I currently run a Windows10, Core i5 server with 30+TB of storage. I use it for serving media, but all that storage is not for media. It’s for documents, work stuff etc. I don’t run any productivity software on that system. It’s all media stuff and runs 24/7/365 unless I’m forced to reboot for updates or it hangs up completely or something. Handbrake, MKVTools etc. I use Plex DVR with Silicon Dust tuners and that generally works fine. When it doesn’t it’s usually related to the guide data being wrong…
Sadly, my Plex performance isn’t always that great. Server lags, sometimes times out…even on my LAN with either GB Ethernet or 802.11ac wireless. I’m fairly certain it’s the server being slow. Maybe a Windows issue? It’s not all that snappy, but I run the normal stuff like MalwareBytes etc to check it periodically. Is there a good cleaner I can run on it that is not either built in or encompassed by MalwareBytes, CCleaner etc?
My core question is: if you had to start from scratch today with the knowledge you have, what would be the best platform to run Plex server on? PC, Linux PC, NAS etc?
My main concern is serving performance, but I worry with a NAS device being limited on storage. With a PC I can just plug in another drive if I need to. NAS devices, IME, tend to be what they are. Maybe you can replace drives with larger ones sometimes, but storage per dollar they are expensive compared to a PC. Is the performance any better? Enough to justify the price?
To each their own. I use a Windows PC with attached NAS boxes. I love it BUT I’m concern that someday those NAS boxes will die(controller boards, not the drives) and will be hard pressed to find the exact NAS to replace it with leaving me with drives in a RAID configuration a can’t use. I am thinking of other solutions like software RAIDs and the like. That way I can reuse existing RAIDs from a dying system.
So to sum up,
If I could do it all over again I would try to find the safest route over performance.
Software RAID or maybe DrivePool(which isn’t RAID).
Performance will be a close second. And to be honest, performance is debatable. It really depends on your serving needs. If it’s just you or so then you don’t need a powerhouse of a rig. and nothing is gonna be slow than you WiFi, period. But Windows 10… I say no. I am not a fan and find it slow as hell compared to other OSes. And I sh%t you not, if Plex ran only on WinMe or Win10, i’d choose WinMe. Heck I even go Linux and I know nothing about that OS, lol.
But really. I say you have a great start anyways. You already have 30TB+ of storage. Go ahead and play around with other operating systems and check their performance.
I run on a Dell PowerEdge R410. 1 Network interface is on the internal network, the other is in the DMZ. THis way, internal traffic does not throttle out streaming traffic. Dual 4-core Xeons can transcode pretty much anything without trouble. If you hunt around, you can find them on the used marked for under $100. From there you can add whatever drives you want. On board SAS controller will run up to 6 drives. If you want to spring for SAS drives you’ll DEFINITELY not have any Disk I/O trouble. If you want to work on a budget, you can run whatever SATA disks you want. But SAS drives are definitely faster.
I too am interested in this. Currently run a Synology DS918+ which fairs well but has started crashing.
I’m really interested in what the prefer OS is. Eg is it Linux or windows? Which one is focused more on development and likely to involve less downtime between system updates ( assuming Linux?).
P2000 seems to be the rage at the moment, I’d be keen to see some small micro server builds with a decent cpu and gpu combo, all with low power draw!
What size files are you playing ?? what bitrate ?? My setup is getting a bit old now but seems ok up to 1080p @ 8mbits.
FX8350
Windows 10
16g ram @ 1600mhz
RX480
1 x 4tb seagate barracude for TV and music
1 x 3tb wd red for films
I use a 8tb seagate external backup drive
Have seen 3 of my family sharing my server at any one time, all seem OK
I am playing all sorts of files ranging from 480p AVC to 4K HEVC and audio from mono to Atmos. Bitrates are all over as well. I own almost 1500 movies at this point and over the years I have learned more about ripping and experimenting with formats, containers etc, but didn’t realize the boundaries I would have with consuming this media. I just figured that whatever I had, Plex would feed it to my systems and the players (mostly Rokus and Fire devices) would just figure it out.
The server box itself may have some performance issues which I would love to understand/resolve, but no matter what I do, if my devices can’t play them it won’t matter. I think my root issue is not fully understanding or having the right hardware and/or players in place to handle the variance. I can play most things fine. DVD rips, even most Blu-Ray and UHD rips. Just once in a while something happens with a file that chokes the system and I don’t know why. Today I found one that had both 5.1 and 7.1 audio. I was playing this through an Atmos compatible receiver and a Firecube. The audio is stripped out at the receiver so the Firecube shouldn’t care what the audio is. When I try to play it with 7.1 audio selected it chokes. If I change to 5.1 and play it, no issues at all. I can play HEVC UHD MKV files…sometimes…without issue and other times it doesn’t do well at all.
I can’t figure out the pattern. I just want to be able to play my stuff and not think about it! LOL
