New machine - Which Operating System is best?

General Discussions
1

Hi Guys,

I’ve recently bought a new machine and I’m planning on installing PMS on the system.

The system is a Gigabyte Brix GB-BXBT-2807, the spec is:

2.17GHz Intel® Celeron® Processor N2807
8GB SO-DIMM DDR3L 1.35V 1333MHz
120GB Intel SSD510 Series
WiFi + BT - Built In
2 x USB 2.0
1 x USB 3.0
HDMI
VGA

My plan is to have the machine set up with a 3tb USB3 hard drive for the storage.

Currently I use win 10 and I have Sonarr, couchpotato and Plex all running with utorrent & SABnzbd.
My machine handles all my series and films etc with very little messing about and I’d love this to continue.

I’m wondering if Windows 10 would be the better OS for this or should I be looking at a Linux based install - What do you guys think would be the better option?

2

A celeron cpu won’t get you far in a Plex server.
You won’t be able to even transcode one 1080p video stream with this one.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201774043-What-kind-of-CPU-do-I-need-for-my-Server-

It will almost be as if you’re running Plex on a NAS. You’ll have to carefully select your file formats and/or convert them, so you can avoid any chance of transcoding happening.
This won’t be a very pleasant experience.

This device might be usable as a Plex client, but not as a server.

3

There’s been many topics on the question of which OS - the answer is always the same - use the one you’re most comfortable/familiar with.

Just ensure once you’ve sorted out your hardware choices that you also sort out backups (and verify that you can restore from them).

4

As others are saying pick the one you are the most comfortable with, that being said linux does offer up some more options that Windows does in regards to security (third party) and support for rar2fs.

5

“Best” is a combination of technical ability of the OS and technical ability of the user. The technically best OS won’t be a fun ride if you’re not comfortable using that OS or willing to learn. I’d say FreeBSD because, ZFS. And rock-solid ability and great performance. Many will scream though that it’s too hard. Many will say it’s very easy. :slight_smile: I’d argue it’s extremely friendly… but it’s picky about who it calls “friends”.

Someone used to Windows will have a better experience with a Windows “server” (cough) than an… unmotivated… user will with FreeBSD (or linux), despite all its advantages.