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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsChoose the NAS filesystem based on what your exact NAS model supports, then mount its SMB or NFS share on the computer running Plex or Jellyfin. These are separate choices: the media server generally reads a mounted directory, not the NAS filesystem directly. There is no single filesystem or share protocol that is best for every setup.
Which NAS file system should you use?
Start with the NAS vendor’s compatibility guidance for your exact model. Filesystem options and support vary by device. For Synology systems, Synology recommends Btrfs in most scenarios, but that is vendor-specific guidance—not a universal rule for every NAS. Check Synology’s filesystem guidance against your model before creating a volume.
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Plex also has a requirement for the filesystem on which Plex Media Server itself runs: it must support symlinks and hardlinks. That is a feature check, not a recommendation to use a particular filesystem. See Plex’s installation documentation.
Can Plex or Jellyfin use a NAS share?
Yes. Mount the share in the operating system of the machine hosting the media server, then add the resulting directory path to the library. If Plex or Jellyfin runs in a container or virtual machine, make the host’s mounted directory available to that environment as appropriate for its setup.
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Jellyfin’s storage documentation says it is designed to read media directly from the filesystem and specifies that Samba/SMB or NFS storage must be mounted to the operating system. Plex similarly says to mount network resources on the machine hosting Plex Media Server. A share visible only in a file browser or on another computer is not enough; the server process needs access to the mounted path.
Should you use SMB or NFS?
Both SMB and NFS are viable when mounted for the server’s operating system. The cited documentation does not establish that either protocol is universally faster or better for Plex or Jellyfin, so choose based on what your NAS, server OS, and deployment support reliably.
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If you choose NFS for Jellyfin, prefer NFSv4 where possible: Jellyfin notes that it has built-in lock support. With NFSv3, playback can have file-start delays if locking is not enabled or otherwise addressed. Consult the Jellyfin storage guidance for its protocol-specific notes.
Where should Jellyfin’s database and server data live?
Keep Jellyfin’s database on local storage rather than on the network share holding your media. Jellyfin’s database uses SQLite, and its database and configuration workload differs from media playback: it involves more than reading large media files sequentially. The project recommends SSD storage for Jellyfin’s files; media can live on a network share if sequential access is faster than the media bitrate. See Jellyfin’s hardware guidance.
Rank #3
- IronWolf internal hard drives are the ideal solution for up to 8-bay, multi-user NAS environments craving powerhouse performance.date transfer rate:6.0 gigabits_per_second
- Store more and work faster with a NAS-optimized hard drive providing 8TB and cache of up to 256MB
- Purpose built for NAS enclosures, IronWolf delivers less wear and tear, little to no noise/vibration, no lags or down time, increased file-sharing performance, and much more
- Easily monitor the health of drives using the integrated IronWolf Health Management system and enjoy long-term reliability with 1M hours MTBF
- Three-year limited product warranty protection plan and three year Rescue Data Recovery Services included
If the server data is on ZFS
Jellyfin’s storage guidance recommends a 4K or 8K record size for a ZFS dataset containing its SQLite database. For datasets containing large media files, it says 1M is likely appropriate and warns against using 4K or 8K for those media datasets. These are Jellyfin-specific recommendations, not a requirement to use ZFS.
Changing a ZFS record-size setting does not rewrite existing data; the new setting affects newly written data unless files are rewritten. Jellyfin also advises against putting its own server data on ZFS-formatted mechanical drives because of poor performance, and strongly recommends an SSD for that data. See the project’s storage documentation.
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- Designed to handle the demands of high-intensity 24x7 multi-user NAS environments
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TrueNAS SCALE: a specific SMB scanning limitation
In Jellyfin’s TrueNAS SCALE app guide for SCALE v24.10.0 or higher, an SMB share mount does not support Jellyfin’s built-in real-time media scanning. If you need that feature in the documented setup, use a host path for the media instead. This limitation is specific to the setup described in the TrueNAS SCALE guide; it should not be generalized to every SMB mount.
Quick Recap
A practical setup checklist
- Check your NAS vendor’s filesystem support for the exact model before creating a volume.
- Confirm the filesystem on the machine running Plex supports symlinks and hardlinks.
- Choose SMB or NFS based on support in your NAS and server environment; for Jellyfin over NFS, favor NFSv4 where possible.
- Mount the share in the server host operating system, then expose that mounted path to the container or VM if applicable.
- Add the mounted media directory to the Plex or Jellyfin library.
- Keep Jellyfin’s database and server data local, preferably on an SSD; treat media storage separately.
- If following the documented TrueNAS SCALE Jellyfin app setup and you need real-time scanning, use a host path rather than an SMB share mount.
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