8 bay DAS/NAS solution for a Plex server

[Enquiries]

I currently have a Plex server used for family, with lots of media files, currently sitting around 15TB but expanding very fast. I have brothers and kids connecting to it on a regular basis, most of the time 4 people connect to it at the same time (occasionally, up to 6). The server is currently setup directly on my desktop computer, with several basic external hard drives connected via USB.

My desktop computer is Windows 10, 4 years old gaming PC, so CPU/GPU wise, it is reasonably powerful even for today. Unfortunately, the computer does not have a Thunderbolt 3 port, only USB & USB-C 3.1, which is giving me lots of problems finding a good DAS solution. I would prefer a DAS solution over a NAS, but I am open to NAS as well if it meets all my requirements. I have a few things installed on my computer that support the server, which I am not sure if it would be possible on a NAS.

I need a good 8-bay solution, DAS/NAS, for all of this. I already bought a few Seagate Ironwolf Pros.

[TribalHound]

Have you considered putting a pair of 1TB SSDs in NAS bays 1&2 in Raid1 - these could host your NAS system & apps but also house a VM that runs the supporting software currently installed on your PC ?
This way, it could be permanently running and consume less power than leaving your PC on. It would also free up space / resource on your PC, thus giving it a longer lifespan.
The remaining 6 drives could house your media / data, keeping them one step removed from any operating system dependency.

Something like the TS-873a would support your needs, or there's the TVS-872XT that has 2 x Thunderbolt 3 ports built in already for a DAS/NAS hybrid configuration in a single platform. Plus a host of USB slots for your PC.

I'd suggest with up to 6 concurrent users your DAS days are kind of over and NAS is your way forwards with the additional remote access configuration to allow managed remote access on the go. With additional ethernet ports / faster access / link aggregation you should be able to satisfy all their streaming needs at once, although you might need to upgrade your broadband speed if they're all accessing remotely at the same time.

Hope this helps.