Univex DRDS4A21, 5N User Manual
Drobo How-To Guide
Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
drobo.com | Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
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Plex is a media management system that takes your entire collection of movies, music,
and photos making them available to all media devices in the connected home. With
support for streaming music, high definition video, and photo sharing, Plex is an
excellent way to centralize and share all of your rich media content on a Drobo. This not
only provides significantly increased throughput supporting multiple simultaneous
streams, but also ensures that data is stored in a redundant manner protecting content
from data loss due to a potential hard drive failure.
Like a Drobo, Plex does not require advanced IT knowledge to configure and interface with the devices. Utilizing
standards based DLNA technology; Plex offers out of the box support by nearly all network enabled televisions and
media devices. On the go, MyPlex offers access to all content stored on the Drobo streaming to mobile (iOS and
Android) devices using a standard broadband internet connections.
NOTE - Plex supports multiple video, audio, and photo formats for full details please visit their website. There are
features that Plex offers that we will not be covered in this guide.
Topics
Provisioning Drobo Storage
Configuring Plex Media Manager
Accessing Plex Content Locally
Accessing Plex Content from DLNA enabled devices
What You Will Need
• Drobo NAS (FS/5N/B800FS) or DAS (Mini/5D)
• The Latest Drobo Dashboard management software
http://www.drobo.com/support/updates.php
• OS X 10.7/10.8 or Windows 7/8
• Latest version of Plex Media Center
http://www.plexapp.com/download/plex-media-center.php
• Latest version of Plex Media Server
http://www.plexapp.com/getplex/index.php
Drobo How-To Guide
Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
drobo.com | Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
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Prerequisites
This document assumes that the Drobo to be utilized with Plex has been installed and is accessible from the host
computer. If the initial configuration has not been completed, reference the URL below for installation instructions.
http://www.drobo.com/start/
Both Plex Media Server and Plex Media Center must be installed on the host computer. The download links to both
applications can be found in the What You Will Need section of this document. The installations can be performed
accepting all defaults, as any customizations will be configured later in this document.
NOTE: Once the Plex Media Server installation completes, a dialog will appear to create a MyPlex account. This is
an optional service that will allow social and mobile sharing of content stored in the Plex Media Server. For more
information on MyPlex, consult the URL below.
https://my.plexapp.com/
Provisioning Drobo Storage
STEP 1
Load the Drobo
Dashboard and select the
Drobo that will be used to
store Plex content
Drobo How-To Guide
Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
drobo.com | Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
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As both the NAS and DAS Drobos are compatible with Plex, the next steps are split between
connectivity types.
• If the Drobo has been previously formatted/initialized, move to step #4
• For DAS (5D/Mini) Follow the directions in step #2
• For NAS (5N/FS) Follow the directions in step #3
STEP 2A – DAS (5D/Mini)
The Drobo Dashboard will
automatically select a
Format Type
recommended for the host
operating system.
Click Next to continue.
Drobo How-To Guide
Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
drobo.com | Creating a Home Media Server with Plex and Drobo Storage
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STEP 2B
To take advantage of thin
provisioning and instant
expandability features of
BeyondRAID, it is
recommended that a 16TB
thinly provisioned volume
be created.
Click Next to continue.
STEP 2C
Enter a name for the
volume that will be
created on the Drobo and
click Next to continue.
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