Best way to share a video library

[dalben]

A question to those that know better.  A couple of neighbours are envious of my video library and have asked if it's possible to access it from their homes.  Rather than setup a neighbourhood wifi system, I was wondering what the best way was to allow them access while maintaining security of my system.

 

Plex/Jellyfish crossed my mind but from what I can see I can't stop Plex from transcoding.  My server isn't a beast so I don't want to transcode their videos for them.  I'm not sure a VPN will work because the neighbours not super tech savvy so I don't want to turn into their Tech Support.  

 

Is there another easy option?  Open to any ideas, whether it's to allow them to stream to their smart TVs or allow them to download to a thumb drive.

[1812]

Plex is easiest.  and tell them to buy you an nvidia card, then use hardware transcode with that. You’ll barely have any cpu usage transcoding then (just audio only)

[dalben]

4 hours ago, 1812 said:

 and tell them to buy you an nvidia card,

Yeah, that would be nice, but I don't think that's going to happen.

[1812]

13 hours ago, dalben said:

Yeah, that would be nice, but I don't think that's going to happen.

then tell them they don't get access. noting worth anything is free in this life.

[dalben]

I'm trying to share my video library, not teach them life lessons. 

[Hoopster]

On 1/21/2020 at 5:26 PM, dalben said:

Plex/Jellyfish crossed my mind but from what I can see I can't stop Plex from transcoding.

Four households other than my own stream occasionally from my server, but, my CPU will handle transcoding multiple streams without issue.  For remote streams, anything above 720p 4 Mbps gets transcoded to that bitrate.  I can probably raise that now as the household with limited Internet bandwidth no longer has that limitation and my bandwidth has increased by 150%.

 

Do you have any idea what clients they may use (if other than their TVs) and what the Internet bandwidth is?  Although many clients can direct stream the most common codecs/bitrates, when streaming remotely outside your LAN Plex may fall back to transcoding even if there is sufficient bandwidth on both ends. I have never tested that as transcoding does not sweat my server.

 

I know you have not been able to keep Plex from transcoding, but, Plex is really the easiest solution in this scenario as it allows you control over remote streaming and bandwidth parameters while giving access to only those Plex libraries you designate and no access to the rest of your server.

 

As stated by @1812 an Nvidia GPU card would solve the problem with the caveat of needing to run a special unRAID build to support it and making sure you have a supported Nvidia card.  A good inexpensive used GPU can likely be obtained on eBay Singapore. 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Hoopster

[1812]

2 hours ago, dalben said:

I'm trying to share my video library, not teach them life lessons. 

And an answer was provided.  If they can’t operate a vpn, plex is the easiest. If you are unwilling to pay for a gpu, and they are unwilling to pay for a gpu, and you don’t want your cpu to transcode, then you’re SOL essentially.  Unless you want to transcode your entire library to a native codec/bitrate that their bandwidth accommodates and works for their smart TVs..... and every movie after for them. 

[dalben]

8 minutes ago, 1812 said:

And an answer was provided.  If they can’t operate a vpn, plex is the easiest. If you are unwilling to pay for a gpu, and they are unwilling to pay for a gpu, and you don’t want your cpu to transcode, then you’re SOL essentially.  Unless you want to transcode your entire library to a native codec/bitrate that their bandwidth accommodates and works for their smart TVs..... and every movie after for them. 

cool

[dalben]

2 hours ago, Hoopster said:

Four households other than my own stream occasionally from my server, but, my CPU will handle transcoding multiple streams without issue.  For remote streams, anything above 720p 4 Mbps gets transcoded to that resolution.  I can probably raise that now as the household with limited Internet bandwidth no longer has that limitation and my bandwidth has increased by 150%.

 

Do you have any idea what clients they may use (if other than their TVs) and what the Internet bandwidth is?  Although many clients can direct stream the most common codecs/resolutions, when streaming remotely outside your LAN Plex may fall back to transcoding even if there is sufficient bandwidth on both ends. I have never tested that as transcoding does not sweat my server.

 

I know you have not been able to keep Plex from transcoding, but, Plex is really the easiest solution in this scenario as it allows you control over remote streaming and bandwidth parameters while giving access to only those Plex libraries you designate and no access to the rest of your server.

 

As stated by @1812 an Nvidia GPU card would solve the problem with the caveat of needing to run a special unRAID build to support it and making sure you have a supported Nvidia card.  

Thanks.  If it's Plex then it's Plex.  My server has a 5yo i3 in there so while it might do ok, I'm not keen to stress it.  I'm toying with upgrading the server so I might budget for an nvidia card in the new box.

 

2 hours ago, Hoopster said:

A good inexpensive used GPU can likely be obtained on eBay Singapore. 

hehe, the concept of negotiating upwards is completely alien here.  eBay never really made a splash.  But yeah, I'll look at the second hand market places for a cheapie.

[dalben]

Just reading up on the Unraid Nvidia solution and saw this:

 

Please note that hardware (GPU) enabled transcoding requires either a

Plex Pass or Emby Premium subscription. 

 

The costs to keep the neighbours happy and retain my uber geek status are piling up.

[1812]

Jesus said “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

[dalben]

28 minutes ago, 1812 said:

Jesus said “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

He wasn't the Messiah (He was a Very Naughty Boy)

[1812]

33 minutes ago, dalben said:

He wasn't the Messiah (He was a Very Naughty Boy)

Relevant 

[Hoopster]

15 hours ago, dalben said:

Please note that hardware (GPU) enabled transcoding requires either a

Plex Pass or Emby Premium subscription.

Yeah, that's true.  I have Plex Pass so I did not think about that.  I got a lifetime pass on one of their $75 targeted sales and it has definitely been worth it as I can use Plex as my DVR for recording OTA TV via HDHomerun, sync Plex library files to mobile devices, etc.  The benefits have been worth it.

 

Since Plex offers monthly, annual and lifetime purchase options, you could pick one with which you are comfortable and tell the neighbors that the price of streaming from your server is $5 US a month.  Still a great deal.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Hoopster

[Hoopster]

2 hours ago, dalben said:

Thanks.  If it's Plex then it's Plex.  My server has a 5yo i3 in there so while it might do ok, I'm not keen to stress it.  I'm toying with upgrading the server so I might budget for an nvidia card in the new box.

Or a CPU with an iGPU that can do hardware transcoding (that's what I have) and completely eliminates the need for Unraid Nvidia and a separate GPU.  A recent generation i5/i7/i9 or Xeon would take care of it nicely for you.  Probably better to stay i7 and above, if possible.