Home Plex Server Help

[Diagonal]

Hello Techtips community, 

 

I Would like to improve on my Plex Media Server due to the fact that a) none of my files are backed up, and b) I can really only manage to transcode 1 file at a time.

In a past Topic I asked suggestions on HDD for my server and I was recommended to set up a Raid 5 Array with 3 HDD. So I am now looking into how to go about building a server that will allow me to transcode 3-6 files at 1080 at once, support up to 6(?) HDD (for future growth of media library) 

 

Is anyone able to guide me to a Guide or Form that would be able to help me build my server? Or, does anyone here have any recommendations on a build I could build (or pre built system that wouldn't break the bank)? My experience is no experience with Raid 5 Array, but have some experience with building PC's. 

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Tsuki]

plex really just needs a half decent cpu and a bit of ram to function properly.

 

my plex server(which also happens to be my main gaming rig) consists of an fx8320 and 16 gigs of ram.

i regularly have between 2 and 4 videos being transcoded at any given time, while im playing games. without any kind of issues.

 

check out the actual system requirements.

there is a bunch of information on the plex official support pages i would recommend reading through

[Orangeator]

3 minutes ago, Tsuki said:

plex really just needs a half decent cpu and a bit of ram to function properly.

 

my plex server(which also happens to be my main gaming rig) consists of an fx8320 and 16 gigs of ram.

i regularly have between 2 and 4 videos being transcoded at any given time, while im playing games. without any kind of issues.

 

check out the actual system requirements.

there is a bunch of information on the plex official support pages i would recommend reading through

This December I will be doing a Ryzen 1700 build, I currently have an 8320 and was curious if it was strong enough to run a Plex server? Mine is clocked at 4.5Ghz scoring 704 in Cinebench. I'll need it to be able to handle at least 2 streams of high bit rate 1080p...

[Tsuki]

11 minutes ago, Orangeator said:

This December I will be doing a Ryzen 1700 build, I currently have an 8320 and was curious if it was strong enough to run a Plex server? Mine is clocked at 4.5Ghz scoring 704 in Cinebench. I'll need it to be able to handle at least 2 streams of high bit rate 1080p...

thats enough to do it. mines only clocked at 4.02Ghz just make sure you have a decent amount of ram and youll be fine

[Diagonal]

An FX8320 seems to be in the ball park of what I was thinking. 

 

My current thought was a AMD RYZEN 5 1400 CPU, GIGABYTE AB350M MOBO, 3 5TB Seagate HDD, and 16GB DDR4 

 

OR, would i be better off using my Gaming set up for my server and rebuilding my gaming rig? I've currently got a Core i5-4690K with 16GB DDR3

 

And does anyone have a suggestion for a Raid 5 controller?

[Orangeator]

21 minutes ago, Diagonal said:

An FX8320 seems to be in the ball park of what I was thinking. 

 

My current thought was a AMD RYZEN 5 1400 CPU, GIGABYTE AB350M MOBO, 3 5TB Seagate HDD, and 16GB DDR4 

 

OR, would i be better off using my Gaming set up for my server and rebuilding my gaming rig? I've currently got a Core i5-4690K with 16GB DDR3

 

And does anyone have a suggestion for a Raid 5 controller?

Your gaming rig is fine, a 4690k is great for gaming. 2 main options here.

1. If you want a Plex server but prefer to keep your current rig, then just buy a 8320, motherboard, and RAM for super cheap off Ebay.

2. If you want a new gaming rig and are planning on it, than just use your current gaming rig as a Plex server and build a new rig.

3'ish. Sell the 4690k and it's motherboard then buy an 8320 and motherboard, use that as the Plex server and have some spare cash to use on a new gaming rig. Example: 4690k can fetch $175, 8320's are like $65-$80. Now you got some cash for a new rig and a Plex server.

 

Ah the beauty of PC's... So many options. Haha.

[Gerr]

I wouldn't bother spending the money on a hardware RAID controller.  Instead us an OS that supports ZFS like FreeNAS or Linux and just go RaidZ1 if you plan on using 3 drives, or RaidZ2 if 4+ drives.

 

However, Raid is NOT a backup, it only protects your data from a hardware(HDD) failure.  It will NOT protect against accidental deletion, corrupted files, or viruses/malware.  So on top of the Raid, you really should have a backup solution.