NVMe Drive - What Usage WIll Have More Impact?

[StPatty33]

Hey, all! I have a personal server on my Windows 10 PC w/1Gbps internet, mirrored SATA WD Reds for storage, and a SATA 500gb SSD for programs (including PMS) and as my transcode folder location. I share my server with a couple members of my close family over the interwebs.

I’d heard that you’re not supposed to use an SSD as a transcode drive because of their supposed limited amount of write instances, but I’ve also heard that now that SSDs have been in use for years we’ve found out that the write limits on them simply don’t exist. So part of me is concerned with having my OS on the same drive that is used for transcoding.

Anyway, I just got an NVMe M.2 drive for Christmas, and my question is: which of the following configurations will safely improve our Plex experience the most, locally as well as for those accessing my server from outside the home?

1. Keep programs and storage as is, use NVMe as transcode folder.
2. Keep storage as is, migrate SSD data (OS and all programs) over to NVMe, use SSD as transcode folder.
3. Use NVMe for both programs and transcode folder
4. insert better solution here

Thanks in advance, and happy holidays!

[drslevy]

depending on the size of the nvme drive ( the larger the better ), using it as a cache drive and then to house the Plex data files to offload some of the work that your OS drive does is what i would recommend. i currently have a 256 GB nvme drive that i had as a spare running the transcode and it hasnt lost 1% of drive life in over a month and I have at least 2 users watching per day including 4K content. The brand of the drive is a big thing as well as some drives ( I wont call names ) can easily overheat and throttle and end up being worse in performance, depending on your transcode buffer that is. I set mine to over 10 minutes now.