What NUC Kit for setup with NAS?

Hi Michael, you haven’t told us which NAS you have. Some NAS can support running the Roon Core, some can’t - it depends on the processor and memory. Roon is happy streaming music from spinning disks, but the database is apparently best stored on SSD.

I run the Core on my NAS, my library is on my NAS, database is on SSD attached to the NAS via USB, though next month I’m adding an expansion unit to the NAS so that I can add a few SSDs to run the database rather than relying on a single SSD and maybe create an extra super-fast volume for some other stuff. My library is backed up to Backblaze B2 directly from the NAS.

Hi Graeme, I am running Synology’s DS420+, with 4 SATA drives for data and an M2 form-factor SSD as a cache disk. The CPU is a Celeron J4025 and there’s 2 GB of RAM. Like you, I back up the NAS to Backblaze. But I don’t think my NAS has enough horsepower to run Roon Core.

I’ve gone ahead and ordered the MSI Cubi 5 10M-065US, with a 10th generation i5, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB SSD. Merry Christmas to me, I guess…

Sounds like you’ve decided against ROCK then. Which OS do you plan to use to run Roon Server?

It comes with Windows 10, but I naively thought I would run ROCK on it. I’m obviously missing something! Please tell me…

ROCK is only supported on specific models of Intel NUCs. There’s a list in the Roon knowledge base if you google for “Roon ROCK”. I think most of us here had assumed you already read this page before posting your question.

The ROCK image may work on other computers, but even if it does, it may stop working with future updates, so it’s best to stick with what’s on the list when buying a NUC speciffically for a ROCK build.

Part of our confusion came because you asked, what NUC Kit"…we (or I) assumed from the list in the knowledge base article. The MSI is not a NUC, strictly speaking, so it is a surprising choice.

I see that I tripped myself up! Thank you! Let me see if I can recover…

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In general terms, the bigger the number of files the bigger the Roon Db on your SSD, the more horse power required to drive the core

The NAS is a almost irrelevant to the NUC processor requirement

There are guide lines in the KB based on small medium large libraries

Eg my library is 150 k tracks, I use an i7, 7700 with 16 g of RAM

If your library is big err on the side of the i7 variant despite the extra cost

WINDOWS

the NUC on Windows is not a bad idea if you plan to run other software other than Roon , eg my core pc handles my video server needs too

Install Roon core on Win 10 and be done with it.

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Hello,
Everyone is parroting each other. Put it on a NUC i7 with 8 or 16GB memory and the fastest SSD ever.
Let me tell you, this is complete overkill.
I have run roon in a docker container to watch system load. I was running it on a Celeron first (with ease) and later on a NUC8i5 shared box with 32GB memory and NVMe SSD from Samsung 870 Pro.
It all depends on what you are going to stream and how big your library is is not relevant.
The initial processing of your library takes time and of course is much more faster on a 10th gen i7 than a 10th gen i3. But when roon is done with it… Even the i3 is idling.
If you are going to do some post processing using filters and stuff. That is going to consume cpu resources. DSD post processing consumes a lot.
So it all depends on the material.
Also keep in mind. More that 8gb memory is a total waste of money.
SSD for music? Come on! The files are not that big or IO intensive it needs the speed of SSD. Again the library processing is quicker on SSD but when that is done… Idling.
Also keep in mind that the 7th gen NUC i7 is about the same as An 8th gen+ i3. 7th gen i7 is dual core hyper threaded and the later gen i3 is the same.

I am running roon on a dedicated NUC now for simplicity… I put rock on it and never have to think about maintenance on that thing. Running for a year now.
I am using a NUC8i3 with 8gb memory and it is blazing fast. An i7 or even a i5 is a complete overkill.

Michael, you’re right - Celeron based CPUs aren’t usually up to doing the heavy lifting associated with large libraries.

So I cancelled the MSI order and this is what I am ordering instead:

The NUC10i7FNH1, with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB M2 SSD, recommended for ROCK and large libraries.

I won’t be doing any DSP or DSD conversion–my two DACs from PS Audio and iFi handle everything themselves quite well, including up to DSD 256.

I hear what some are saying about the configuration being overkill, but I also hear the notion that do ROCK and be done with it for simplicity’s sake. I don’t need to use the NUC for anything else, since I have other computers for my other tasks.

Thanks, everyone! You’ve been most helpful to a noob who just joined. Great community here…

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This advice could be miisleading without addition information to back it up.

You don’t say how big your library is , we had one guy recently had 500K +tracks. Any process / query that interrogates the Roon db must be dependent on size , Roon is not a SQL type relational database, SQL Server may manage on less but Roon specifically recommend more . Read the hardware guide in the knowledge base

i suspect there are a number of users , even the Roon experts who may disagree with you.

Size matters !!

i have install roon now on a Intel NUC8v5pnh and i works perfectly with my Synology NAS. I have no problems by the installation. The system is not on the list of recommends list of roon, but it works. Dont forget to Setup the bios before you start with the instaltion and disable Secure Boot.

Mike,
The nucleus+ product is based on a 7th generation core i7. Thus dual core with hyper treading with 8GB of memory.
I say an 8th+ gen core i3 is also dual core with hyper threading and is about the same horse power as the nucleus +.
Roon scales the nucleus+ for very large libraries. So the advice is not very consistent.

The point I was trying to make is that Roon users come in all sizes of IT / Computer knowledge. For some one who asks it implies their knowledge is probably low. Consequently easier confused by the technology.

You clearly understand the intricacies but to my mind the price difference between i3 and i7 , the relatively low cost of RAM , it makes sense to future proof and buy big. I would even if a cheaper lower powered version would cut it.

I run an i7 with 16 g mainly as a legacy to my development requirements, now retired, I run SqlServer on this pc too for example , as well as 2 media servers. Over my past 4 years reading this forum I see users often have issues due to shear horsepower shortfalls especially in NAS installations

No offense meant . Have a great new year , couldn’t be worse than the last one

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That, and general weirdness due to additional layers.

Is it possible to run Roon over Docker ? Absolutely is, and it works great. Is it possible to install on a cheap, energy-efficient x86 SOC ? Yup, as long as you understand the limitations, works absolutely fine. Is it possible to host a larger than suggested library on a mobile i3 ? Totally. Is it possible to build a PC from parts and make that work as a server and a Plex client and have it handle toaster duties ? Completely.

Would I suggest any of that to someone who isn’t extremely aware of the shortfalls ? Never.

Then there’s the question of value: part of what you pay for with Roon is continued development and support for ROCK. What this implies is that the best value you’ll get from the money you pay for your subscription, or you paid for lifetime, is to make use of that, so that’s one thing. The second is that the price difference between a fully supported NUC and a MOCK generally isn’t that much, all things considered (and yes, I know, a couple of hundred isn’t that little for many people, and yes, I know, NUC distribution isn’t always great). So in my mind the best advice I feel you can give most users is “if you’re committed to Roon and are comfortable with following simple instructions, buy a NUC, appropriately sized according to RoonLab specs”: right now, you can get a brand new NUC8i7, with RAM and boot SSD for under $500 both in the US and in Europe, and less than that 2nd hand (a friend picked up a fully configured NUC8i7 for less than 300 euro a couple of weeks back).

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You are both right. If you play it safe, go big, so NUC8i5 or nuc8i7. The NUC 10th gen i5 is more than enough. The i7 on the 10th generation is a six core with hyper threading is serious overkill for now.
Perhaps in the future we need that power.
For me it is easy to upgrade, but for the less techies you can play safe and buy the biggest and greatest NUC.
Roon ROCK is very stable btw. I like it a lot! I prefer it far more than running it on a shared server. For example VMs installation in Linux, docker or even on a Windows 10 media server. All works great, but the set and forget of ROCK made me decide to put it on dedicated hardware…
Technically the software is exactly the same as Nucleus. But the nucleus has such a nice housing… :heart_eyes:

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(for most people - let’s not make definitive statements, there are people with million track libraries out there :wink: ).

Purely in the context of a ROCK device, there’s a discussion to be had on whether NUC8 or NUC10 is the best buy, both value-wise and performance wise, btw…

There are a couple of differences: in the code to throttle cpu to regulate temps and the house automation integration/extensions.