ConnerVT

Many folks do just fine with 1TB.

Certainly. Especially if it is just going to be used for backup storage duty. See my siggy below, and you'll see that my old 1500X system is used for just that, backing up the media files from my main server.

How big should your cache drive be? One size bigger than you need it to be. 😉 The term "Cache Drive" has become a bit antiquated, back from when SSD storage cost was approaching the cost of the CPU in the system. Due to this expense, folks spent a lot of time planning where to store things, to maximize this valuable space. Now solid state storage is much cheaper, more things find their way to cache. Even Unraid has expanded this as well. The "cache" drive once was the only one you could have. Now you can have multiple "pools", all effectively acting as cache drives. So, what do people generally keep on the cache drive? The main usage includes: Appdata share - stores Docker configuration files System share - stores both the Docker image and libvirt image Cache for array - temporary location for writes to shares normally stored on the array. The Mover can periodically moves files from cache to the array. Other things can also reside on the cache drive, such as storage drives for VMs, files being seeded by torrents, whatever. As with the three listed above, you put things which fast drive access improves the performance of the applications using the data. So the first thing you need to know is how much space you need. Just like asking "How big a house do we need?" you need to know how many people (and their stuff) wull fill it up. Appdata and the System share sizes can be approximated once you have an idea what Docker/VM usage will be. The next thing to estimate is the cache for array usage. Ideally, you don't want to max out the available space on the cache drive by writing too much to it before the mover has a chance to clear it out. Yes, Unraid will write to the array directly when the cache is full, but it is that edge just before it is full that causes problems. Some backup programs do not know the final actual size of the file that it is writing, Alway best not to get too close to the edge.

It used to, there appears to be a bug in the ap for IOS I believe the Apple term for this is Feature.

For me, Unraid with no parity is fine when the data stored is replaceable (such as backup data) and you don't need the availability a rebuild ability which the parity system provides. My second/backup server (built from leftover parts) doesn't have parity drives. One added benefit is that write speeds are 3-4x faster without it. As far as file system, my recommendation is xfs for this use case. Basic, established and well supported, and all that is needed for this. Don't overthink it.

Sounds as you are on the right path. I didn't get too deep into your 14 point plan, I sometimes get distra... SQUIRREL! ... what was I saying? Always best to get the new server up while your current iron keeps running what it does. Once you gain some confidence, start copying things over. Unraid is pretty user friendly in its basic configurations, especially for those who have some time with their hands on server systems. As with any new to you software, it is usually "What do they call that?" or "Where is that setting hiding?".

I use the Uptime Robot website. It's free, and it can email you and/or send other notifications (I use Telegram). I run two instances, One pings my firewall device, the other checks one of my https services that run on my server, through my domain and Cloudflare Tunnel. This way I can tell if my ISP is down or just my server.

They are in your Plex appdata folder:

Trial requires the server has an Internet connection. Is your server connected?

Any insight on how Soon™ until we will see 6.12.4?

If all you need is transcoding for a few users, the Quadro T400 or P400 are inexpensive and low power (35W max). The older Quadro P500 can be found used in the $50-75 USD range.

This statement is the key to it all. It is all about cost when built to scale. So many factors come in to play in the data center, which a barely a rounding error when looking at it from a typical user's perspective. (Even if that user is looking at a small site's network. Costs come from so many places. Power usage. Longevity of device. Speed. Frequency of data access. Heat generation. Physical size. That's just a few that popped into mind just now. Each has a cost associated with it, and how it fits into your data center's needs and usage are calculations that are quite nuanced.

Check out Docker-WebUI in Community Apps.

There is a lot of wisdom in this thread.

Attach the entire zip file.

I've wanted a solution for this for several years. The biggest issue is on the iPhone side - It really does have no good way to handle these transfers in the background with a third party application. Even Nextcloud (which I do have set up) is a frustrating experience which requires active monitoring and actions.

Mo' bigger?

I'm a Jack of all trades in the microprocessor world for nearly 40 years now. First gig after college was creating one of the first hi-res graphic cards (640x480!) to go into the soon to be released IBM PC/AT. Hardware, software, networking and systems since then. My current gig is supporting systems for the place that manufactures the IO die in every AMD Ryzen and EPYC. Thank you for your purchase. 😉 I think you will enjoy Unraid. At its most basic level, it is a very simple GUI that is easy to configure. Due to the maturity of the application, you will find that it has many ways to configure it to do so much more. With a large number of plugins and Docker containers (configured to play out of the box) in the Community Applications (Unraid's take on the Apple App Store) and some great folks active here in the forum, the learning curve should be fast and easy for you.

Hot swap-able drives would be my first thought.

Thank you Spencer. I also found for the first time where to ignore a forum member.

Glad my feedback was useful. Many times it is difficult to answer the "I want a server that does X,Y and Z. Will this hardware work?" type of post, as it comes down to not what you are doing, but how much of it (and if X/Y/Z are all happening at the same time). If your are running Plex and only you and the family are using it, a couple of movies playing in your home LAN is easy. If there are always 5-10 streams going at the same time (with people outside the LAN being served), obviously the workload goes up. The devil is in those details. It sounds as your workloads are fairly low, so you shouldn't have any issues. The motherboard is pretty solid, not what I usually think when I read "I have a spare barebones PC." It should give you enough PCIe lanes, as I mentioned above. Some things to note: The MB shares some bandwidth between the M.2 and SATA connectors. Looks as each M.2 you add has you lose one SATA connector. Keep that in mind when you spec out your drives. You can share a GPU between Plex and Tdarr. This can save you some power and room in your server. You can also use the iGPU of your 8700k for transcoding. (I'm an AMD guy, but have been running Plex for years. Check details of this on your own.) I put my first Unraid server on line about 3 years ago. I really have been impressed with how it all works.

Can this be done? Certainly. Both Plex and Tdarr can be run in Docker containers, each with a dedicated NIC. A third NIC can be for general Unraid usage and management. Plex and Tdarr are available in the Community Applications, relatively simple to install and can be configured for both the dedicated network and using your GPUs for transcoding. My main server runs Plex and Unmanic (very similar to Tdarr) and 17 other dockers full time. Only one GPU (Quadro P400) for transcoding. I was running on a Ryzen 5 1500X (1st gen) and 16GB. It ran OK but occasionally it would start to get a workout if I asked it to do too much at one time. I've since updated to a 5700G which never breaks a sweat. The red flag for me is if your hardware will be up to the task. 8700k and 16GB may be on the edge of where things may be hardware limited. The 8700k is more powerful than my old 1500X, but you have more hardware to manage as well. The other issue is (not knowing what MB you have) is if there are enough PCIe slots/lanes available to install 2 GPUs, a multi-port NIC, and potentially a HBA to add drives (if your MB doesn't have enough on board SATA).

Maybe take a read through this?

Believe you are overthinking some of this. You can use your current domain and NPM to connect to any device on your network. In NPM, enter the Forward Hostname/IP and Forward Port of the other server (and appropriate entry in your domain DNS). I do this to connect to several devices in my network. Much easier to manage, as everything is in one place. As for Plex, ideally you have both the server application and the media on the same machine. You can put the data on any machine you can access from the Plex server (even out on the cloud) but you then are increasing network activity and also have the reduction of access speed inherent with the network. More complexity and the increased potential for buffering.