All in One Media System
If you are like myself, and have acquired tons of media that you store on a hard drive, NAS (network attached storage), or server that this might be the software for you.
Plex isn’t the answer to all of your media problems and it has issues of it’s own, but when it comes to sharing media on your personal network, I’m not sure that you can do better. If you have a spare computer that is always on, that will also work a server for you. I personally use my Mac Mini that I use only for this and for my recording studio. The software requires a bit of power, but you don’t need to be a gaming system, or full-blown server to run it.
Here is a really good introduction to NAS, Plex, and home integration.
My system is starting to be used heavily (my roommates found out about it), so I going to either find an old system just for Plex or I am going to build a dedicated server. One thing I do not recommend is accessing network attached media unless the NAS can run plex on its own hardware. I also recommend connected directly with Ethernet for the best possible speeds, and to help with buffering.
Final Rating
I love it. It’s almost too easy, and the whole family and/or roommates will love it.
5 out of 5 mice
