Best storage setup for a movie collection?

Hey everyone—my movie collection is getting out of hand, so I’m looking for a way to store everything that lets me stream from my PC or directly to my TV without the headache.

Right now, my workflow is a total pain: I move files from my internal drive to a 2TB Seagate external, unplug it, and shove it into the TV whenever I feel like watching something. Honestly, I'm bored of this constant shuffling—plus, the 2TB drive is already maxed out, so buying another one just adds more clutter to the mess.
Maybe there's a way to plug something into my PC via cable that broadcasts over Wi-Fi so the TV can just pick it up? Or something along those lines?

Everything is in the same apartment, so I don't strictly need remote access, though having it wouldn't hurt.

The TV is a Sony Android model.

Thanks

Right now, I’ve just got an external drive plugged directly into my Cisco router. I have two PCs and a TV all hooked up via Ethernet, and everyone can grab files from that drive, plus we can all access it on our phones over Wi-Fi.
There are actually dedicated devices built specifically for this kind of setup... just Google "NAS" and you'll see what I mean.

hmm interesting idea—I actually plugged a drive into my Cisco router and the interface sees it, but now I'm totally lost on how to actually get to the files.

Anyone got a sec to help me out?

thanks

edit: managed to pull it up on my PC, still gotta figure out how to stream it to the TV.

Edit 2: nope, this is garbage... it's painfully slow.

Are these NAS setups even fast enough to play a 20GB movie without it stuttering like crazy?

Steven Castillo82 said:hmm interesting idea—I actually plugged a drive into my Cisco router and the interface sees it, but now I'm totally lost on how to actually get to the files.

Anyone got a sec to help me out?

thanks

edit: managed to pull it up on my PC, still gotta figure out how to stream it to the TV.

Edit 2: nope, this is garbage... it's painfully slow.

Are these NAS setups even fast enough to play a 20GB movie without it stuttering like crazy?

Yeah, just grab a Synology or a QNAP depending on what you want to spend.

Hi there,

I’m approaching this from a pure consumer perspective, so I have a few questions.
Up until now, I’ve been managing my movie collection on a laptop using three external hard drives, totaling about 7TB.
The setup currently involves running the laptop via HDMI into a Yamaha AV receiver RX-V2067, which then feeds into the TV via HDMI.

I recently picked up a used Synology DS416j equipped with three 2TB internal hard drives, and my goal is to turn this Synology unit into the primary media hub for my apartment.
1. What is the simplest way to get the Synology connected to my home network?
2. How do I configure the Synology so that everything routes through the receiver to ensure I get full surround sound?
3. Regarding storage expansion, do I need to buy an entirely new set of internal hard drives to increase capacity, or can I just add a fourth drive—say, a 4TB or 8TB one—while keeping the existing three 2TB drives active?
Besides my laptop, what other devices can I use to run applications hosted on the Synology?

My Plex setup.
I’ve got this old PC sitting up in my attic (literally), programmed to shut itself down at 1:00 AM and boot back up at 6:00 AM.
It’s set to auto-restart whenever there’s a power outage, so I just hop on via TeamViewer to get things moving again.
The machine is running a few different drives and acts as my Plex server, though it’s still running on Windows 7...
If you don't have a computer hooked up directly to your TV, or if your television isn't exactly "smart" enough to handle the Plex app, you really just need to pick up a Chromecast. Just look it up online; it’s a pretty seamless little solution...