Plex Server Questions

[b4ckd00r5p1d3r]

This is for all unraid users that run Plex.

 

What is your setup and how do you run Plex?

 

I currently have a Mac Mini that everything runs on but it gets slow with downloading, moving files, and streaming. My dream would be to have unraid with everything on it and use the Mac mini as a player, but I dont have the money right now. I am thinking of selling my Mini and running all those plugins on the Unraid Beast, and using Apple TV for playback.

 

Do you think I would run into any problems? Anything else to share?

 

Thanks!

[kaiguy]

I started out running everything on my Mac mini.  Then moved most of the apps, including PMS, over to an unRAID build.  That worked fantastic until I needed a new project and decided to upgrade my initial build and virtualize my server. 

 

My current setup is a little overkill, but you can easily build an unRAID box with a beefy enough processor to run PMS and other add ons (SAB, Sickbeard, etc.).  My previous spec was an i3, and it was great for transcoding and was pretty light on the power consumption.  4 GB should be enough RAM, so it's not like it'll be a super expensive build, minus the drives.

 

I have an Apple TV as well, and it's pretty solid for my bedroom TV.  However, I really love the full Plex client on my Mac Mini.  If you really need to sell your mini, you may want to look into a Roku instead of an ATV, since it's officially supported, has very active development, and don't have to worry about jailbreaking, etc.

 

Good luck!

[mrow]

If your AppleTV is one of the ones released in March that supports 1080p I'd say you will be fine. Take a look at a video review of Plex on AppleTV ( I'm sure there are some YouTube) because it is not as full featured as the desktop client but is a very simple, clean interface. Kaiguy mentioned a Roku box instead of an AppleTV, however I read on the Plex forums that the Roku boxes don't support some H.264 video profiles whereas the AppleTV will play back them all. The Roku does give you some things the AppleTV doesn't like Hulu Plus, Crackle and Amazon Prime but I'd say the AppleTV is worth it for the best Netflix interface on any device alone. And if Apple opens up the AppleTV to third party developers, as their rumored to do, I bet you'll see a lot of those great services come over to the AppleTV without the worry of jailbreaking.

 

Or you could always hold off until you save some more money, keep the Mac Mini and purchase the unraid hardware when you have the money.

[johnand]

Just setup Plex a few days ago, so I am a Plex Newbie.  I run the service and client of Plex on my Mac Mini.  But, also am currently trying the server portion of Plex on Unraid.  I have a few films with multiple versions of the film and the Mac PMS handles those just fine, but Unraid creates 2 or more separate movie entries.  So, so far, I prefer the Mac PMS.  I have yet to see any performance issues running everything on the Mac, so I'll keep it that way for now.

 

Haven't tried Plex on the ATV, but plan too add one to the TV in my office to try out.