able to install Plex Media Server directly onto the QNAP or do you have that NAS attached to an actual server?
PLEX is just a media server. I'm sure you can do the same thing once your library is scanned. I haven't tried it that way yet though. But yes it put son cover art etc.
I understand, but i'm asking, does the QNAP act as a device that you can install software on (such as the Plex Media Server), or do you have the QNAP attached to a server/machine that runs that software for you?
Looks like this was just released.
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http://www.bittorrentcertifiedbox.com
Now the whole family can be a pirate.
Oh. QNAP is just a NAS box for network storage. PLEX media server is installed on my main PC and I just point it to the network box. ROKU has a PLEX app that taps into the server on my PC and plays files.
OK, thanks! Was thinking of setting up a media server that I could tuck away into a closet somewhere.
Are those Qnap or Synology's fast enough to stream 1080p video? I've seen conflicting information. I have a Drobo and it's slow as fuck.
In theory these devices support Plex Media Server installation packages and are able to run the media server software directly. However, the processors they use are unable to transcode video of 720p or higher (seethisfor a list of NAS's that support Plex installation on the NAS itself) and odds are that you'll have to transcode a video at some point because your client doesn't support an audio format that the MKV is in, you need subtitles for foreign dialogue, etc.
The most common use for QNAP/Synology systems with Plex is the method that Draegan's configured his system as. The NAS only stores the media and a more beefy PC runs Plex Media Server, which fetches the media from the NAS, transcodes it (if necessary), and then sends it on to the client device.
It depends on your client and streaming software, Wolfen. Using a SMB share and assuming your client supports direct play of the format (no transcoding) and that your network can support the MKV's bitrate, then yes, they can easily stream 1080p content. Like I said in my post above, transcoding is not an issue at all if you have a PC running PMS rather than the NAS itself.
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The Synology works just fine too, just to add some anecdotal evidence.
As a side note, I would think that it is theoretically possible to buy crappy enough hard drives that can't transfer data fast enough, but I honestly don't know what the minimum bitrate would have to be or if such hard drives even exist. And I'm quite confident that someone like Wolfen won't be buying drives that shitty anyway, but just thought I'd throw it out there.
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Most network storage devices (Synology for sure, pretty sure QNAP too) already have that capability, they just don't have it in the actual name of the productLooks like this was just released.
http://www.bittorrentcertifiedbox.com
Now the whole family can be a pirate.
well Got my boxee box today. turned it on and it won't leave the grey loading screen haha. fuck my luck ive tried everything even reseting it etc. Not gonna give up though gonna return it and get another one prolly just a screwed up box
It's pretty horrible on Google TV and Android as well. Their dev team is still fairly small given the number of clients they develop the UI for. That said, some of them really need an overhaul. The new Plex web interface shows that they can build nice GUIs, hopefully they'll give some updates in the next few months to the clients they've neglected.
It's not hard drive speed that's the problem. The network transfer speed on most NAS devices are much slower than you think they would be. They may have a gigabit port, but actual speed is nowhere close to that.
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No, I realize that it typically isn't the drive, but since we have myself and others saying that the Synology and the QNAP will stream it just fine with whatever gigabit ports they have, I thought I'd mention that you CAN buy some shitty 5400 rpm drives with low transfer rates and possibly shoot yourself in the foot for streaming 1080p. Perhaps even those shitty drives read fast enough, I don't know, but just threw it out in the rare event someone did that and then blamed it on us for saying it worked fine.
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Should be doable. Even at 5400rpm, using figures from a couple years back, you're talking a minimum of ~200-220 Mbit/sec transfer rate. The issue is more the class of drive and whether or not its initial seek time will be problematic for RAID setups. Depending on the RAID you're using, you may find that some drives don't have a quick enough cold seek time and invariably return a timeout or two, causing the RAID to dump that drive, at which point hilarity will ensue. This is specifically an issue with WD Greens and many low end RAID setups.
Yeah PLEX on Roku is ugly and shitty (and the web client is pretty nice actually). I always just use the search feature anyway for whatever video I want to find. I use my cell phone/tablet as a remote so I can use a keyboard.
Do any of these combinations work for playing Blu Ray ISOs with full menu support? I have a HTPC that I use windows media center and Arcsoft TotalMedia 5 combined with some other stuff for artwork etc. I absolutely love it. At this point I'd like to be able to stream those ISOs to my bedroom. I have ps3 media server installed on the HTPC to stream to a PS3 in the bedroom currently, but it only works well with MKV files. It won't do ISOs with full menu support. I don't want to convert to MKVs because I like the 1:1 copy with menu support, so that isn't an option. I'd build another HTPC before I'd do that. But if there is a $100 option like roku + plex, I'd take that option for simplicity and cost since it's just a bedroom setup. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks in advance.