For this deep dive, I used the Synology DS1019+.

Although it will cost more in terms of electricity requirements, and also requires more care and feeding from a maintenance perspective, there's no question that it's more powerful, something that's important if you're going to be sharing your media with many people at the same time. The Synology DS1019+ is a great choice as it has five drive bays and hardware transcoding, but if you don't care about transcoding, the DS1618+ might be a better option due to its six drive bays. Everything I discuss can be done on practically any hardware, but for my money, I want something that has low power usage (it'll be running 24x7), is easy to setup, and works with minimal input from me. If you want to cut the cord and control your own media, the first thing you'll need is a server. Today I'll take a look at one such solution: A Synology NAS device, running Plex, and connected to a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Connect Quatro. In the past, the convenience factor alone may have been worth it, but nowadays there are many easy-to-use software packages that, paired with an antenna, can be a worthwhile replacement for the monthly bills, and while some shows can't be seen for free, you can still pair it with a subscription service or two to fill in the gaps. It's no secret that the price of cable and satellite is increasing every year, forcing many people to wonder if it makes sense to keep paying the likes of DirecTV and Comcast for the service.

Plex media server on synology