Hi I am wondering, which is the best device/operating system for running Plex with that I mean is it windows is it’s Synology Qnap, of all of devices that you can run Plex on which is the one that it runs best on.
I built my own NAS running Unraid. Plex is running in a Docker container. I have been using this for over 3 years with 0 issues.
The main disadvantage of Windows is tone mapping. You can’t do tone mapping using hardware unless you have a dedicated Nvidia GPU. If you don’t, that gets done in software which is difficult for a lot of CPU’s
If you have a Nvidia GPU or don’t have a lot of 4k HDR content, then it’s not something I’d worry about
In most cases this decision comes down to what your specific needs are
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How much storage do you need
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What kind of media do you have
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What kind of clients do you use
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How many remote users do you have
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What kind of OS are you comfortable with
You will find people who are happy running Plex on many different devices and OS’s. It’s not a matter of what’s best, it’s what’s best for you
And let’s not forget budget. That makes most of our choices for us
The best Plex Player device is dependant on your source videos and audio encoding. AND your broadband Internet connection.
Their is no one best device answer IMO.
I was well as my friends and family primarily use Roku and Apple TV devices and all with equally as well.
Since PS5 players aren’t as great or they’re Internet connection isn’t very good. I don’t know
but Plex is designed to modify it’s payback settings based on the realtime payback limitations.
For a Plex server, ideally whichever platform you’re most comfortable with regarding troubleshooting, setup etc - every OS/platform has it’s own set of pro’s and con’s. Much of this decision will come down to your own expertise level with a given operating system.
For a server I went Linux (ubuntu) because it rarely “needs” a reboot and can be run headless (no monitor) with ease and I find performance is better overall (for me). I run bare metal servers (no docker, or virtualizing software, etc) and no hw transcoding (all cpu).
For a client, Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 is the way to go.
Thanks for all the replies it is always some systems that will run better. It’s like android and iOS. Some apps just runs better on iOS and vice versa. The thing that I want to do is I want to build a Windows PC because I’m not so technical I’ve seen some tutorials on truenas, but it just seems too complicated for me. That’s what I am asking because I would pay somebody to make this for me if it runs better with truenas or unraid. I also have Nvidia shield but it is to laggy for me. Another question that I have is does anybody know if Plex is going to bring back download in your photos from your phone.
They are not bringing back photo sync.
Unraid is about as simple as it gets…
You have a pc with hard drives
Download unraid to a usb stick
Start the pc and select the drives
Download plex via the built in App Store
Job done.
When you run out of space, you add another hard drive and expand the system. It’s about as simple as it gets really and it’s rock stable and it has room to become very powerful/useful if you want it to.
Oh, and then you start to get curious and you trawl the App Store and say to yourself “ooh that looks interesting” and start going down the rabbit hole of controlling your home and automating things you never thought needed automating! It becomes quite addictive!
