Lightroom, PLEX and backup server build

[miwill]

Hello Unraid community!

I'm looking into building myself an Unraid NAS server to use as a storage for my Lightroom work (catalog stored localy, but working on the RAW files over the network (remotely if possible?)), a PLEX server (only one or maximum 2 4k streams) and a backup server for my computers.

 

I was looking into an AMD 4600G, some 16TB hard drives and an NVME SSD for caching. 

 

Are these things possible with Unraid? I want to be sure before buying Unraid and the whole setup.

 

Many thanks in advance!

[Hoopster]

2 hours ago, miwill said:

Are these things possible with Unraid?

Unraid started as a true NAS OS so network file storage and access is a strong point of Unraid; however, you need to be aware that accessing/editing files is at the speed of the single disk on which a file is stored.  There is no striping of data across disks in Unraid.

 

Using an Unraid server as a backup location for client machines on the network is a common usage of Unraid.  I am backing up two desktop machines and a laptop to Unraid and well as performing server-to-server data backup between two Unraid servers.

 

Media storage and playback via Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, etc. is also another very common use for Unraid.  Many people build an Unraid server just for this purpose.  For best 4K streaming performance, make sure your local clients are capable of 4K playback for direct streaming and do not need transcoding.  4K transcoding requires a lot of resources.  For remote playback (usually requires trandscoding) it is best to have a 1080p content library rather than trying to transcode native 4K content.

[Lolight]

15 hours ago, miwill said:

a PLEX server

If transcoding is required then Intel would be a better platform.

[miwill]

On 5/26/2023 at 5:22 PM, Hoopster said:

Unraid started as a true NAS OS so network file storage and access is a strong point of Unraid; however, you need to be aware that accessing/editing files is at the speed of the single disk on which a file is stored.  There is no striping of data across disks in Unraid.

 

Using an Unraid server as a backup location for client machines on the network is a common usage of Unraid.  I am backing up two desktop machines and a laptop to Unraid and well as performing server-to-server data backup between two Unraid servers.

 

Media storage and playback via Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, etc. is also another very common use for Unraid.  Many people build an Unraid server just for this purpose.  For best 4K streaming performance, make sure your local clients are capable of 4K playback for direct streaming and do not need transcoding.  4K transcoding requires a lot of resources.  For remote playback (usually requires trandscoding) it is best to have a 1080p content library rather than trying to transcode native 4K content.

 

Thanks for your reply! For Lightroom editing directly from an Unraid server, we should use SSD storage? Or do you recommend something else? I have a hard time finding stuff on this on Google, except for Linus Tech Tips but those setups are way too expensive and overpowered  

 

The other two cases seems to be covered, so only the editing part I'm still trying to figure out.

[miwill]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:24 AM, Lolight said:

If transcoding is required then Intel would be a better platform.

I'll look into that! Thanks!!

[Kilrah]

2 hours ago, miwill said:

Thanks for your reply! For Lightroom editing directly from an Unraid server, we should use SSD storage?

My experience is that accessing files through the network with Lightroom is unbearably slow. 

[miwill]

Just now, Kilrah said:

My experience is that accessing files through the network with Lightroom is unbearably slow. 

As Truenas can use two hard drives simultaneously (faster reads from NAS on 10gbe network), could that problem be fixed if I use Truenas instead of Unraid? 

[Hoopster]

4 hours ago, miwill said:

For Lightroom editing directly from an Unraid server, we should use SSD storage?

You could have a cache-only share for Lightroom files that lives on an SSD and that would improve things somewhat; however, there is no parity protection for files on a cache-only share.  Some Unraid users even do this for Plex files, put the most recent or most popular on a cache-only share for faster access and no disk spinup delay.

 

One of the advantages of Unraid, increasing storage capacity at any time by adding disks of any size, also comes with the single file on a single disk read "penalty."

 

1 hour ago, miwill said:

As Truenas can use two hard drives simultaneously (faster reads from NAS on 10gbe network), could that problem be fixed if I use Truenas instead of Unraid? 

I have never used Truenas so I can't give you a good answer on this, but since it supports RAID configurations in the array with data striping, read times are likely to be faster, but then you deal with RAID when it comes to expanding storage.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Hoopster

[Kilrah]

3 hours ago, miwill said:

(faster reads from NAS on 10gbe network)

The overhead seemed to be samba since the same files stored on a local HDD are much more usable than a networked SSD. But then I have a gigabit network, maybe it's better on 10G. 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Kilrah

[Bladefire999]

I use my server as a backup to light room. I import all my files directly to my share that's mapped. The catalog references the share drive. The catalog is local and I just backup each time I exit. This way its very fast as its not using the files much.