Best/cheapest solution for Plex server and storage

Soldato
Joined
17 May 2013
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2,861
Location
West Sussex, UK
I'm moving next month hopefully, and due to a downsize, I need to lose the PC.

When the PC does go, I need to find a solution for storage and Plex services.

I always wanted a Gen8, but the prices have almost doubled in the last year or two.

Is a Microserver the way to go, or are there cheaper NAS boxes that will work? Will the older Microservers be OK?
 

maj

maj

Soldato
Joined
19 Jul 2010
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2,584
Location
Durham
I run mine on a Ubuntu Server VM which is hosted on my Gen 8 Microserver. If I need the Plex GUI for anything I just browse to its IP address otherwise I just use putty to connect and do any updates etc.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
17 May 2013
Posts
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Location
West Sussex, UK
Thanks, think I need to do a lot more resource.

I want something that I can stick in a cupboard and forget about. Low power consumption at idle would also be nice.
It would only be used for Plex and data backup (pics etc)
 
Associate
Joined
15 Sep 2005
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1,744
I run my plex server on a hetzner cloud vbox and use Google G Suite Business for data storage. Playback via an rPi client under the tv.
Small monthly rental outlay, no hardware cost, no electricity, pretty sure Google will make a better job of backing up my data than I will.
 
Associate
Joined
30 Jul 2007
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1,226
you cant put a transcoding server in the cupboard, anything more than a few watts will need ventilation.
If your going to host on premise and need transcoding, and want quiet , then you will struggle to beat a byo desktop class solution in a nice big case with 140mm fans for silent running (if comfortable with BYO).
this design is best suited if you can backup to another storage/offsite, then you may not need raid in desktop class device with all its technical complexity - if you can stomach some downtime in the event of a catastrophic failure.

NAS solutions are expensive, noiser (small fans), less powerful for transcoding so only suited if not happy to BYO but are better suited if you need a raided solution.

If you need to transcode more than 2 streams concurrently then look into how many transoding streams the plex/gpu combination can support. may need a beefier cpu/multiple gpus...at the lower end (numbers of streams and resolution) an intel cpu alone with quicksync (without discrete gpu) will suffice.
 
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Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
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7,176
As this has received a bump despite being weeks old, allow me to second the Hetzner option. Silent/low power: VPS + GDrive + Plex client of choice. I’ll include a shameless plug for PGBlitz (formerly Plexguide). It’ll cost you a few quid each month, probably not much more than powering a Gen8 + drives, but you get unlimited storage and vastly quicker connectivity and lower up-front costs.

If you want local, a cheap ITX intel setup with iGPU will be small/quiet, i’d still use GDrive though, as long as you don’t have awful connectivity it’s a no brainier.
 
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