Use 'nice -n 6 ' for all 'static download' transcode processes

Feature Suggestions
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1

Unlike live-stream transcodes, which only convert enough content to keep the client buffer full, transcodes for downloads (‘static transcodes’) want to create and push the transcoded file as fast as possible and will use 100% of available resources for the applicable thread. These processes currently run at priority level 20 / nice level 0, competing evenly for system resources. If the resource utililzation is sufficient to max-out the system, this can have performance implications for other aspects of PLEX as well as the host system.

Setting the static transcode processes to a lower priority should minimize their impact on PLEX and the host system.

It is requested that all ‘static transcodes’ be ‘niced’ to the lowest priority. Implementation should be trivial as it is simply a matter of changing the command called for static transcodes to nice -n 6 Plex Transcoder <ffmpeg-options-here>

2

Modified request from nice -n 19 to nice -n 6 after finding out that other, less time-sensitive, intensive background processes run with nice -n 7. Downloads should receive priority over those but still do their best to get out of the way of the main server and higher priority things like streaming transcodes.

3

Here’s what I’ve noticed about the nice value for background processes as of Version 1.41.7.9749:

  • Plex Media Transcoder for video streams (e.g. hvec, vc1, etc.) is set at 15 :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: :raising_hands:
  • Plex Media Transcoder for audio streams (e.g. ac3) is set at 0 :disappointed_face:
  • Plex Media Fingerprinter is set at 0 :disappointed_face:
  • Plex Media Scanner is set at 0 :disappointed_face:

I run Plex in a Docker container on an Intel N100, and I really need all of these background processes set to 15 to prevent process starvation on my other containers.

1 Like
4

Just need to know if you have this option enabled or not (in the Library settings)? Does it have any impact on the non-Transcoder jobs?

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5

Thanks for responding so quickly @drzoidberg33!

Yes, the nice values I posted above are with that setting enabled:
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I’m not sure what other non-Transcoder jobs you are referring to. If you mean the fingerprinter and scanner jobs, then no, that setting does not bump the nice value up for those jobs.