Question NAS vs Raspberry Pi 4 for Media Server and Docker Projects?

[isabasu]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently considering setting up a media server at home and delving into Docker projects like web server hosting, Plex for 4K media, Prowlerr, Radarr, and Sonarr. I already have a Raspberry Pi 4 lying around, but I'm also thinking about investing in a NAS.

Given my goals, I'm torn between using my Raspberry Pi 4 or purchasing a NAS. I'm aware that both options have their pros and cons, but I'd like to hear from those with experience or insights on which might be the better choice for my projects.

Here are some considerations:
1. Performance: Will the Raspberry Pi 4 be sufficient for running Docker containers for my media server and related projects? Will the NAS?

2. Storage and Scalability: Would a NAS offer better storage options and scalability compared to the Raspberry Pi?

3. Ease of Setup and Maintenance: Which option is easier to set up and maintain, especially for someone relatively new to these technologies?

Any advice, recommendations, or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[hotaru.hino]

If you're buying a pre-built NAS like from Synology or QNAP, they come with their own OS and for the most part, you're limited to what apps they offer. I'm sure you could sideload your own thing, but at that point, you may as well build your own NAS with whatever OS you want on it.

But also, I'm of the opinion that you should have separate machines for projects and "appliances". i.e., don't develop on the production server.

 

[USAFRet]

#3 - A NAS like QNAP or Synology is plug and play. Will serve as a media server no problem. Easily expandable for drive space.

A Pi thing is a lot more custom work by you. But less expensive.

 

[NedSmelly]

I can answer questions 2 and 3. I used a Pi4 as OMV NAS for several months with a USB external desktop HDD. It works but is a barebones experience. Pretty much limited by the USB ports and gigabit Ethernet. Not really scaleable for capacity beyond adding more USB drives, and I wouldn’t dare RAID it.

Pi4 decoder is also a bit rubbish for 4K. Only seemed to perform acceptably with h265/hevc for me. Couldn’t handle 4K h264. The engineers probably had 1080p performance in mind with the Pi4.

General management was via web interface and SSH.

Finally, cable management was suboptimal with the SBC port layout.

Probably the only positive was low power consumption.

 

[isabasu]

Thanks everyone for your response. I was informing myself before opening this thread and saw that synology offers the ability to use docker. Hence, I assumed this was a rather common thing to do.

I understand now that its better to separate these systems. Since the raspi4B might not be the best option for decoding 4k videos, could you recommend a nas system that does it better?

Power consumption is also important to me 🙂

Thanks in advance for app your help!

 

[NedSmelly]

No worries. GPU/codec ASIC specs are as follows:

H.265 (4kp60 decode), H264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode)
OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0

Source

So yeah, your media files have to be a very specific encode if you intend to use the Pi4 as a decoding media server with hardware acceleration.

 

[Satan-IR]

Pi4 is a lot more hands-on work also a good learning chance if you want to dabble in the stuff or gain some real experience but it's kind of limited compared to solutions that are made and somehow tailored for this kind of use, NAS by QNAP or Synology etc.

Pi4 is less expensive (and you already have the Pi) and as said above uses less power. Scalable not really beyond it's ports, according to my experience. Adding hubs make it more complicated and connected devices needs to be powered themselves etc. I think it's much easier to expand a NAS.

As far as decoder weakness goes I haven't really worked with it that much. Actually didn't need it for my use case. I did setup a FTP with a Pi4 4GB. more for transferring files/data and not much as a media server. I streamed some media from it but not 4K, was FHD via HDMI. So I agree with what @NedSmelly said above as it's from his own experience.

Also I agree with @hotaru.hino and think you should keep your production server and workstation separate. Using the same 'server' for both can make things difficult. Specially if your server is on a Pi or one or more VMs managed through a Pi.

 

[NedSmelly]

Pi4 is a lot more hands-on work also a good learning chance if you want to dabble in the stuff or gain some real experience but it's kind of limited compared to solutions that are made and somehow tailored for this kind of use, NAS by QNAP or Synology etc.

Yes I probably should have mentioned that, whilst it had many practical limitations, I found it quite fun to build a functioning NAS from spare bits lying around the house. 😀

 

[isabasu]

Sorry for the late reply @All. It's been a few stressful days

I appreciate all your detailed responses. I'll go for a NAS to save my files and look for another solution for everything else. Not quite sure yet what I'll get, but I'll figure it out.

Thanks again to everyone!