Hello everybody,
I am about to start a new build. Until now, my Media Server is on a 4-bay Synology and it does not quiet hold up to my expectations. So, I want to move it. What is important for the hardware? The CPU, obviously. I have an i5-8600 around, so I am going to use this. It has a passmark score of 12816. Now, how much RAM do I need? 8GB? 16GB? And what kind of hard drive? For just the storage I have 4x 2TB WD RED but for the system? A M.2? A SSD? And how do I set it up on this drive?
I want to stream to one 4K divce and 2-3 1080p devices simultaneously.
From what the developers told me years ago - its all about the number of cores your processors have when it comes to transcoding. Memory would be second and I have had no problem streaming to over 20 people at the same time using 16gb of ram on a quad core i7 Mac mini for year now. I have however just made the jump to a Dell r710 with 32 gb of ram and twin 6 core xenon processors.
-I’d enable hardware acceleration as the i5-8600 has quicksync
-8GB should be fine if all you’re running is plex. In windows, plex server uses about 150-300MB and a transcoding session uses about 300MB. I’m running in Unraid and the overall consumption is about 3GB (I have 32GB because I believe in excess).
-I would use an SSD for the plex installation. Sata would be fine. Bigger is better depending on how big your libraries are. The metadata can use a good amount of space. I’d say get at least 500GB.
-Do you plan to do any pooling and/or redundancy/parity?
Not sure about the OS yet. I have a Windows Server Licence but I would also use the Synology OS because I am use to it or try Unraid but I have never worked with it. Most of the content will be 1080p or 720p from BluRays. Some will be 4K. I dont know the difference between direct play and transcode. As far as I know I will transcode.
Do you plan to do any pooling and/or redundancy/parity?
I dont know what that is…
Where do the media files have to be for best performance? Right now I have them stored on an DS414. Do I need to move it to the new server?
I think I understand. It sounds like what you should do is keep your synology and just put your plex installation on your server build. Basically, install plex on the new machine and when you set up your libraries, point it to your synology box. I’ve never used a synology but I’m pretty sure it pools your disks as one storage space and allows you to set a RAID level (that’s the pooling/redundancy). Direct Play is when your client can play the file in the format that it is stored in. Transcoding is when the server has to reformat it on fly so that the client can play it. 1080p/720p should be fine. I think there’s a tone mapping issue with transcoding 4k that makes the colors look washed out. The files will be fine on your DS414 as playback doesn’t require that much speed (assuming it is wired to your network, not wireless). Just make sure plex is on an SSD so it can load everything faster.
Alright, I think I have my setup ready to go.
Mainboard: ASUS H370-I
CPU: Intel Core i5-8600
RAM: 32GB Corsair LPX DDR4
Is it necessary to get a dedicated GPU?
I will use the DS414 as a Network Drive for the media files. It is set up in RAID5.
The last component I am not sure about is the system drive. The H370-I has two M.2 Slots but these are quiet expensive. I would like to get some redundancy into the system. In order to do that I consider two ways.
One. I buy two SSDs and set them up in RAID1. For 1TB it would cost 580€ for the M.2 and 380€ for the SATA SSD.
Two. I get just one SSD and set up a back up solution.
What do you think is the better?
Is the overall setup useable for 4K Transcoding streaming and 1080p streaming?
If you’re trying to keep costs down, you can go with less RAM. 32GB will give you room to grow though.
I would hold of on the GPU for now. Just see how it performs without one. You can always get one later, if needed. I’ve been eyeing either a quadro P2000 or P4000 since they are not limited to 2 streams but I don’t have a use for one yet. I’ve just been making optimized versions to avoid transcoding.
1 SATA SSD with backup should be fine if you’re looking to keep costs down. 2 Sata for convenience of just popping a drive in a rebuilding. I don’t think you’ll notice the benefit of M.2 with plex but I haven’t tested it.
4K transcoding with HDR will be have washed out colors from what I’ve read due to tone mapping. Other than that, you should be fine. Just enable quicksync for hardware acceleration. If for some reason you need more juice, you can just add a GPU.
