Server Version#: 1.13.8.5395
Player Version#: 3.71.1
I have noticed on many of my media files that my plex server is consuming a LOT (105 Mbs+) of bandwidth which is resulting in a truly irritating degree of buffering in the player. By comparison, I can connect to the same server and play the same file using any media player on a UNC path and consume only about 1.4 Mbps. I’m not seeing much CPU consumption, so I don’t think the server is transcoding up to a format that consumes significantly more bandwidth. I’m at a bit of a loss here. I’ve noticed this behavior more and more with recent versions of Plex Server. Where to start looking?
Based on some other threads on here, I figured I should update with some additional information. I’m seeing this kind of behavior on more and more of my media every time I upgrade, it seems. For this purpose, I’ll just be working with a single file to help with diagnostics.
The file in question is an MP4 file. Its total bitrate is 1777kbps. There’s REALLY no reason PMS should be consuming 105+ Mbps trying to play it. Clip from MSINFO output is below.
Item Value
OS Name Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard
Version 10.0.14393 Build 14393
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name SHODAN
System Manufacturer Intel Corporation
System Model S5500BC
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU
Processor Intel® Xeon® CPU E5530 @ 2.40GHz, 2395 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
Processor Intel® Xeon® CPU E5530 @ 2.40GHz, 2395 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Intel Corp. S5500.86B.01.00.0038.060120091503, 6/1/2009
SMBIOS Version 2.5
Embedded Controller Version 0.00
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer Intel Corporation
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Enterprise Server
Secure Boot State Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration Not Available
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = “10.0.14393.2068”
User Name Not Available
Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 31.9 GB
Since Plex is a streaming server, it is good practice to optimize all your mp4’s for streaming - even though you might not experiencing big differences with most files.
It is just that there are so much different scripts and encoders out there. Some of them do really crazy things which may be inconsequential when playing those files with desktop video players.
But as soon as you start streaming them to clients, things can change considerably.
Alrighty! Good advice. Thanks! Having tested by optimizing, I find that this issue is resolved. For the moment, I’ll assume that the increase in frequency over time is a perception and I’ll set about optimizing all of the MP4s in my library.
