Rip 1,300 DVDs and Blu-rays once, store them on a protected NAS, and stream them to every TV on three floors. This blueprint covers the hardware, network, ripping line, library structure, schedule and risks.
*Pace is my planning assumption, not a measured figure. The pilot phase measures your real minutes per disc.
Discs are ripped on a separate station, copied to the NAS over the wired network, and served by Plex running on the NAS. TVs on each floor play files directly, so the NAS rarely needs to transcode.
The three core parts are the NAS, the drives and the ripping drive. Supporting items keep the system safe and wired. Items tagged Sourced come from the linked listings. Items tagged Estimate are my own rough numbers and need a price check.
| Item | Pick | Why | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAS | UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus | Four bays, Intel Quick Sync for Plex, 10GbE plus 2.5GbE. Starry Hope picks it for most home libraries. | $657 | Sourced |
| Storage | 4 x WD Red Plus 10TB (CMR) | About $46/TB, a low price per terabyte. 3-year warranty, 180 TB/yr rating. Disk Scout | $1,840 | Sourced |
| Ripping drive | ASUS BW-16D1X-U | Fastest new drive for regular Blu-ray; no firmware work. Computing for Geeks | $260 | Sourced |
| Backup drive | One large external USB drive | Second copy of the library, kept unplugged between monthly copies. | $250-300 | Estimate |
| Core subtotal (matches the earlier plan) | ~$3,010-3,060 | |||
| Battery backup (UPS) | Line-interactive, 600-1000 VA | Protects the NAS and RAID array from power dips and sudden shutdowns. | $100-150 | Estimate |
| Network switch | Unmanaged 8-port gigabit (or 2.5G) | Connects NAS, ripping station and floor drops. | $30-100 | Estimate |
| Cabling | Cat6 runs to each floor | Only if you do not already have wired drops. Professional install costs more. | $50-150 DIY | Estimate |
| MakeMKV Blu-ray key | Free beta key or paid key | DVDs are free. Blu-ray is free for a 30-day trial, then needs a key. VideoHelp lists the full version at about $50. MakeMKV, VideoHelp | $0-50 | Sourced |
| All-in range, including supporting items | ~$3,190-3,410 | |||
Android Central ranks the UGREEN DXP4800 Pro as the clear choice for a powerful 4-bay Plex server. PCGuide rates the iDX6011 best overall but calls it overkill for many users. The DXP4800 Plus keeps the Intel Quick Sync engine at a lower price. Budget alternative: TerraMaster F4-425 Plus at $510-650.
Use CMR NAS drives only: IronWolf, WD Red Plus or Pro, Toshiba N300. TerabyteWise notes price per terabyte bottoms out at 8-14TB. The drives are the biggest expense, so the next section sizes them to your actual disc mix.
Plain Blu-ray does not need LibreDrive. If you own 4K UHD discs, the Buffalo MediaStation 6X (about $195) is the best-documented route, but it needs a community firmware flash. Some Pioneer-based ASUS units report LibreDrive "Enabled" yet still fail on UHD discs.
Enter your real disc counts. The planner totals the library and picks the smallest 4-bay drive set that stays under 75 percent full when ripping finishes. That leaves room to grow.
Defaults are my planning averages. A DVD rip is usually 4-8 GB and a Blu-ray 20-45 GB per the VideoHelp forum.
Usable space = 3 data drives x drive size x 0.95. The 0.95 factor is my allowance for filesystem overhead. Prices are from Disk Scout (checked Oct 31, 2026) and move often.
"Streaming over fiber" in your house means a wired local network. Your ISP's fiber only matters for streaming outside the home. Inside, every main TV should have an Ethernet connection back to the NAS.
| Location | Equipment | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Closet (hub floor) | Router, switch, NAS, UPS | NAS to switch by Cat6; UPS powers the NAS and switch |
| Office or media corner | Ripping station and Blu-ray drive | Wired to the switch for the nightly copy to the NAS |
| Floor 1, 2 and 3 main TVs | Streaming player that direct-plays MKV | One Ethernet run each back to the switch |
| Bedrooms and mobile | Phones, tablets, secondary TVs | Wi-Fi |
Remux every disc to MKV with MakeMKV. That keeps the original video, audio tracks, subtitles and chapters with no re-encoding and no quality loss.
| Option | Best for | What it does | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. MakeMKV GUI | The pilot, and any OS | Manual: insert, pick the main title, rip, eject. | You label and name every folder by hand. |
| B. Automatic Ripping Machine (ARM) | Linux or Docker host, multiple drives | Detects the disc on insert, looks up the title, names the folder "Movie Title (Year)", rips with MakeMKV or HandBrake, ejects, and sends notifications. Rips from multiple drives in parallel and has a web UI. GitHub | Needs a Docker-capable machine. Title lookup can pick the wrong match, so you still review names. |
| C. MakeMKV-Auto-Rip | A Windows PC | Rips automatically on insert, takes only the longest title by default, and can eject afterward. GitHub | Tested only on Windows 10 per its README; macOS and Linux are untested. Needs Node.js. |
DVD and AVCHD conversion is free with no stated limit. Blu-ray conversion is free for a 30-day trial and then needs a registration key, which is valid for all versions and platforms and never expires. The MakeMKV page publishes a beta key that unlocks Blu-ray, and it said purchases were temporarily unavailable when I checked. The beta key changes over time, so use the current one from the site.
Per drive, plan about 1 GB of memory per Blu-ray and 500 MB per DVD when ripping several discs at once (MakeMKV forum; the forum notes this figure is dated).
Plex recommends one folder per movie, named with the title and release year. Correct names are the biggest factor in clean matches and artwork.
/volume1/Media /Movies /Batman Begins (2005) {tmdb-272} Batman Begins (2005) {tmdb-272}.mkv /Avatar (2009) Avatar (2009).mkv /TV Shows /Show Name (Year) /Season 01 Show Name (Year) - s01e01.mkv /volume1/Staging /Incoming # new copies land here /Needs-Review # unsure titles, odd sizes /Problem-Discs # log of discs that failed /volume1/Archive /Extras # bonus content, not scanned by Plex /volume1/docker/plex /config # Plex database /transcode
Plex Media Server runs in Docker on UGREEN NAS models. Hardware transcoding needs an Intel Quick Sync processor, graphics access inside the container and a Plex Pass.
| Option | Cost | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Plex free | $0 | Server and streaming on your home network |
| Plex Pass monthly / annual | $6.99 / $69.99 | Remote streaming, hardware transcoding, downloads, skip intro |
| Plex Pass 5-year | $249.99 | Same benefits, five years |
| New Lifetime Plex Pass | $749.99 | Same benefits, permanent. Price rose July 1, 2026. |
| Jellyfin | $0 | Free, open source, includes hardware transcoding; more setup. |
| Emby Premiere | ~$119 lifetime | Middle option |
Sources: Plex pricing announcement, Plex plans, Rankite. Pricing changes often, so confirm before buying.
Each phase ends with a pass or fail gate. Do not start the next phase until the gate is met. Production ripping length depends on your pace, which the pilot will measure.
List every disc in a spreadsheet: title, year, format, shelf, status. Count DVDs, Blu-rays, 4K discs and TV box sets. Feed the real counts into the planner.
Order parts. Mount the NAS, install drives, build RAID 5, connect the UPS and switch, and run Ethernet to each floor.
Rip a mix: 10 DVDs, 10 Blu-rays, 3 TV discs, 2 troublesome discs. Time each rip. Copy to the NAS, add to Plex and play on all three floors.
Run the per-disc procedure in batches of 25-50, one shelf at a time. Copy to the NAS nightly. Review the Unmatched list weekly.
Retry the problem shelf with a fresh cleaning. Fix mismatched titles. Add extras from the Archive if wanted. Remove duplicates.
Run the first full backup copy. Turn on drive health alerts. Test a file restore. Schedule the monthly copy and a quarterly health check.
Survives one drive failure. It does not protect against deletion, fire, theft or a second drive failing during a rebuild.
Monthly copy, kept unplugged and stored away from the NAS. This is the cheap insurance against months of ripping work.
Keep them. They are your last-resort copy and your proof of ownership.
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scratched or damaged discs fail to rip | High for some discs | Low each | Clean first, retry once, log the rest. Plan a final pass with a different drive. |
| Wrong movie matched in Plex | Medium | Low | Name with year, add {tmdb-id} when unsure, review Unmatched weekly. |
| Library is larger than the planner estimate | Medium | Medium | Run the pilot, re-run the planner with real averages before buying drives, and leave 25 percent free space. |
| 4K UHD discs will not rip | Medium if you own UHD | Medium | Check drive firmware (LibreDrive) before buying. Choose the Buffalo route and flash it. |
| Drive failure during a RAID rebuild | Low | High | Keep the USB backup current; buy NAS-rated CMR drives; replace failing drives early. |
| Drive or NAS prices change | Medium | Medium | Re-check price per terabyte the week you buy. Buy the NAS first, drives last. |
| Plex pricing or policy changes | Medium | Low | Standard MKV files move to Jellyfin or Emby without re-ripping. |
| Power loss corrupts the array | Low | High | UPS on the NAS and switch. |
| Project stalls partway | Medium | Medium | Set a daily quota, ripping while doing other work, and track progress on the inventory sheet. |
Answers to these change the parts list or the schedule. None block the first steps, which are the inventory and the pilot.