Surveillance System and Plex

[djkprojects]

Hi,

I have a QNAP TS-253A nas and using it mainly for storage, backup and PLEX server. I'm thinking of starting using the Surveillance Software as well with maximum 2 cameras however I've read comments that when recording it uses lot of memory and CPU which will obviously affect PLEX streaming.

Has anybody tried to run both on one NAS? Also, I have WD RED NAS drives installed and I know that they also make WD PURPLE which are specifically meant for surveillance systems. How would WD RED perform here? Any comments most appreciated.

Thanks

[Trexx]

I have both running on my NAS, although it is a little beefier than your model too. So CPU could be an issue (depending on what res/format your cameras output), but the other issue becomes Disk I/O capabilities.

With only 2 spindles, 5400 RPM drives like the WD Red are probably good for about ~160 I/O per second (IOPs). Going up to 7200 RPM drives like the HGST Desktar NAS models as well as WD Red PRO and some IronWolf models would bump you to about ~200-220 range.

Your big issue is likely IOPs which WD purple vs. Red isn't going to make any difference on. Short of switching to SSD's, only option for improvement on your 2-drive box would be going to 7200 RPM drives. Extra memory could help (assuming you a supported UPS behind the box) as you could use some of the memory for HDD caching as well.

[tropic]

I also have a TS-253A with two 3TB WD RED. In Surveillance Station I continuously record from three cameras, 1x VGA, 2x 720p at around 10 FPS.

When looking in QNAP Resource Monitor, Surveillance Station utilises less than 5% CPU, closer to 2% and about 250MB of RAM when including the process nvdr, so at least for me it is no issue, PLEX still operates just fine.

[djkprojects]

Thanks Paul

Tropic,

You seem to have the same setup as me (including the 3TB drives). The only upgrade I've done to my NAS is increasing the RAM to 8GB. May I ask what 720p cameras are you using? Is it a wireless setup ?

Thanks