I’ve been wondering something similar after reading a few more posts (forgive me if it sounds like I don’t know what I’m talking about – if I do, it’s just barely).
I’m currently running Plex server on a Pine64 running ubuntu. I’ve read posts that talk about running the server on android instead.
I have a Sony XBR android TV that has had issues rendering things for one reason or another (photos show thumbnails but full sized images so a placeholder, videos don’t play, etc.).
Will I see an improvement with android over linux, or will they both provide about the same end result, and I should just work on why the TV is having these issues?
@titusj said: …
Will I see an improvement with android over linux, or will they both provide about the same end result, and I should just work on why the TV is having these issues?
I “think” the only Android server is on the Shield TV. (And it has issues that make it non-viable for me) Most Android systems just don’t have the power or resources to be a sever,
My researches and testing have shown me that the operating system matters very little as far as performance goes. Some put less overhead on the server but Plex runs about the same on all OSs.
My recommendation is use the OS that you are most familiar with and best suites your hardware.
I use Windows mostly because of that familiarity but I have helped set up several Linux systems and I also have a Shield TV that is in a near continuous state of testing. I have bot found that any system is totally without problems but the type and nature of the problems vary with the OS and they all can have unexpected and hard to solve problems.
For most average users I recommend Windows because I generally deal with people that are low to middle in tech savvy (Linux is a bit more complex due to permissions etc) and are in the US where Windows is by far the most prevalent OS.
New to the forum. I would like to add that running a Plex server on a VM running a none server Windows OS is breaking the law. Simply put unless you fork out nearly 800$ just for the OS you are not with in legal license for any Windows Desktop OS. This is for any headless Windows Desktop OS. To be correctly licensed you must buy a retail copy of the OS, Have Enterprise Volume License, and you must have Software Assurance. This is only for those who want to stay legal. The second way is to purchase a single Full VDI license cost on this can be around 1500$. So no Client OS on VMware, or any NAS server that does not have a keyboard attached to it , and main use is on console. (Lets you run VMware Workstation as a primary desktop)
One way around it is make the Desktop OS your primary OS, and then just leave the box plugged in with no screen, mouse, or keyboard.
Legal Configs:
1:
Windows 10(applies to both 7,8.1), Plex, VBbox with other OS.
2. Linux , VB Box , Plex, keyboard/Mouse/Monitor(Can be TV)
Illegal Configs:
ESXI(any Hyper Visor), Windows 10 VM, Plex
NAS OS, Windows 10 VM. Plex
Now the grey area is Qnaps that allow you to run the VM OS directly to the screen.This may fall under the VMWorkstation Exception .
@cbaker77 said:
New to the forum. I would like to add that running a Plex server on a VM running a none server Windows OS is breaking the law. Simply put unless you fork out nearly 800$ just for the OS you are not with in legal license for any Windows Desktop OS. This is for any headless Windows Desktop OS. To be correctly licensed you must buy a retail copy of the OS, Have Enterprise Volume License, and you must have Software Assurance. This is only for those who want to stay legal. The second way is to purchase a single Full VDI license cost on this can be around 1500$. So no Client OS on VMware, or any NAS server that does not have a keyboard attached to it , and main use is on console. (Lets you run VMware Workstation as a primary desktop)
One way around it is make the Desktop OS your primary OS, and then just leave the box plugged in with no screen, mouse, or keyboard.
Legal Configs:
1:
Windows 10(applies to both 7,8.1), Plex, VBbox with other OS.
2. Linux , VB Box , Plex, keyboard/Mouse/Monitor(Can be TV)
Illegal Configs:
ESXI(any Hyper Visor), Windows 10 VM, Plex
NAS OS, Windows 10 VM. Plex
Now the grey area is Qnaps that allow you to run the VM OS directly to the screen.This may fall under the VMWorkstation Exception .
This is somewhat incorrect and misleading information. The “illegal” configs are not illegal as long as the following is taken into consideration:
To run a virtualized copy of a Desktop OS, you simply need a proper retail license for the OS in question. You do not need an Enterprise Volume License or Software Assurance to give you “permission” to virtualize a Desktop OS. Multiple virtualized Desktop OS’s will each require their own proper retail licenses, nothing more. A retail license of Windows 10 is $129 for Home or $199 for Pro on NewEgg, Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials runs $345.
Regarding hypervisors, if you’re wanting to virtualize on Hyper-V, then yes, you would have to shell out for a Windows Server OS, but even Server 2012 R2 Essentials gives you licensing to run a limited number of VM’s under Hyper-V. VMware vSphere 6.5 comes in a free edition that would work well to have a virtualized Plex server running.
Don’t forget you can run Hyper-V VMs on many Windows Desktop versions as well. As long as you have a license for the operating system you can run it on metal or in a VM. Of course with the desktop versions you don’t get any “free” virtual licenses but that’s besides the point. I do this all the time on Windows 10. You can move the machines around at will. So I can build them on desktop and test them and then move them to Windows Server or vice versa.
You can get a windows license that will run Plex for under $100 so cost doesn’t have to be major factor if that is what you are most comfortable with and “must” run it in a VM of some sort.
@itsjoekelly said:
Was this supposed to be a joke?
[…]
I am sure that is a little beyond what most reading this were planning on getting into.
No it is not, I’m just sharing my experience with different OS’ and how they perform on my gear. I agree that my hardware is extreme, nevertheless, it depicts what I’ve seen running Plex on Windows 7 and CentOS on this hardware .What I eventually ended up paying for the stuff is way outside the scope of this thread.
@itsjoekelly said:
Was this supposed to be a joke?
[…]
I am sure that is a little beyond what most reading this were planning on getting into.
No it is not, I’m just sharing my experience with different OS’ and how they perform on my gear. I agree that my hardware is extreme, nevertheless, it depicts what I’ve seen running Plex on Windows 7 and CentOS on this hardware .What I eventually ended up paying for the stuff is way outside the scope of this thread.
You are my kind of user @yows Your rig is close to mine… when it comes to power under the hood.
@itsjoekelly - there are some us us quiet types with full racks of hardware in our basements.
Anyone one knows whats the lightest OS that can run Plex via stream and via HDMI vid card? I know FreeNas doesn’t support HDMI right out of the server box. I have a GT 730 in my box and wanted to use its HDMI port for best quality locally. Also planing on using my box for HS3 Pro…
@T_Tronix said:
I know FreeNas doesn’t support HDMI right out of the server box.
Nor should it. FreeNAS is a NAS server. While some people run PMS on it, that’s still just the server component. The video is played off a separate client device, and it’s that device that needs HDMI.
If you’re trying to play video off your FreeNAS server, you’re either doing it wrong or don’t understand what Plex is and how it works.
The PC will be used for streaming content (hence Plex is needed) and local viewing using the HDMI out from vid card…I’m leaning towards Win10 since I’ll also be using this PC with my HS3 home automation app.
@T_Tronix said:
I know FreeNas doesn’t support HDMI right out of the server box.
Nor should it. FreeNAS is a NAS server. While some people run PMS on it, that’s still just the server component. The video is played off a separate client device, and it’s that device that needs HDMI.
If you’re trying to play video off your FreeNAS server, you’re either doing it wrong or don’t understand what Plex is and how it works.
@T_Tronix said:
The PC will be used for streaming content (hence Plex is needed) and local viewing using the HDMI out from vid card…I’m leaning towards Win10 since I’ll also be using this PC with my HS3 home automation app.
Technically possible but not the way Plex was designed to be set up and I’d certainly never use it that way. You’d be hard pressed to find any knowledgeable person who’d advise it. You really should just drop the $40 or so on a Roku or something similar, keep things simple, and leave the PMS server to the sole task of running PMS which gives you more flexibility and reduces the chances of issues.
Personally I would like to see the possibility of running plex media player embedded with a built in docker plex server, I read an article about some one doing this with libreelec kodi, so it must be possible if only plex would develop it.
Although Windows 7 “sees” all 8 procs, would putting it on a server OS be more beneficial to the use of more than one proc? I use that machine to transcode moves via handbrake and when that and streams are going on, I get hardware alerts constantly that the procs are being taxed.
@richarddc79 said:
Personally I would like to see the possibility of running plex media player embedded with a built in docker plex server, I read an article about some one doing this with libreelec kodi, so it must be possible if only plex would develop it.
How would this be different than using the server docker image and just installing PMP in it?
@richarddc79 said:
Personally I would like to see the possibility of running plex media player embedded with a built in docker plex server, I read an article about some one doing this with libreelec kodi, so it must be possible if only plex would develop it.
How would this be different than using the server docker image and just installing PMP in it?
I may not have explained what I was hoping to see, what I want is a light OS, where it boots directly to pmp, but in the background you have the ability to run a Plex server in a docker, kind of an all in one solution like an Nvidia shield.
@richarddc79 said:
Personally I would like to see the possibility of running plex media player embedded with a built in docker plex server, I read an article about some one doing this with libreelec kodi, so it must be possible if only plex would develop it.
How would this be different than using the server docker image and just installing PMP in it?
I may not have explained what I was hoping to see, what I want is a light OS, where it boots directly to pmp, but in the background you have the ability to run a Plex server in a docker, kind of an all in one solution like an Nvidia shield.
Still confused. Are you saying you want to run PMP and PMS in the same or different docker containers?
@richarddc79 said:
Personally I would like to see the possibility of running plex media player embedded with a built in docker plex server, I read an article about some one doing this with libreelec kodi, so it must be possible if only plex would develop it.
How would this be different than using the server docker image and just installing PMP in it?
I may not have explained what I was hoping to see, what I want is a light OS, where it boots directly to pmp, but in the background you have the ability to run a Plex server in a docker, kind of an all in one solution like an Nvidia shield.
Still confused. Are you saying you want to run PMP and PMS in the same or different docker containers?
From what I have read on the internet, it is possible to run libreelec kodi as the main os on a machine, and within there it is possible to run docker, where some people are running PMS containers. So in essence you have a kodi front end because that’s what is the THE OS and a PMS docker running on the same machine at the same time, if this could be done with embedded PMP instead of Kodi it would make for a very neat all in one solution.
I have a Dell 2950 server with 2 x dual core xeon processors, 8 gigs of ECC memory and 5 x 2 TB hard drives that are connected to a perc 6 scsi raid. I currently have plex running on my main computer that is an HPZ620 Workstation, with 32 gigs of ecc memory a 2 tb sshd hard drive and 2 xeon processors running at 3,8ghz turbo 4.2. Plex runs perfectly fine and fast under my Linux mint 18.2 . I was thinking of moving it over to the Dell because I use my workstation for everyday computing and need to reboot from time to time. I have, on a few occasions interrupted my son and daughter watching movies remotely by doing so and I want to prevent this in the future. My questions are:
Will 8 gig of memory be enough? Currently I can stream 5 streams simultaneously without any buffering. I have 25mbps up 125 down fiber Internet. I use a Verbatim Quad Powerbay with 16 TB drives with raid5 hooked to a gigabit backbone. I also have available an HP sff desktop with an I5 quadcore 3.2ghz, 4 gig of Ram, 500 gig 7200 hard drive, pre-installed Win10pro.
Because all my plex movies and music are on my NAS, I don’t really need the 10 TB on the Dell, although it might be more efficient than the NAS.
1: Will the Dell 2950 with 8 gigs be powerful enough to Run Plex Server. I would Most like use Linux Mint or Ubuntu Server for the OS unless their are other suggestions.
2: Will the 2x Xeon dual core 3.0 ghz processors be good enough to transcode as needed for plex
3: Would the HP elite with I5 be better for pms?
4: I have Windows 7pro, Windows 10pro and Linux available for use, what do you recommend. I am proficient at all. In my experience Linux usually blows away Windows both in hardware requirements, speed and reliability, that being said, many remarks on this forum seem to say that Plex runs faster on Windows. My current OS I run Plex on is Linux Mint 18.2 and it runs what I feel is very fast, but I have a quite beefy workstation running it.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated also.Maybe I should Sell the rack mount server to someone wanting 10 TB NAS and use the money to increase the ram on the HPelite 8300? It still has 2+ years warranty and works great. It can have one more HD added to bring it to 12 TB it has dual PS and dual gigabit ethernet ports, a DVD . I don’t know what I could get for it but if memory is a tie breaker, the ecc mem for the server is very reasonable I could upgrade to more Ram.
