Long time Windows server user just switched to Linux, same hardware

Plex Media Server
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Just checking in with folks who made this switch. Are there any improvements other than Intel Quick Sync transcoding support that you experience with Linux? I have an i7-8700 running a dedicated Ubuntu system.

I know this may be anecdotal, but any feedback would be great. Even tweaks and tips.

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What is Windows?

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Pretty decent gaming OS. lol

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Less resources
Runs as a service and can still access HW transcoding
Default is secure unless you open it up
Plex is 64 bit
OS updates don’t usually break Plex

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Thanks. I generally haven’t had any issues in Windows (i.e. never had an OS update break Plex). My main reason for upgrading was to:

  1. Get on a dedicated hardware platform that runs 24/7 and is stable
  2. Take advantage of QuickSync support as I occasionally do UHD/HDR transcoding with HDR to SDR tone mapping and this churned on Windows even with a high end Nvidia card.

After a bunch of shenanigans working through permissions and setting up syncing folders for media, I think I have everything set. Also had issues getting my tuner to be recognized but finally squared that away. So far so good.

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Consider changing the transcoding directory to /dev/shm which is Ubuntu’s built in automagical ramdisk.

I think you’ll be pleased with Linux as a server.

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Interesting, thanks. So, you just change the Transcoder temporary directory to /dev/shm and call it a day? Is it worth changing the ram dedicated to this ramdisk?

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Yep, just change the path. It appears to automatically resize itself as needed, I didn’t have to do any configuration in Ubuntu. I am sure there are a lot of knobs to turn if you want but the defaults were fine for me.

Each simultaneous transcode (4k HDR to 1080p SDR) seemed to use about 600 MB RAM.

SSDs are pretty durable but in my brief testing I did not see any downside to switching to the ramdisk.

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That’s good. I have a small SSD for the OS and a few large HDD data drives. Just set this. Will see how it goes.

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Just checking in to say, so far, so good. I was able to transcode an HDR UHD film local on my server over to my parents house at 1080p SDR and no hiccups. Was NOT able to do that before. Sweet!

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Great to hear. I do not dislike Windows, but I like Plex better on Linux.

In fact I like it so much I wrote a how-to post the other day, so when someone says, “I don’t know Linux” I can give them the link. :slight_smile: It includes some stuff like the ramdisk tweak.

Be sure to set up the Plex repo if you have not.

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