PLEX in VM or docker?

[Genesius10]

Hi, im new to unraid.

 

i want to use unraid for plex and vlue iris as well as centralised storage.

 

Blue iris has to be run in a VM.  So, should i just run plex in the VM too so plex and Blue iris share 1 gpu, or should i run blue iris in a windows 10 VM and plex via docker?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this?  The VM will be running 24\7 anyway.

 

I know very little about unraid and think running plex in a VM will be easier for me as i know windows, but ill run it in a docker if there a significant advantages.

(may have to purchase a second gpu from what i understand).  id also have o figure out how to add radarr, sonarr and sabnzb etc

 

is there a way to back up a VM if i go that way?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Genesius10

[Hoopster]

13 minutes ago, Genesius10 said:

I know very little about unraid and think running plex in a VM will be easier for me as i know windows, but ill run it in a docker if there a significant advantages.

(may have to purchase a second gpu from what i understand).  id also have o figure out how to add radarr, sonarr and sabnzb etc

If the CPU in the machine on which you will run unRAID is an Intel CPU which has an integrated GPU, you can use that for Plex in a Docker container and a dedicated GPU for the Blue Iris VM. 

 

Plex does not even really need a GPU.  There are advantages to having one for hardware transcoding, if  needed, but it can do without it if you have a lot of transcoding needs and enough CPU power to meet those needs without a GPU.

 

If would certainly be easier to run Plex in a Docker container, especially if you want to also run radarr, sonarr, etc. which are also available in docker containers; however, many run it in a VM a well.

 

If you are more comfortable with Windows, you can certainly run Plex that way and be fine since it will be running 24x7.

 

My personal preference is to run everything I can in docker containers as they are self-contained worlds where problems with one generally do not affect others or the host OS.  Problems with an app running on Windows could lock up the whole machine or cause problems for other things running in the Windows VM.

[Genesius10]

thanks for the reply.  

 

so advantage is plex docker can only affect plex docker and nothing else.   seems like an advantage but ive been running plex for years first on windows server essentials, then WS2012 and now ws2016 and i cant say ive had any real issues with it or its associated programs causing any issues to anything else.

 

Are there any issues with running a VM?  any more advantages of running in a docker?

 

what about backing up a vm?  what if i want to load a backup from last week for example?

[Hoopster]

4 hours ago, Genesius10 said:

Blue iris has to be run in a VM.

Apparently there is now a Docker version of Blue Iris.