Hello,

 

I am new to this forum and new to unRAID. I am investigating alternatives to using a NAS to support serving audio and video content. I have currently a ReadyNAS Duo housing all my mp3s and a few videos. It runs Logitech Media Server for my Squeezeboxes and also it is where I have my Sonos devices pointed to for audio content. I want to use Plex on a Roku 3 to play video content. Having enough CPU power to transcode video for other devices such as iPad and PS 3 would be a plus. This is why I am taking a closer look at unRAID since the price for power point is more economical than a NAS solution.

 

However, I am a bit confused as to the level of support unRAID has for DNLA, Logitech Media Server and Plex (with transcoding). Hopefully there is someone out there who has blazed this trail before me and could give some advice.

 

Thank you,

 

Dale

I only have experience with Plex. Plex supports unRAID (http://www.plexapp.com/connected/) and here is the install guide (https://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/66930-helpful-unraid-links/).

 

I am loving having PMS on my unRAID server. I have not had any issues with Plex or transcoding any of my files. The cpu listed in my signature will let me transcode at least 3 movies at once (I haven't tried any more than that).

I run unRAID with PLEX to my Roku.

It works great and I have never had problems with the combination.

Can't speak to LMS.

 

 

Yes, unRaid supports everything you mention. Plex works fantastically as an unRaid plugin. I run Plex with a large variety of clients, including Rokus, iPads, Samsung Smart TV's etc and it all works flawlessly.

 

As for LMS, that is supported as well, although I believe it is called Squeeze Box now. There is a list of some of the most popular unRaid plugins here, but it is by no means a complete list.

 

There are also a few different DLNA server plugins for unRaid, but Plex also has a built-in DLNA server.

Upon re-reading your question, what do you mean by "the level of support unRaid has"?  Do you mean whether or not it has the ability to run these applications?  If so the answer is yes.  If you mean "are they officially supported", the answer is no.  All plugins are supported by the plugin authors themselves as well as the unRaid community, but they are not part of stock unRaid and are not supported by Lime Technology.

 

That said, you will find that unRaid has one of the best, most helpful user communities out there.

I use the subsonic plugin for streaming music to all of my iOS devices and for playing via web browser when I'm at work. I use the serviio plugin for playing native FLAC and MKV files on my oppo at home in the HT system. I use JRiver MC pointed to SMB shares on my mac for playing native FLAC files in my 2-channel system with my iPad as the control device.

 

So there's lots of flexibility.

Upon re-reading your question, what do you mean by "the level of support unRaid has"?  Do you mean whether or not it has the ability to run these applications?  If so the answer is yes.  If you mean "are they officially supported", the answer is no.  All plugins are supported by the plugin authors themselves as well as the unRaid community, but they are not part of stock unRaid and are not supported by Lime Technology.

 

That said, you will find that unRaid has one of the best, most helpful user communities out there.

 

Thank you dirtysanchez. I think you and others here have answered my question. What I meant by "level of support" is the ability to run these apps, particularly without the need to bend and bastardize them to make them fit. I wasn't expecting them to come bundled in with unRAID.

Upon re-reading your question, what do you mean by "the level of support unRaid has"?  Do you mean whether or not it has the ability to run these applications?  If so the answer is yes.  If you mean "are they officially supported", the answer is no.  All plugins are supported by the plugin authors themselves as well as the unRaid community, but they are not part of stock unRaid and are not supported by Lime Technology.

 

That said, you will find that unRaid has one of the best, most helpful user communities out there.

 

Thank you dirtysanchez. I think you and others here have answered my question. What I meant by "level of support" is the ability to run these apps, particularly without the need to bend and bastardize them to make them fit. I wasn't expecting them to come bundled in with unRAID.

 

They don't come "bundled in" with unRaid, but stock unRaid has the ability to run plugins. The great user community here has made plugins for a number of software products that make installing them and configuring them a breeze.

So now that I am digging into understanding unRAID better, I have a question about the parity drive. My understanding is that the parity drive should be the largest drive in the array. But is there a way to determine how large the parity drive should be? For example, if I want to start out with at least 4TB of usable storage, should I have a parity drive of 4TB with data drives of 2TB each? Would that suffice?

My understanding is that the parity drive should be the largest drive in the array. But is there a way to determine how large the parity drive should be?

Not "should be the largest", but MUST be the largest, or EQUAL, to any of the array drives. If you have a 4TB parity, you can have as many 4TB data drives as your current license allows. All data drives are fully available, so you don't lose any space except for the parity drive. If you want 4TB of storage, 2 4TB drives will give it to you, and if you add a 2 TB drive, you will have 6 TB available. You can add any size of drive as a data drive, as long as it is the same or smaller than your current parity.

My understanding is that the parity drive should be the largest drive in the array. But is there a way to determine how large the parity drive should be?

Not "should be the largest", but MUST be the largest, or EQUAL, to any of the array drives. If you have a 4TB parity, you can have as many 4TB data drives as your current license allows. All data drives are fully available, so you don't lose any space except for the parity drive. If you want 4TB of storage, 2 4TB drives will give it to you, and if you add a 2 TB drive, you will have 6 TB available. You can add any size of drive as a data drive, as long as it is the same or smaller than your current parity.

 

Thank you for your explanation. That helps tremendously!