Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Plex server build/setup...advice

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Plex server build/setup...advice

    Evening all,

    I've used Plex a few ways in the past: using my i7 2600k gaming PC as a server streaming to my Nvidia Shield and running from laptops and similar. Currently I have an 8tb Seagate HDD connected to my Nvidia Shield with all my media and Plex Server running on the Shield, thus using my Shield as the server. This works pretty well but occasionally comes against come hiccups with higher bit rate material and SRT sub files, which cause the Shield to reject the movie file altogether.

    I'm looking for a solution I can leave on 24/7 and stream mainly movies to both my lounge TV, games room TV and potentially laptops. However I dont envisage using more than 2 streams at a time. Going forward I'd like to stream 4K content as well. I have networked my house and games room and everything more or less has access to cabled connections, so I'm not limited to WiFi. I feel a bit uncomfortable leaving my gaming PC on 24/7 and it can get quite loud. Is there a perfect solution which is quiet and robust enough to leave on 24/7 so I can access my media on any device? Would it be advisable to get something like a Synology NAS device or am I missing a trick with the Shield somewhere? I have a budget of £150-200 initially but can just wait and up it going forward. Any help greatly appreciated.

    I should also mention if there is a better alternative to Plex (I'm not keen on Kodi) with a friendly GUI I'm open to that too.

    Cheers.
    3DS FC (updated 2015): 0447-8108-3129

    #2
    I'd go for a NAS; I never used any of mine as a Plex server, I always kept them as a simple network unit that PCs would access to get videos/music. Most smaller enclosures (1 or 2 bays) don't have any fans and if you go for SSDs you'll keep power consumption down and noise nonexistent.
    I'm not familiar with Synology, I've always used QNAP, and their setup is pretty much straightforward.

    Comment


      #3
      I've been running a mixture of Synology, home built and HP Microserver (current server) over the last 10 years, but am a bit out of the loop on the latest home server trends in the last year or so.

      Initial reactions to your post (and will be interesting to read other responses)
      • I think your budget might be too low. 5 years ago maybe you could have got something at that.
      • My gut feeling is a Synology NAS may be what you're looking for depending on the number of drives you run, and want to add in the future. Synology NAS boxes can get expensive for the larger bay options. When I last used a Synology the OS: DSM was fantastic. Intuitive and easy to use. A quick look on Amazon shows them starting at just under £300 for 2 drive enclosures.
      • If you're not transcoding (so server doing the processing) then CPU requirement for the PLEX server are much lower.
      • If you're going with a DIY Server - I'd throw a shout out for Unraid. Cheap server OS that makes maintaining and running a server painless. Also allows for mixing of drives and sizes. As well as easily swapping out and changing drives. Also allows for all kinds of scenarios and loads of dockers for installing virtual machines and apps. I run this currently on my HP Microserver.
      • I believe the two main Plex alternatives are Emby and Jellyfin. Emby to me seemed to be more of the same, at same pricing just with less polish but it has it's fans. Jellyfin appears to be the new kid on the block which I think is community based and free although I have no experience of this one. Personally I'm running Plex Lifetime Pass.


      Not sure if that helps, but hope so.

      Comment


        #4
        Im still using my PC as a plex server but then its just a small NUC with tiny power draw and I generally only need about 4TB of storage.

        NAS is the way to go though...

        Comment

        Working...
        X