Video Transcoding Considerations on a Synology NAS
Is a NAS more like a desktop PC or a laptop?
See updated video with descriptions, setup tips and a live demo:
• Synology DS1513+ Video Transcoding, Setup ...
At least with the Synology NAS models, they are built more like a laptop than a desktop PC. They mainly use low end, low power CPUs, there is limited (if any) memory expansion, there are no internal slots for adding cards. Although, some of the newer 2018 Synology NAS models do have some limited PCI Express expansion capability.
That said, video transcoding is an application-specific feature. However, it is only possible up to the capabilities of the underlying NAS hardware. So, it is vitally important to understand what the hardware in a given NAS model can do to help with transcoding.
Video transcoding seems to mainly be handled via the FFmpeg library (See link below). That library has hooks to enable hardware acceleration on given platforms. But that is all controlled by what the hardware is capable of and what the application developer has set up. So, as an end user, there's not a lot you can do with video transcoding outside what you application(s) supports and what your hardware supports.
This video is intended to show you what to look for in the HAS hardware if you want to run an application that does video transcoding. This information is sometimes buried down in the fine print. Bottom line is that if your NAS doesn't support the level of transcoding your application needs, it can't do it. So you need to make sure and select a NAS that supports the level of transcoding you need.
Transcoding involves taking a video/audio stream and converting it from one format to another. This is done to provide data to the client in a format it can handle. That may be the actual encoding of the data or it may be resizing the stream to require less bandwidth. For example taking a 1080I live TV signal that uses 15Mb/s and compress that down to a 480i signal that uses 2Mb/s. Whatever it is, this all happens under the covers, so to speak. It is the media server and the client that do all the negotiating to set this up and there is almost nothing that the user needs to do.
CPU comparison (all typical laptop CPUs):
DS1513+ Intel Atom D2700 @ 2.13GHz 2 cores, single channel memory (6.4 GB/s) 10W TDP, 844 passmark score, a low-end laptop CPU
DS1515+ Intel Atom C2550 @ 2.40GHz 4 cores, dual channel memory (12.8GB/s), 14W TDP, 2329 passmark score, a mid-range laptop CPU
DS416play Intel Celeron N3060 @ 1.60/2.5GHz, 2 cores, dual channel memory (25.6GB/s), 6W TDP, 4K video accelerated GPU, 1029 passmark score, a low-end gaming laptop CPU
For comparison, in my desktop PC a Core i7-3770, 3.4GHz, 9331 on passmark. 4000-4500 is decent for ffmpeg software-only transcoding
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.p...
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Ce...
https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowle...
ffmpeg:
https://www.ffmpeg.org/about.html
H/W accel:
http://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/HWAccelIntro
NAS links:
DS1515+ transcoding demo:
• Plex Transcoding on a Synology DS415+ NAS
DIY-NAS:
• DIY NAS / Home Server Part 1 - Parts and A...
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And as always, thanks for watching