With the appearance of streaming platforms for access to audiovisual content, the shelves full of drawers, films and series on VHS or DVD are neglected. However, the big problem with these platforms is that their catalog is circular and that it there are titles they go in and out. It is here where build a homemade netflix makes sense in the world. We tell you how to do it except how to get the content.
Admit it, the idea of getting up, going to the library, picking out a movie and putting it on the player is now as cumbersome for us as getting up to change the volume or tune to the channel when the remote was invented. And it is that the strength of the streaming platforms is the fact of being able to navigate with the remote control or even with a wireless mouse and keyboard via Bluetooth. Of course, a Netflix-like platform also has the ability to stream to other devices and that’s where the choice between a NAS or a MiniPC
NAS or MiniPC to have our homemade Netflix?
Content from platforms such as Netflix is located on its own remote servers and is transmitted to our home via our high-speed Internet connection. Therefore, in case we want to set up our own version of the service, we will need a storage unit in which to store the information. And this is where the choice between a NAS and a MiniPC makes sense.
We must start from the fact that the NAS are MiniPCs with extended storage capacity, that is, with a large number of bays for placing HDDs and SSDs under a SATA interface. So the number of them you need will depend on how many movies you want to store inside and the quality. The latter will depend on the video format, resolution and bitrate chosen with each title that we have stored. It is simply necessary to start from the fact that the more space they occupy, the better their image quality will be and the more it will cost to retransmit them.
We are not talking about creating a MiniPC from which to connect it to the television and enjoy content, but of having the ability to access from any computer, console or mobile phone in our home and if it is even necessary, remote broadcast to another location. That’s why we talk about having our own Netflix and not an HTPC.
Why choose a NAS?
The reason we didn’t choose a MiniPC has to do with the networking capabilities these systems typically have, as they are usually designed for a single user to connect to the network and not to serve as a server for many, not just they are limited in terms of storage capacity, but obviously their network card is of rather poor specs.
However, it is not enough to choose any NAS, but we must choose one that supports DLNA, however, a much better option is choose a NAS that supports Plex Media Server. With this app, you can easily copy your video collection to your network storage server and then view content from the same Plex app. Which is available on many operating systems, mobile phones, consoles, tablets and can even stream when we are away from home via the Internet.
our choices
So, the choice of NAS for our Netflix home will actually depend on its ability to transmit a specific number of videos simultaneously, as well as its storage capacity. As a cheap and accessible option for everyone, we have the TerraMaster F2-221. The simplest model can transmit two videos at the same time within the network or on the Internet in Full HD resolution, so it will be ideal if two people from the same household want to watch the series and films you have stored.
Yes, instead we want something with a larger capacity, a good option is the QNAP TS-451+which not only supports more simultaneous streams to stream, but also has an HDMI output and can decode 7.1 audio for those who also use it as a Media Center.
