Keep in mind that hardware transcoding is confirmed by Plex to be completely broken in PMS 1.25 (as of the time of this post at least - Feb 26, 2022).
Noting it since PMS 1.25 is bundled with Shield Experience 9.0.x
Mentioning it for anyone still on (Shield Experience 8.x.x and PMS 1.23) who may have been waiting till the server issues were resolved to consider upgrading, but who may have been unaware that transcoding is broken.
Also transfer rates are slow.
I am using internal storage for my PMS data, so the server disappearing issues probabvly would not have impacted me per Plex confirmation.
(Note - ‘data’ folder is not to be confused with media, I have my actual media stored on an external NTFS HDD).
1.25 HW transcoding broken and transcoding slow threads:
