I’m going to be rebuilding my Plex Server soon and am curious if there’s an advantage to using an OS other than Win 10 x64. (e.g. a Home Server platform)
Right now my media is contained on 32 drives comprising 150TB pooled via Drivepool software.
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the easiest is ubuntu cuz they got a big community for linux questions and all that.
-b
ps. yeAH i used win home server way back in the day, but it caved in eventually after 5 years or so. Started using ubuntu afterwards that way.
+1 on Ubuntu.
I am not sure, perhaps someone else can confirm or deny this: the Windows version of Plex is only a 32 bit application, or at least the transcoder component. The Ubuntu/ Linux version on the other hand is 64 bit.
If the above is true, it means that the only advantage, as far as Plex is concerned, of having a 64 bit Windows OS is that you can have more than 4GB of ram. But other than that, Plex would see no benefit between running under a 32 or a 64 bit version of Windows.
+1 Ubuntu
I use Kubuntu (KDE based Ubuntu) 18.04 on my servers for the following reasons:
- Windows loads PLEX Media Server as a user process, so a user must be logged in to have it run. Linux runs PMS as a service, so PMS starts with the OS.
- Linux has SAMBA for CIFS/SMB access which provides excellent File System access to WIndows PCs. XRDP is very useful for remote access (via Remote Desktop).
- the iSCSI target feature is really nice for apportioning storage to your systems.
- LVM is great for setting up Fake RAID, volumes with multiple different size disks. If you are brave, you can also go with ZFS for more advanced storage options.
- I am using a LSI Logic MegaRaid SAS 9260i with 17 Hard Drives (14+2, Hot Spare) in a chassis via HP SAS Expander…
- linux has all of the drivers built in. Easy Peasy.
good morning, love that preggers.
-wbm
i’m currently running on Ubuntu Headless 16.04 and it does a good job - easy to get plex up and running on it (a lot better than freenas)
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Well the main question is … what OS are you familiar with other than Windows?
Unless you are very familiar with Linux then stay away. Things can break on any OS so it’s a really bad idea to have things breaking unless…
- You know immediately how to fix it.
- You have far too much time on your hands and would rather Google how to fix something…Personally I would prefer to watch something.
Are you having issues with your current set up?
I run the exact same setup as you on W10 and my Drivepool is a similar size.
In essence I really would never consider switching to an OS that you are at least 95% familiar with it and that includes Windows Server. Please don’t change for the sake of change.
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But how can you learn something new unless you start using it?
Rather than staying with what you know, I’d say look for the features you want or would like.
Yes, OS familiarity can be a feature. If it is the most important for you then absolutely, use Windows 10. You may also want to consider 2016 for added stability. It does have a very small learning curve for the differences between Win 10 and Win 2016.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for something else, like for example running Plex as a server natively or 64 bit operation, then definitely consider the Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Kubuntu (among many others). They are really not all that hard to master, there is a lot of knowledge and information published online from reliable resources and, once setup to your liking, there is rarely any need to log on to the server to fix stuff. I’ve had linux machines that have worked without the need for intervention or reboots for well over a full year.
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I have run PMS on several win10 boxes (Celeron, Pentium, i3, i5, i7), Shield Pro, Shield 16gb, Drobo 5N, Synology, 415play, 1815+, 1817+ and Qnap TVS-1282.
I really cannot say I found any difference in the actual running of the PMS app.
The CPU, how the media is formatted and the players are what makes the difference…
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There is no benefit but imo Windows is just easier and works well out the box. No need to visit forums for guides.
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I would move your data to a solid NAS, like a Synology. This allows you to run the PMS right from the Synology. Works well and you can use the Synology for alot of other use cases. 12TB drives are now out, which makes this alot simpler.
But you’re talking about the OS in general.
I’m referring specifically to running Plex.
So there are no extra features as far as I’m aware.
Sure tinker to learn… I have a dedicated server for that.
But beyond that I’m not sure why I or indeed anyone would run something they rely on an OS they’re not familiar with… just for the sake of it.
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Sorry for not responding sooner.
Thank you all.
I’m aware of Linux/Ubuntu but like someone said, learning a new OS is not necessarily what I want to do if it’s going to take my server down for a while.
I am interested in learning about the 32bit limitation if running Plex Server as an app instead of a service. Will that matter?
I am moving the server off my main rig (1950x with 64gb RAM) to a Ryzen 5 2600 (32gb RAM).
Most of my usage is direct play and my file format is straight .mkv 1080p rips. Not H265 since most devices would require a transcode.
So assuming I’m intimately familiar with Win10 - and my hardware above, any other reason to switch?
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