Where to start on a plex server

[thatguyyouknow75]

Looking to do a plex build for someone who has a few thousand dvds. Not sure where to start planning things out or how to connect the tvs devices etc to the network. Anyone know of an in depth guide? 

[Sauron]

The televisions need to all support the plex client. Samsung smart TVs do, I don't know about the others. All clients need to be connected to the same network as the server - most smart tvs have at least ethernet, many wifi. The server needs to be running the plex server.

 

That's it pretty much. Configuring the plex server is pretty intuitive, you won't need much help once it's installed. Of course you'll need to rip all his dvds and place the movie files on the server - handbrake can take care of that.

[thatguyyouknow75]

1 minute ago, Sauron said:

The televisions need to all support the plex client. Samsung smart TVs do, I don't know about the others. All clients need to be connected to the same network as the server - most smart tvs have at least ethernet, many wifi. The server needs to be running the plex server.

 

That's it pretty much. Configuring the plex server is pretty intuitive, you won't need much help once it's installed. Of course you'll need to rip all his dvds and place the movie files on the server - handbrake can take care of that.

Can't use hdmi dongles? 

[Sauron]

7 minutes ago, thatguyyouknow75 said:

Can't use hdmi dongles? 

if they support the plex client, yes, you can.

[thatguyyouknow75]

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

if they support the plex client, yes, you can.

So regular tvs are out of the question? 

[gamerking]

Looking to do a plex build for someone who has a few thousand dvds. Not sure where to start planning things out or how to connect the tvs devices etc to the network. Anyone know of an in depth guide? 

 

 

if  you use a roku stick or player then any tv can use plex. or a HTPC

 

my first question would start with the server if he has a few thousand dvd's he has to rip them all and then compress them unless he want to have 3-5 to 10 tb of movies.  im guessing if that little. i rip'd a 15 season around 350-400 eps show came out to nearly a TB before i ran it thur handbrake and that took 7 days (5820k 4.5ghz so not a bad pc) non stop for handbrake to do the work .

if you dont have a server DONT use a dell or any old pc that is not meant to run 24/7 thats  also way past it prime i learned my lesson killed my ram/cpu doing this just on one show on my plex server

[thatguyyouknow75]

4 hours ago, gamerking said:

 

 

if  you use a roku stick or player then any tv can use plex. or a HTPC

 

my first question would start with the server if he has a few thousand dvd's he has to rip them all and then compress them unless he want to have 3-5 to 10 tb of movies.  im guessing if that little. i rip'd a 15 season around 350-400 eps show came out to nearly a TB before i ran it thur handbrake and that took 7 days (5820k 4.5ghz so not a bad pc) non stop for handbrake to do the work .

if you dont have a server DONT use a dell or any old pc that is not meant to run 24/7 thats  also way past it prime i learned my lesson killed my ram/cpu doing this just on one show on my plex server

I understand the difference between using server hardware and consumer grade and know what can be used for both. Ripping would take quite some time and would likely require copius amounts of storage (he has large storage tubs filled from floor to ceiling, probably 6 stacks) 

[Sauron]

9 hours ago, thatguyyouknow75 said:

So regular tvs are out of the question? 

If by "regular" you mean only a screen that gets tv signals, then yes, you can't use those by themselves (but you can use them with a dongle if the dongle supports plex).

[gamerking]

9 hours ago, thatguyyouknow75 said:

I understand the difference between using server hardware and consumer grade and know what can be used for both. Ripping would take quite some time and would likely require copius amounts of storage (he has large storage tubs filled from floor to ceiling, probably 6 stacks) 

if he has tubs of dvd's tell him start ripping hes going to be old and gray before hes done .

[thatguyyouknow75]

19 minutes ago, gamerking said:

if he has tubs of dvd's tell him start ripping hes going to be old and gray before hes done .

he is old and gray, hell be dead by the time they finish probably aha

[Jarsky]

For the Samsung SMART TV's, just get the Plex App for them.

For the Non-Smart TV's, if they have an HDMI port then you can get GoogleCast's.

For network connectivity you could use Wifi N.

 

For a server for that many movies, you'll probably be wanting a hefty amount of space.

Are you looking to create a pooled array for the server side? (more expensive) Or just run individual disks? (data risk)

 

Also it takes my i7 a good 2hrs to rip and encode a movie, and my dual Xeon with 24 threads isnt much faster. So goodluck with converting a few thousand

[twisties]

On 6/13/2016 at 6:19 AM, Jarsky said:

 

For the Non-Smart TV's, if they have an HDMI port then you can get GoogleCast's.

 

This.

 

Get a ChromeCast, even if your TV is a 'smart' one. Navigating an on screen menu with a remote vs using your phone/tablet to do the same, plus the benefit of a full touchscreen keyboard when you need to search for something.
That being said, my experience is a comparison between the plex client on a Raspberry Pi +  remote passthrough vs android app + chromecast so my experience was probably a LOT laggier than anything anyone else has used.

[Eniqmatic]

On 6/11/2016 at 11:57 PM, Sauron said:

The televisions need to all support the plex client. Samsung smart TVs do, I don't know about the others. All clients need to be connected to the same network as the server - most smart tvs have at least ethernet, many wifi. The server needs to be running the plex server.

 

That's it pretty much. Configuring the plex server is pretty intuitive, you won't need much help once it's installed. Of course you'll need to rip all his dvds and place the movie files on the server - handbrake can take care of that.

 

On 6/12/2016 at 9:19 PM, Jarsky said:

For the Samsung SMART TV's, just get the Plex App for them.

For the Non-Smart TV's, if they have an HDMI port then you can get GoogleCast's.

For network connectivity you could use Wifi N.

 

For a server for that many movies, you'll probably be wanting a hefty amount of space.

Are you looking to create a pooled array for the server side? (more expensive) Or just run individual disks? (data risk)

 

Also it takes my i7 a good 2hrs to rip and encode a movie, and my dual Xeon with 24 threads isnt much faster. So goodluck with converting a few thousand

This is partially incorrect, they don't need to support the Plex app to be able to play, as a basic minimum they need to support DLNA to be able to play from Plex. Some TV's have had this function for years, before they became "Smart".

 

You will get a better experience with the Plex App or Chromecast, but it can be done with DLNA only. Just a little more tricky to setup profiles.

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, Eniqmatic said:

 

This is partially incorrect, they don't need to support the Plex app to be able to play, as a basic minimum they need to support DLNA to be able to play from Plex. Some TV's have had this function for years, before they became "Smart".

 

You will get a better experience with the Plex App or Chromecast, but it can be done with DLNA only. Just a little more tricky to setup profiles.

I run a dlna server for myself, and I ran into the problem that "smart" TVs are often too dumb to recognize a lot of formats through dlna. The plex app seems to work a bit better.

[Eniqmatic]

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

I run a dlna server for myself, and I ran into the problem that "smart" TVs are often too dumb to recognize a lot of formats through dlna. The plex app seems to work a bit better.

If the TV can play the format natively (i.e you can drop the file onto a USB and play it) then it's definitely possible to get it working through DLNA only. It's a case of setting up the profiles correctly for your device. I agree it can be fiddly but its always possible.

[Dark]

he doesn't need plex, he needs a carousel player. lol

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-DVP-CX985V-Disc-Progressive-Player/dp/B0000DIK0U

 

If the server isn't going to do the rip/compress then I would recommend a x86 NAS (both for storage reliability and eas of use).  Such as a QNAP.

 

 

[thatguyyouknow75]

Only 400 disks though....