NAS for streaming HD video to more than 1 PC simultaneously

[Just1n]

I'm starting a home network. The basic components are in no particular order...

+ Linksys WRT610N
+ NetGear GS608 Switch
+ Cat6 wiring throughout apartment
+ Mac Mini with Plex connected to HDTV
+ Macbook Pro w/ 2TB external HDD (mine)
+ Dell Inspirion 15.4" running Vista with XBMC (girlfriend)

I've been looking for a NAS so I can localize my media/data for streaming/access for all the computers on a network. I guess the biggest concern is streaming 1080p blu-ray rips (on a wired connection of course). In a "full-throttle" scenario I would like to be able to stream ~40Mbps blu-ray rips simultaneously to 2 computers at the same time (only when the woman and I fight). Then I'm looking for a 4-bay, quiet, small form-factor to fit an apartment.

I've been tackling the whole MBps vs. Mbps figures and still don't feel confident in what I will need in NAS performance for read speeds. Your reviews have been thorough and detailed, but since I've never bought a NAS I can't put performance numbers into perspective. Also I don't know which network protocol to use with a mixed Windows/OS X network. Right now I share media the old fashioned way, a 160GB portable hard drive.

I've read through some of these forum threads and reviews and narrowed it down:
Synology DS410 (great reviews)
Synology DS410j (really like its power efficiency)
QNAP TS-419P (more expensive but recommended company by Higgins for low noise)

Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing your opinions.

Just1n

P.S. can a NAS even handle streaming the same blu-ray rip to two PCs simultaneously?

 

[belawrence]

Build a Windows Home Server using a decent low-power dual core processor (Athlon X2 BE or modern Pentium DC) and use one of Intel's PRO series PCIe Gigibit NICs. Mine can stream BD ISOs to at least three clients simultaneously - I haven't tried more than that simply because I don't have any more computers.

 

[Just1n]

I'll look into that belawrence. I've never built a PC from scratch before. It's not that I don't think I could do it, but that would add more time and trial and error to the process. Keeping with that idea, I did look into UnRaid some time ago. In the Plex Forum and elsewhere, a lot of people spoke very highly of it.

Thanks for your input. For what I'm looking, at least I know what else is capable.

 

[HDClown]

40Mbps is only 5 MB/s. Any of those boxes you listed will easily support 2x40Mbps streams. They will support well above that in fact. The DS410j is tested in the 25-28MB/s sustained read rate. Streaming from the NAS is equivalent to read. So you can see that it, and anything faster than it will easily handle your streaming needs.

 

[Just1n]

HDClown, that makes sense. I did that same math before, and like you said it seems most any 4-bay NAS I look at would suffice. If those read numbers are sustained then I agree there should be no problem. I'll probably just go for the DS410j and see how it handles.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it HDClown and delawrence. I know there are a number of threads on all the NAS devices I mentioned, but most of them are a little too vague. When they ask about streaming video, it could be encoded at a number of different bit-rates and resolutions. Also, most people are concerned with UPnP where I am not, and that's where things got tricky for me. Another thread had someone posting video stream stuttering problem.

Hopefully the questions I asked, and you've answered, will mean one less repeated thread of the same nature.

My last question: Should I use SMB?

Justin

 

[HDClown]

DLNA based streaming methods are more efficient than SMB. If you're doing it all over wired ethernet, it won't matter much. But if you're trying to squeeze 40Mbit over 802.11n wifi, than DLNA would yield better result, although sustaining 40Mbit over N wifi is not likely in the first place.

DLNA does not support .ISO format either, which is a shame really. I hope it gets added to the spec at some point. I generally use DLNA but have to go SMB for things I have that are known ISO. I'm debating using MakeMKV to convert those ISO's to MKV.