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Roon and NAS installs

Kal Rubinson

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I just read this thread and must say I'm quite surprised Roon requires a seperate computer next to a NAS to run on.
It really depends on the CPU/RAM in the NAS. There are many that are inadequate but many that will do the job. Roon offers info on that.
 

Beershaun

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Found this over in the Room forums.


It looks like QNAP has it in their NAS app store. I recently set up a Synology NAS and have been very impressed with the software And apps available on it. I am able to run plex server, pihole, and my Unifi network controller on it. The only thing I need to move over to it in order to retire my old Mac pro is Roon core. So far it looks like you may need to set it up in a Docker container. A Synology NAS is the best use I've seen for an Intel Celeron 2-core processor and 6gb of RAM.

Here is the Roon nas website as well.

 
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HarmonicTHD

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Found this over in the Room forums.


It looks like QNAP has it in their NAS app store. I recently set up a Synology NAS and have been very impressed with the software And apps available on it. I am able to run plex server, pihole, and my Unifi network controller on it. The only thing I need to move over to it in order to retire my old Mac pro is Roon core. So far it looks like you may need to set it up in a Docker container. A Synology NAS is the best use I've seen for an Intel Celeron 2-core processor and 6gb of RAM.

Here is the Roon nas website as well.

Really think twice before putting Roon on a Synology NAS and make sure you have enough CPU power. It otherwise might bog down the rest of your NAS functions. I have a 918+ with extra RAM and SSD flash and I didn’t do it.
 

pvanosta

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Really think twice before putting Roon on a Synology NAS and make sure you have enough CPU power. It otherwise might bog down the rest of your NAS functions. I have a 918+ with extra RAM and SSD flash and I didn’t do it.
Same here. I have the 1819+ with extra ram and SSD flash and I didn't do it either. The Roon website provides clear info on the minimum recommended hardware and it is well above the level of the average Synology. I use my Synology for storage of the music files, but Roon Core (ROCK) runs on a dedicated NUC. No issues.
 

radix

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I have a DS1621+ (Ryzen V1500B 2.2 GHz) with 16 GB RAM. Roon seems fine on it, though I'm not really stressing the NAS with file access. I had a much older (5-7 yr old?) Synology that I also ran Roon on, and it seemed OK too, for my casual use, though when I had to replace hard drives recently I decided it was time to upgrade.. I have 14.7K tracks on it.

Maybe I should check out the resource usage when running Roon from it, but I can't see how streaming audio is going to stress the thing. Maybe heavy searches or database updates....
 

curiouspeter

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I have two Synology NAS boxes in two locations. Both are running Roon just fine. One is a DS920+ and the other a DS720+. They both have the same 4-core Celeron J4125 processor, which is roughly as powerful as an early Intel i3.

I even use DSP to do PEQ-based room correction on the DS920. It does DSD to PCM conversions as well.

A Samsung 870 EVO SSD on my DS720 recently had some issues and I had to reinstall everything. Now I use only Seagate Ironwolf 110 SSDs, which is an enterprise-grade component with power protection. Also, both boxes are now on UPS.

A few observations:
  • Do not go below the Celeron J4125
  • Use only server-grade SSDs
  • Use Ethernet
  • Backup your files to multiple sites
  • Use an Uninterruptible Power Supply
To be honest, an iMac or Mac Mini is an easier solution. You will need a way to expand storage though.
 

BDWoody

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Found this over in the Room forums.


It looks like QNAP has it in their NAS app store. I recently set up a Synology NAS and have been very impressed with the software And apps available on it. I am able to run plex server, pihole, and my Unifi network controller on it. The only thing I need to move over to it in order to retire my old Mac pro is Roon core. So far it looks like you may need to set it up in a Docker container. A Synology NAS is the best use I've seen for an Intel Celeron 2-core processor and 6gb of RAM.

Here is the Roon nas website as well.


I just installed Roon core on my Synology 920+ last week, and it went flawlessly and runs great. No need to set up a separate Docker container for it, it will install like a regular package. Couldn't be easier. It's nice to be able to turn off my desktop, or not have to wait for it to wake up, or whatever else.

I have a 1TB SSD in one of the slots, with a 3x12TB Raid in the other three, and obviously loaded the Core and the database on the SSD. This NAS also has a full Plex setup, and runs both of these packages without any problems.
 

BR52

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I just installed Roon core on my Synology 920+ last week, and it went flawlessly and runs great. No need to set up a separate Docker container for it, it will install like a regular package. Couldn't be easier. It's nice to be able to turn off my desktop, or not have to wait for it to wake up, or whatever else.

I have a 1TB SSD in one of the slots, with a 3x12TB Raid in the other three, and obviously loaded the Core and the database on the SSD. This NAS also has a full Plex setup, and runs both of these packages without any problems.
I have a TVS 873 running Roon on a dedicated 1TB ssd using DSP as well. Also 5 cameras with QVRpro. Totaly 2 12TB + one 4TB HDD and 2 500 GB ssd for caching. No Problems since 5 years. 16GB ram I fogot
 

Beershaun

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I just installed Roon core on my Synology 920+ last week, and it went flawlessly and runs great. No need to set up a separate Docker container for it, it will install like a regular package. Couldn't be easier. It's nice to be able to turn off my desktop, or not have to wait for it to wake up, or whatever else.

I have a 1TB SSD in one of the slots, with a 3x12TB Raid in the other three, and obviously loaded the Core and the database on the SSD. This NAS also has a full Plex setup, and runs both of these packages without any problems.
Thanks! I have a DS420+. Celeron j4025 dual core CPU, 6gb ram, and 400gb ssd cache. It only seems to break a sweat when pihole needs more than 2 cores during heavy activity in small bursts. Which I may be able to solve by removing my Samsung Smarthings hub from my network.

Will try it out!
 

ahofer

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Just a reminder here what is happening to QNAP NAS. The media bloatware on the NAS provides a backdoor for malware.

I had custom-credentialed admin access, but naturally the "free and easy to use" apps I never used bypassed it. grrr.
 

BR52

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Just a reminder here what is happening to QNAP NAS. The media bloatware on the NAS provides a backdoor for malware.

I had custom-credentialed admin access, but naturally the "free and easy to use" apps I never used bypassed it. grrr.
Port forwarding is allways risky. See the problems with Roon ARC
 

curiouspeter

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Thanks! I have a DS420+. Celeron j4025 dual core CPU, 6gb ram, and 400gb ssd cache. It only seems to break a sweat when pihole needs more than 2 cores during heavy activity in small bursts. Which I may be able to solve by removing my Samsung Smarthings hub from my network.

Will try it out!
I strongly recommend having 4 cores, so one can 1-2 can handle 1-2 zones of audio, 1 can do Roon operations, and still 1-2 left for the NAS.

Also, I would not have SSD cache. All drives should be SSDs.
 

BR52

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I strongly recommend having 4 cores, so one can 1-2 can handle 1-2 zones of audio, 1 can do Roon operations, and still 1-2 left for the NAS.

Also, I would not have SSD cache. All drives should be SSDs.
You are right Roon and the lib on the ssd is important. The music files can be on HDD's. I use the caching only for the cameras for event caching
 

curiouspeter

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You are right Roon and the lib on the ssd is important. The music files can be on HDD's. I use the caching only for the cameras for event caching
If your music library is under 1TB it may be worthwhile for it to be on an SSD as well. Archives and online backups can be on HDD.
 

ahofer

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I don't see the appeal of Roon ARC. I just want an easy way to sync two Roon cores.
Exactly what I was doing with my QNAP NAS. Now I have a library of encrypted music, as it synced before I caught it.

My ideal would be if I could get Tailscale installed on the two Roon endpoints and sync as if they were in the same place. I’m not really enough of a Linux jockey to make that happen, and my guess is that Roon ROCK has removed a lot of the code that I would use to do it.
 
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Beershaun

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I strongly recommend having 4 cores, so one can 1-2 can handle 1-2 zones of audio, 1 can do Roon operations, and still 1-2 left for the NAS.

Also, I would not have SSD cache. All drives should be SSDs.
Yep. Just tried it out and my CPU maxed out continuously just playing a song. Definitely need more hp than my little 2-core Celeron can muster. Thanks all for the feedback.
 

curiouspeter

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Yep. Just tried it out and my CPU maxed out continuously just playing a song. Definitely need more hp than my little 2-core Celeron can muster. Thanks all for the feedback.
Are you doing any native DSD processing? It should not be maxing out the CPU even with some EQ.
 

Beershaun

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Are you doing any native DSD processing? It should not be maxing out the CPU even with some EQ.
Well it was likely still downloading metadata and creating the database while trying to render and stream the mqa track I cued up. But it got so bad I couldn't even stop the track. The app on my phone wouldn't respond either. Definitely not the same as when running off my Mac as normal.
 

curiouspeter

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Well it was likely still downloading metadata and creating the database while trying to render and stream the mqa track I cued up. But it got so bad I couldn't even stop the track. The app on my phone wouldn't respond either. Definitely not the same as when running off my Mac as normal.
With Roon 2.0, native Apple Silicon support is going to make those M1 Macs really powerful Roon servers.
 
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