Which server would be the best for a Plex media server ?
HP ML10 Gen 9
Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 @ 3.30GHz
Pass mark 7762
HP Microserver Gen 8
Intel® Core i3-3240 @ 3.40GHz
Pass mark x4310
Dell T30
Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 @ 3.30GHz
Pass mark 7762
Lenovo Thinkserver TS150
Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 @ 3.30GHz
Pass mark 7762
I also plan to use the server for:
Apple Time machine back
General back
iTunes library (to serve to the AVR)
Personal cloud storage
Possible CCTV recording ?
My media setup is shown below and all devices are connected via wired ethernet (Cat5). The living room TV has a surround sound system so it will need to be compatible with DD, DTS etc:
You do not say anything about the operating system. I can run a windows OS that has a higher idle resource usage vs Ubuntu Server 16.04. I’d personally rather save more system resources and have a better playback experience if multiple people are streaming off me.
Should be a simple decision: higher passmark, better it’d be for Plex. Also, 3 of those servers are using the exact same CPU, so based off of the information given, any of those BUT the HP Microserver Gen 8 would perform almost equally.
I have been trying to find reviews of the Dell T30 but only found one. I was also trying to find users who had the Dell T30 and used it as a Plex server, but again there doesn’t appear to be any. It was the Dell T30 I was thinking of getting but I’ve no experience with servers so wanted confidence before parting with my hard earned cash.
I was planning on using something like FreeNAS as the OS on the server but again this is all new to me so Im trying to find out more information.
If you are planning on going down the FreeNAS route, to have ZFS I assume, you really ought to ask on their forum about the hardware. And I do not mean that in a negative way, we/I will happily answer questions here - but that just is a question best asked there.
Didn’t plex also add hardware accelerated streaming support? You might want to take that into consideration on the hardware you’re looking at for a dedicated server.
But on a serious note, consider Linux for your dedicated server. It’s actually very simple for anyone to setup.
I shell into my server, from a Windows based laptop, with Xming (xserver) and Putty(terminal). I can launch Double Commander, unRAR my movies and shows into the proper directory (folder) that my Plex server reads in a GUI environment. When I’m away from the PC I can monitor Deluge from Transdrone. On top of that, the server is also my OpenVPN server that keeps me save on the university WiFi. That is GREAT considering the news of WiFi actually being extremely insecure!
If you’re seriously considering a dedicated Plex server, it’s a great time to experiment with Linux!
I only mentioned FreeNAS because a colleague at work mentioned it, but I have no idea what others are out there and which would be best for my needs.
I first heard of ZFS when I looked at FreeNAS video tutorials last night but Im not sure I understand it.
I was hoping to start off with 1 HDD fitted to the server, to store my media on so that I can use the Plex server.
I then planned to add more HDD as time goes on, but at the moment I don’t know if I should use RAID and have no experience of it. To start with RAID wont be applicable if I just fit 1 HDD so that I can use Plex as the media server.
When I looked at the FreeNAS video tutorials last night, I got the impression you have no choice but to use RAID (or ZFS as they call it) ? Is it not possible to just fit 1 HDD to the server so that I can just use Plex media server to start with ?
Regardless of the OS, I am trying to decide on the hardware to get and then worry about the OS.
OK. This is going to sound harsh @free_flyer so I beg you to not take it the wrong way. It is difficult over a forum to be interpreted correctly and I am only saying this for your own good. Do not use FreeNAS. Why? It is way, way, over your skill level at the moment. You have a long, and somewhat perilous, journey in to the dark before being able to master and commandeer that ship.
With FreeNAS it is absolutely necessary to get the correct hardware setup first - based on what that OS requires. Just getting some stuff and try to make it run will cause all kinds of issues (disregarding the lack of knowledge on your part). Your friend that suggested this OS for you is doing you a great disservice by suggesting that. I do not know this person but a guess would be that he/she wants to sound ‘cool’ in a nerdy way to impress you. Do not be fooled by that, please. If you want to dip your toes in the *nix part of the world (of which your Mac’s somewhat are) - go with Ubuntu Desktop or Linux Mint. They are fairly easy to use Linux dists with a GUI and strong support. I assure, it will be enough of a challenge for you.
Remember that RAID is not a backup system. It is a redundancy system aimed at getting you and your system up and running again quickly (simplified, I know ZFS and BTRFS gives other advantages too). If your server catches fire (literally), the data gets corrupted, two hard disks breaks down (and you only have one spare for instance) - all the data could potentially be lost. Having an external USB-disk as a backup that you physically connect and remove (and store pref somewhere safe) is a good option. Having RAID for the sake of having it, because it is ‘safe’ and that ‘you have a backup’ is in err.
Your setup will never be better than the person handling the system administrative tasks behind it. Keep things simple, use a OS that your are comfortable with (such as Windows) or a ‘easy’ dists such as those prev mentioned and have a backup on an external disks. After you’ve mastered the basics - you can go on with using more advanced setups.
@free_flyer said:
Thanks Peter, there was nothing harsh in your post so no offence taken
If you do want to dip into Linux you’re more than welcome to ask questions on here about setting it up.
My personal suggestion is to use a GUI environment, such as Gnome, when first learning how Linux functions. I suggest Gnome because Canonical (Ubuntu) is discontinuing their Unity desktop environment and switching to Gnome, which is what they used before they developed their own GUI. It would be more efficient to learn how Gnome works vs Unity when it’s discontinued. Gnome is incredibly popular and it’s the main flavor of desktop environment for many different Linux distributions.
You can do everything in Linux from the terminal and just type commands and edit files that you can in a desktop GUI; it’s just a very steep learning curve when you’re use to Windows or MacOS.
I forgot to mention in my last post; you can encrypt your hard disks very easily in Linux. All of my drives are encrypted and with every boot up I must type a password for each individual hard disk so the data can be read. Of course this causes zero problems with Plex
Thanks Peter, your suggestion of using the Gnome OS, will this allow me to do all of the following:
Apple Time machine back
General back
iTunes library (to serve to the AVR)
Personal cloud storage
Possible CCTV recording
I did write a longer reply to your original post yesterday using my mobile, but it seems that the emoji truncated my post.
The reply that I tried to post yesterday is below…
“Thanks Peter, there was nothing harsh in your post so no offence taken. I don’t have any experience with servers and an OS for servers, so I appreciate any advise and help hence my post. It does look like a very steep learning curve and all I want is something that does the job and is flexible. It was a colleague at work that suggested FreeNAS originally but I don’t think he has used it or knows much about it. I think the reason he suggested FreeNAS was because I told him I wanted to use Apple Time Machine backup in addition to Plex etc and he found that FreeNAS can do this. Having looked briefly at FreeNAS it does look complicated mainly because it’s new to me and I don’t understand all the terminology etc. I am capable (I’m an embedded/electronics engineer) but I would prefer not to spend all of my spare time learning about server OS. Yet at the same time I want something that will do the job and be flexible and upgradeable, so I am prepared to put some effort into learning if that’s what I need to do. I’ve use Ubunta briefly before (to read a Mac formatted HDD using a windows PC) but open to any other recommended OS’s to meet my needs. Choosing the hardware is the first step I assume? And then choosing the OS? I have several USB HDDs for my backups and another 5TB desktop HDD for offsite backups so I will still keep using backups in addition to the server. The one thing I do like about RAID is the protection it offers if a HDD fails (obviously not with RAID 0) as I’ve had HDDs fail before. But I still intend to perform backups as well as off site backups. I understand the principal of the standard RAID levels, just not the details or any experience of implementing RAID.”
Another possibility is to run Plex on a VPS. We used to have a dedicated desktop PC for Plex, but switched to a VPS last March and never looked back. Of course you need to find the storage space somehow because a VPS usually only offers about 40 to 80 GB (just enough to run the Plex server software).
We’ve moved to Google Cloud storage (unlimited, $10/month) and the VPS costs us $10/month too (you can go cheaper, but performance WILL suffer). Upside is no hardware maintenance cost and no additional cost for expanding storage. Downside is a steady monthly cost, and the fear that Google might do away with the unlimited storage, as most other providers have already done.
Plus setting up a VPS is a bit of a challenge - though if I can do it, so can you so that’s no excuse
Need some advice iv had a plex media server for many many years and I have just built a new one. the spec and usage is as follows.
i7-8700k processor
32GB of DDR4 Ram
2x Samsung pro evo 250gb SSD in raid 0
6x 8tb Seagate Ironwolf HDDs in raid 10 so 22TB usable space
I have moved it into a data centre with 700mb up and 800mb down ran a speed test
its only for family use about 20 people
the problem I have is sometimes it would freeze for maybe 10 seconds then carry on but not like a buffering freeze just a freeze in transcoding or direct play
there maybe only 3 or 4 people on it at the same time
which services should I disable and what things should I try to make it faster and more reliable
You have not mentioned your operating system or anything about it.
@pcwizard said:
Need some advice iv had a plex media server for many many years and I have just built a new one. the spec and usage is as follows.
i7-8700k processor
32GB of DDR4 Ram
2x Samsung pro evo 250gb SSD in raid 0
6x 8tb Seagate Ironwolf HDDs in raid 10 so 22TB usable space
I have moved it into a data centre with 700mb up and 800mb down ran a speed test
its only for family use about 20 people
the problem I have is sometimes it would freeze for maybe 10 seconds then carry on but not like a buffering freeze just a freeze in transcoding or direct play
there maybe only 3 or 4 people on it at the same time
which services should I disable and what things should I try to make it faster and more reliable
@seidler82 said:
You have not mentioned your operating system or anything about it.
@pcwizard said:
Need some advice iv had a plex media server for many many years and I have just built a new one. the spec and usage is as follows.
i7-8700k processor
32GB of DDR4 Ram
2x Samsung pro evo 250gb SSD in raid 0
6x 8tb Seagate Ironwolf HDDs in raid 10 so 22TB usable space
I have moved it into a data centre with 700mb up and 800mb down ran a speed test
its only for family use about 20 people
the problem I have is sometimes it would freeze for maybe 10 seconds then carry on but not like a buffering freeze just a freeze in transcoding or direct play
there maybe only 3 or 4 people on it at the same time
which services should I disable and what things should I try to make it faster and more reliable
cheers for your help
Sorry for that it’s windows 10
Also here is the read write
C drive ssds raid 0 3052mb/s read 2718mb/s write
6x 8tb Seagate Ironwolf HDDs in raid 10 so 22TB usable space 350mb/s read write
