For those of us with massive libraries (I have more than 16TB of content) the Default Plex App Data folder can get quite large.
On WIndows this gets saved in the $user/appData folder which resides on the system drive.
Most of us who run servers do not want to store data on a system drive and while Plex settings has the ability to change the folder used after the install it makes a ton of sense for the installer to ASK where to store Plex data and Add Ons.
I would like to see a feature added to the installer for CUSTOM INSTALL that would allow us to select where to place Plex Data so there is no need to go through the complicated hoops post install.
This would also help anyone who had a system drive crash and needed to re-install the OS without the worry of losing any plex data.
I admit it may not be a top priority at this point since there is a method for getting around the issue but the project seems mature enough to start considering these little polishes going forward.
This is something I have been thinking about for a while.
Personally I would like to see as much data as possible saved with the media files themselves, for all the reasons you mention above.
Personally I would not. In fact my media has only READ permission to Plex Media Server. I would not risk my source media repositories
With regards to the app data path - Plex Media Server should in addition give an error message if the path is not found on launch In fact the code could be shared with that for this request. Give the option to specify the path. If the path is not found then ask if it should be created - the path may be temporarilly unavailable.
Yes - PLEASE take this feedback request seriously and allow users to designate where they want both the app & the local data to be stored during the program install.
