Does anyone here have any experience with using this with Plex?  I'm looking for a storage expansion solution and someone recommended unRAID which I've never heard of before.  It seems very confusing from ready the Wiki on setup with this system.  If that seems confusing, I'm curious as too how hard it is to setup for Plex.  Does anyone know or have some advice to someone who doesn't know much about networking?

 

Thanks

I just recently put Plex on my unRAID server. This was the first time I installed plugins on unRAID and there was a bit of a learning curve ie. figuring out where the plugins should be installed and how to turn them on (which is really really simple once you have done it once).

 

Here is the guide I followed to install Plex

https://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/66930-helpful-unraid-links/

 

Useful advice:

Plex is awesome!

Make sure you have enough memory and a good cpu

It will probably take a few attempts to figure it out but stick with it

The unRAID forum is the best and most helpful user forum I have ever been apart of so don't hesitate to ask questions.

Are you familiar with Plex already or are you new to both Plex and unRAID?

I strongly recommend that you first decide whether unRAID is for you as a storage solution. The official info on the technology is here:

http://lime-technology.com/unraid-server/

 

Setting up standard unRAID is a breeze and very easy, just follow the official instructions:

http://lime-technology.com/unraid-server-installation/

 

Once you have unRAID up and running, then you can start looking how to install Plex Media Server in it. That is also quite easy if you follow the instructions:

https://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/66930-helpful-unraid-links/#entry387455

 

The link is to the same thread as archedraft pointed but to the third message in it which in my mind contains the simplest and most compact walk through.

 

Both Plex and unRAID are amazing and together they are unbeatable

To answer the various questions, Yes I've been using Plex (PMS) on my main HTPC for about a year now.  I currently have 6 - 3TB HDD's in my HTPC that are full of media for Plex that I use to stream to other HTPC's in the house and my roku box on another TV. 

 

Regarding if it's the right solution, I really don't know.  Did some reading in regards to storage expansion solutions for HTPC systems and unRAID was suggested many times.  Began to read into unRAID as I've never used or heard of it before.  The creation of a unRAID box seems simple enough after reading the guides and best I can tell seems like a good solution as it offer upgradability and backup.  As with my other drives they are all independent Legacy drives as I don't use RAID.  Reason being is when I need to add more storage, I buy a drive and add it.  This seems to be the case for unRAID as well.  As long as the drives are not larger then the main parity drive, Is this correct?  My main question begins with how unRAID works with Plex.  I will read the links posted for setup and do appreciate it very much.  What confuses me is how unRAID works.  Can I still use my HTPC that has my PMS on it as it is currently?  Does the media drives in my main HTPC need to be moved over to the unRAID box?  Will PMS on my HTPC pull the data from the unRAID box or does PMS need to be setup on the unRAID box and now my main HTPC which is the main server now become nothing more then a client?  Also, What transcodes the data, The unRAID box or another source?

 

Thanks for the help and time.

Reason being is when I need to add more storage, I buy a drive and add it.  This seems to be the case for unRAID as well.  As long as the drives are not larger then the main parity drive, Is this correct? 

Yes that is correct, the parity drive needs to be at least the size of the largest data drive and you can add new disks one or more at a time.

 

My main question begins with how unRAID works with Plex.  I will read the links posted for setup and do appreciate it very much.  What confuses me is how unRAID works.  Can I still use my HTPC that has my PMS on it as it is currently? 

You can use unRAID as a network attached storage and use your current PMS. In this case you would point your libraries to something like \\tower\movies etc. However you can also run the PMS inside unRAID which is officially supported by Plex. You can even try it out and have two PMS in your network which will both be automatically seen by the clients. PMS running on top of unRAID has some limitations related to the video channels, none of the Windows based (Silverlight) channels will work when ran in unRAID.

 

I would recommend putting the PMS on the unRAID, this will free your htpc to be just a client and you will have only one centralised server. unRAID requires basically no maintenance so it will always be available to all your clients.

 

Does the media drives in my main HTPC need to be moved over to the unRAID box?  Will PMS on my HTPC pull the data from the unRAID box or does PMS need to be setup on the unRAID box and now my main HTPC which is the main server now become nothing more then a client?  Also, What transcodes the data, The unRAID box or another source?

You need to migrate your data to the unRAID system, unRAID cannot protect any external sources. You can do this one disk at a time which will minimise the need for extra disks for the migration.

 

Transcoding is always performed by the PMS.

Reason being is when I need to add more storage, I buy a drive and add it.  This seems to be the case for unRAID as well.  As long as the drives are not larger then the main parity drive, Is this correct? 

Yes that is correct, the parity drive needs to be at least the size of the largest data drive and you can add new disks one or more at a time.

 

My main question begins with how unRAID works with Plex.  I will read the links posted for setup and do appreciate it very much.  What confuses me is how unRAID works.  Can I still use my HTPC that has my PMS on it as it is currently? 

You can use unRAID as a network attached storage and use your current PMS. In this case you would point your libraries to something like \\tower\movies etc. However you can also run the PMS inside unRAID which is officially supported by Plex. You can even try it out and have two PMS in your network which will both be automatically seen by the clients. PMS running on top of unRAID has some limitations related to the video channels, none of the Windows based (Silverlight) channels will work when ran in unRAID.

 

I would recommend putting the PMS on the unRAID, this will free your htpc to be just a client and you will have only one centralised server. unRAID requires basically no maintenance so it will always be available to all your clients.

 

Does the media drives in my main HTPC need to be moved over to the unRAID box?  Will PMS on my HTPC pull the data from the unRAID box or does PMS need to be setup on the unRAID box and now my main HTPC which is the main server now become nothing more then a client?  Also, What transcodes the data, The unRAID box or another source?

You need to migrate your data to the unRAID system, unRAID cannot protect any external sources. You can do this one disk at a time which will minimise the need for extra disks for the migration.

 

Transcoding is always performed by the PMS.

 

Henris beat me to it but i second his reply.

Well there are two ways Unraid can "work" with Plex.

 

First keep in mind that no matter what you will NOT be able to just move your current drives from your HTPC to an UnRaid box ... they will be completely reformatted during the array build.  So you will have to 1) come up with a way to hold your library while you clear out the drives OR buy new drives and 2) you'll need to contend with your library database.  This might be rather time consuming if you have a large library DB to replicate.  A different discussion, on the Plex Forums and not here, can help you retain your plex library while moving all your files.

 

Ok so how to make it all "work ...

 

In your case one option would be for you to simply use UnRaid as it was initially intended as nothing more than a NAS serving data to your already existent HTPC media server.  So once your UnRaid box is set up, the array populated, parity calculated, and shares exported, you would tell your HTPC to connect to the UnRaid box (probably via smb or nfs) and to start serving up media just like any other HTPC that has access to network available videos.

 

The second option eliminates your HTPC all together as a media server (though you might keep it as a client) and instead host the Plex Media Server (PMS) on your UnRaid box.  That will involve, after basic UnRaid setup, the installation of the UnRaid version of PMS (available right from the plex webpage) on your UnRaid box.  From there all your other clients (your HTPC, ROKU, RaspPlex, etc) will connect to your UnRaid-PMS.  That is how I do it because like having thin clients to view my media in multiple locations without the need for a dedicated HTPC.  In essence your UnRaid-PMS box becomes your HTPC even though it is not itself being used to push content to a TV.

 

If the above does not answer your specific questions ...

 

Q:Can I still use my HTPC that has my PMS on it as it is currently?

A: If you go with option one above, then sure, since you are using UnRaid as nothing more than a NAS and allowing your HTPC to act as the media server.  If you go with option two, then no and more important why would you want to?  Then you'd have two servers.

 

Q: Does the media drives in my main HTPC need to be moved over to the unRAID box?

A: Almost the exact same answer as above.  Though I suppose you could keep local drives on the HTPC and also point your HTPC at your UnRaid box as yet another file repository.  Of course then you are leaving 18TB worth of your data unprotected from drive failure.  Ideally you will move all your data, and the drives into your UnRaid box.

 

Q: Will PMS on my HTPC pull the data from the unRAID box or does PMS need to be setup on the unRAID box and now my main HTPC which is the main server now become nothing more then a client? Will PMS on my HTPC pull the data from the unRAID box or does PMS need to be setup on the unRAID box and now my main HTPC which is the main server now become nothing more then a client?

 

A: See above and you've answered your own question.  Frankly, I'd repurpose your HTPC completely into an UnRaid box (with parts upgrades where required) and then replace it with a Roku3 or other thin client.

 

Q: Also, What transcodes the data, The unRAID box or another source?

A: Always PMS.  So for you that will depend on if you keep your HTPC as PMS or use UnRaid as your PMS

Well at least you know we are all pretty consistent

This is great information and has totally helped in my understanding of how this works together.  The only question that I'm still a bit confused on would be the transcoding aspect.  I understand the PMS does this, However if the PMS is installed on the unRAID box wouldn't it be wise then to use a very good processor?  I know from reading the unRAID build information, A simple processor is all that is required since the system is lightweight.  However to transcode video and audio takes some power from my understanding.  What would an ideal processor be for something of this if I was to use the unRAID box as the PMS?  I think currently I have nothing but single core's sitting around, Maybe an old Intel Pentium D dual but even that's very old. 

 

Jumperalex had a good point related to the case if you wanted to migrate your current PMS database to unRAID. If the library contains only scraped data with no customisations I would just re-build the whole thing on the new server. If there are customisations then I would follow the database migration guide here:

http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/PlexNine_Tips_and_Tricks#Moving_a_Database_from_one_Server_to_another

 

I'm not sure if it's up-to-date so you should ask for confirmation on the Plex forums before you go ahead.

 

I also had my original PMS installed on my Win8 based htpc where I tried out Plex. But since the same machine is used also for other purposes it was quite often in some weird state or had to be rebooted to finish installing updates/software. And I begun to get complaints from the children about the Plex downtime Putting PMS on unRAID solved all the problems.

This is great information and has totally helped in my understanding of how this works together.  The only question that I'm still a bit confused on would be the transcoding aspect.  I understand the PMS does this, However if the PMS is installed on the unRAID box wouldn't it be wise then to use a very good processor?  I know from reading the unRAID build information, A simple processor is all that is required since the system is lightweight.  However to transcode video and audio takes some power from my understanding.  What would an ideal processor be for something of this if I was to use the unRAID box as the PMS?  I think currently I have nothing but single core's sitting around, Maybe an old Intel Pentium D dual but even that's very old.

What are you using the transcoding for? I mean, do you access your server remotely or doesn't one of your clients support direct streaming?

 

I would recommend reading this thread: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=29670. It has different aspects covered and third post covers also different CPU options and transcoding requirements.

 

 

 

 

Maybe I'm smoking crack....   I was always under the impression that the main server transcoded the information to process out to the clients.  Again, I'm no genius when it comes to this so maybe I'm misunderstanding what is actually taking place.  We only stream within the home.  I have 2 HTPC's, Gaming grade builds on our big screens.  Plus we have 2 Roku boxes that use wi fi in our kids bedrooms.  The kids also stream Plex over the iPads.  Do we not use transcoding with these clients?  If not, Then great I won't have to worry about another CPU.

Maybe I'm smoking crack....   I was always under the impression that the main server transcoded the information to process out to the clients.  Again, I'm no genius when it comes to this so maybe I'm misunderstanding what is actually taking place.  We only stream within the home.  I have 2 HTPC's, Gaming grade builds on our big screens.  Plus we have 2 Roku boxes that use wi fi in our kids bedrooms.  The kids also stream Plex over the iPads.  Do we not use transcoding with these clients?  If not, Then great I won't have to worry about another CPU.

For the two htpc (PMC or PHT) you should definitely not be transcoding, they both default to direct streaming which puts no stress on the PMS except for the disk access which is minimal. Rokus also support direct streaming, I'm not quite sure about the default setting though. I do not have iPads but based on some quick hits on "plex ipad directplay" it seems like it should direct play/stream for most content. I have found that some clients like the Android app transcode if you use external subtitles but other wise direct stream.

 

You can easily check by going through each client and checking the cpu usage on the current htpc PMS. You actually see a separate transcoding process in the task manager and way higher cpu usage.

You're not high, but just missing all the info.

 

In an ideal world, if your pipe and your client can support it you WANT to direct steam or direct play your content.  ALWAYS.  If for no other reason than it puts less stress on the PMS machine and gives the least laggy start/stop/seek performance.

 

That said, if your content is really special, hinky, high bitrate/h.264 level, unsupported container, unsupported audio stream, etc then your client may not support and you will need some level of video and or audio transcoding.  Similarly if your pipe  is very thin (read: remote mobile viewing) then you'll need transcoding just to reduce the bandwidth requirement.  You're not streaming full BD rip Avatar over a 3g network

 

I almost never view while mobile, usually only have a single stream (two AT MOST), and most important of all, all my content is supported natively via my Roku 2 and my Roku 1.  They play high bitrate BD rips in 5.1 DTS as well as all my downloads via direct stream.  So in theory I could get away with a very low power CPU.  But I also happen to know my AMD Phenom X4 965 will indeed easily handle transcoding that same full rate BD rip of Avatar and send it reliably over to my phone over the mobile network.

 

So which CPU do you need ... it depends on what you need and how often you need it.  How many streams?  From what to what (1080p full BD rip down to 480p for mobile will likely be the hardest).

 

For reference, what does your current HTPC have?  It is probably enough to start with to serve as an UnRaid PMS box.  You can easily and cheaply replace the client functions of your HTPC with a Roku 3.

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.  I ordered some additional stuff from Newegg and will give this a shot.