Hardware¶

What's in use¶

Device	Role	Notes
Synology 5-bay NAS (older Intel Atom model, exact model in the private runbook)	Storage, all media containers, backups	Low-power Atom CPU with no iGPU, RAM upgraded. The model is on its final DSM release, so check Synology's security advisories.
Drives: NAS-grade HDDs	Media library + app configs	SHR (one-disk redundancy), Btrfs `/volume1`. Drive models, sizes and serials: see private runbook.
Apple TV 4K (older generation)	Main Plex client	HDR10 + Dolby Vision. No AV1 decode. Use wired Ethernet if you can, on the same subnet as the NAS.

This NAS cannot hardware-transcode

The Atom CPU has no iGPU (no /dev/dri, no Quick Sync). Measured software transcodes inside the Plex container:

The whole Plex setup is built around Direct Play. See Plex.

SHR with one-disk redundancy: one disk can fail. Rebuilding a large disk takes a long time and stresses the others. RAID is not a backup, see Backups.
To grow: add a disk at least as large as the biggest one → Storage Manager → Expand. SHR adds the space without rebuilding the pool.

Instead of	Buy	Why
The old NAS as the Plex server	A small Intel N100/N150 mini PC (about $150–250, 16 GB RAM) for Plex and the containers, with the NAS kept as storage only (NFS/SMB)	Quick Sync handles several 4K HDR → 1080p transcodes with tone mapping at about 10 W. That removes every streaming limit described in this guide.
An old Synology	A current 4-bay Synology with an Intel CPU and iGPU (for example the DS423+ / DS425+), or a self-built Unraid/TrueNAS box on an Intel CPU with an iGPU	Kernel WireGuard, current DSM, hardware transcoding
Older Apple TV 4K	Current Apple TV 4K	AV1 is still not supported, but it's faster. Use wired Ethernet anyway.
—	A UPS (USB-connected to the NAS for safe shutdown)	Protects the RAID during power cuts.