I have about 2 TB of Movies and 1 TB of TV Shows on my Plex Server stored locally. I will be traveling a lot in the next couple months and rather than rely on internet to access my library, I am copying to a 2 TB My Passport using “Optimized Versions” that will plugin to a laptop with PMS installed. Despite taking quite awhile, that process seems to be working ok.
My question, is…how to keep the two locations in sync? It seems if I delete from the Plex Server, it will remove the optimized version as well from the external HDD. However, when I add a new movie or TV show, how can I quickly add to the external without manually choosing it and telling to optimize on a one to one basis?
Keeping them in sync automatically with a drone-style mechanism isn’t a feature or a plug-in.
What you’re asking for (please correct me if wrong) is how to keep part of your PMS library, specifically new additions, in sync with you when you travel. Is this correct?
I am open to ideas and suggestions, but ideally I want my entire library on the external HDD. In my mind I planned on keeping my local setup as is, then have an “optimized” mirrored library on the external HDD. I am using the optimize feature so that when on the road and playing from the external HDD, no transcoding is needed.
Doing a mass initial copy over to the external HDD is no big deal, but I don’t know how to maintain it going further as new episodes of TV and movies get added to the local library.
I too am interested in doing this as well with my new WD My Passport Wireless Pro. I have currently set it up to create optimizied versions at the library level (Movies, TV Shows, Kids TV Shows and Home Videos). If after creating the first run of the optimized versions and I run an optimization again at the library level, will Plex only run optimizations that haven’t been created or will it create another set of optimized versions for every file again?
To address this in steps:
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If you have some files optimized and others not, PMS will keep track of of what it has optimized and not replicate the effort
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If you were to run an external ‘robot’ script which replicated the source library (including structure) to make a perfect copy and be optimized **in completely separate library (“Optimized movies” ?), this can be done external to Plex. The technical details are easy. A shell script to pick up all the files, create the appropriate directories in the other location (if it doesn’t already exist) and then invoke ffmpeg to create the MP4 optimized version (again, if it doesn’t already exist). PMS will see when a new ‘optimized’ file is available thinking you simply added more media which is precisely what you did. In this case, you did it without associating it with the original source. You still have two copies of the film but now you have control of how it’s optimized.
As example, one way is: ffmpeg -i input_file -c:v copy -c:a aac -b:a 256K -movflags faststart output_path.mp4
-movflags faststart is the key for web streaming. It makes a second pass and places the MOOV atom at the front. This is how videos from the Web play as soon as they are clicked. Without it, they would download first. AAC is the most compatible audio codec. YMMV.
Thanks for the information. Do you happen to know if the original file is deleted from the file system that the optimized version will also be deleted from the file system as well? I would like it to be.
@thorin33 said:
Thanks for the information. Do you happen to know if the original file is deleted from the file system that the optimized version will also be deleted from the file system as well? I would like it to be.
If you have an optimized version and the original it came from is moved or removed then the optimized version also is deleted.
Sorry for all the optimization questions but the help page doesn’t actually state how a lot of it works and only talks about how to set it up. Hopefully one last question. After I have created the initial optimization at the library level, will I have to manually optimize the libraries again to pick up new content or does PMS automatically check for new content and then optimize it?
Once you setup the optimized version, if you replace the original with a better quality version (1080p v 720p, higher video bitrate, etc) PMS will track it.
Thank you for pointing out the documentation deficiency. I’ve mentioned it to the proper folks.
Will it also look for new content that has yet to be optimized and optimize it automatically?
And many thanks for all your prompt responses.
I’m double checking everything with regard to the Media Optimizer. We (ninjas) chatted about it a bit and we’re not 100000% sure what it can and cannot do therefore I’m going to be the guinea pig and try it. 
I created a test library and dropped media in it. It’s optimizing now for that movie. When it’s done, I’ll drop in a different version (different quality) and verify what happens.
Next I will drop entirely new content in the library and see what happens there.
When done, we’ll have a complete picture.
That would be great. I can do some testing on my own as well once my library finishes optmizing. Taking longer than I thought.
is using a small test library 
I did a simple test to start and then jumped hed first into obviously shallow waters. After starting my one library I realized I had all these unanswered questions but didn’t want to stop my already optmiizing library. Sould be done by tomorrow sometime and then I’ll set up a small test library and report back as I am sure others will have the same questions I do.
So I did a simple test myself. I created a new “Test Library” with just one TV show. Told it to optimize the library with the WD Wireless Pro as the destination. Then as it was optimizing, added a second show to “Test Library”. I was impatient and “updated the library”…within 2 minutes started to optimize it and placed in appropriate folder. Then added a third show with no other intervention. Sure enough, within a minute…it was added to the optimize queue…very happy to say the least.
So problem #2. It seems if you connect the drive direct to your PC, it doesn’t charge unless the drive is idle. So how in the world am I going to transfer almost 2.5 TB of data from my plex libraries??? I see no way to charge it while connect to PC vis USB at the same time. It’s easily going to take several days for it to “optimize” content and move it over. Am I overlooking the obvious?
After posting, I may have misunderstood what the manual says (or doesn’t say). I am hoping that even though it won’t charge, that while plugged in to USB that USB is powering the drive and not the battery. If that is the case, than there is no issue. However, if the battery is used then that will be a problem.
My WD drive has been plugged in and optimizing for 4 days now so there is no issue there. Great to hear about the libraries auto-optimizing when new content is added.
How much content are you “optimizing”?? I am thinking it’s going to take awhile…I have as I said about 2.5 TB. I am going out of town beginning of August, so really hoping it finishes and I have a couple days to work out any kinks.
Everything I read here isn’t the most encouraging.
I can add info on the Media Optimizer even though not yet done learning myself.
When you Optimize a library, you’re creating a ‘Smart Task’. These are persistent until you delete it in Settings. Unfortunately, to delete the task, you have to delete each piece of media. At least it’s a linear list to click on the X’s.
