OS for Plex Server

[MKeefeus]

I'm planning on turning an old computer into a media server that I will leave on. I was originally going to use Ubuntu but wanted to know if there is a power draw advantage to using something like FreeBSD instead. The old computer is some old eMachines desktop that had Vista on it

[flowalex]

I have it running on Pop!_OS, but I needed a gui just because the computer I was putting it on is a laptop with a broken screen and I needed an easy way to output to a different screen.  I think it depends on what specs you have.  For example, the specs I have is a i7-3612QM with 8GB of ram.  You could probably be fine with whatever os you want, it is just preference, just make sure that you have enough resources for what you want to do

[JoostinOnline]

Mine runs Windows 10 and it's fine. I originally used Ubuntu, but it didn't play super well with the hardware. Make sure you gave a quad core CPU if you want to stream to devices at 1080p though. The transcoding requirements on the Plex website are BS. An old dual core will do 720p, but you get stuttering at 1080p. I swapped my i3-2100 for an i5-2400 ($20 on eBay) and everything runs great. 

 

BTW it's running on 4GB or RAM with no problem. It's not like you're running Chrome, so streaming would probably be the same on 2GB.

[Tsuki]

mine runs on Windows 10, but its also just running on my main computer instead of a separate machine

[Terryv]

6 hours ago, JoostinOnline said:

Make sure you gave a quad core CPU if you want to stream to devices at 1080p though. The transcoding requirements on the Plex website are BS. An old dual core will do 720p, but you get stuttering at 1080p.

This isn't necessarily true, you Plex box can transmit without transcoding. Assuming you place properly formatted files in the server. 

 

Doing this made my raspberry Pi fully functional for 1080p otherwise it could barely handle 720p.

[Marshnt]

12 hours ago, MKeefeus said:

I'm planning on turning an old computer into a media server that I will leave on. I was originally going to use Ubuntu but wanted to know if there is a power draw advantage to using something like FreeBSD instead. The old computer is some old eMachines desktop that had Vista on it

If your comfortable with command line use Ubuntu server if not Just use Windows.

[JoostinOnline]

5 hours ago, Terryv said:

This isn't necessarily true, you Plex box can transmit without transcoding. Assuming you place properly formatted files in the server. 

 

Doing this made my raspberry Pi fully functional for 1080p otherwise it could barely handle 720p.

I just recently learned that, but there's a fair chance he will be getting files from other places too, rather than ripping them himself. 

[Terryv]

37 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

I just recently learned that, but there's a fair chance he will be getting files from other places too, rather than ripping them himself. 

Handbrake solves that, assuming he wants to put in the time

[dalekphalm]

19 hours ago, MKeefeus said:

I'm planning on turning an old computer into a media server that I will leave on. I was originally going to use Ubuntu but wanted to know if there is a power draw advantage to using something like FreeBSD instead. The old computer is some old eMachines desktop that had Vista on it

You mean watts drawn from the wall difference?

 

Not likely, no. You might see a minor power draw difference, but it would mostly come down to whether you install the GUI on Ubuntu, vs having it headless.

 

Either way, I doubt it would be a significant difference.

 

I would just choose whichever OS you're more comfortable with, or the one that has the features you need.

[kingmustard]

I recently bought a system, containing an Intel Xeon E3-1270 (scores just above an Intel i5-6600K in PassMark's CPU benchmark) and 8 GB RAM, to act as a Plex server,

 

I'm using Windows 10 LTSB, as it's Windows 10 but without pre-installed UWP apps, Cortana etc. that I won't need.

 

I have also disabled various unnecessary services and the system has 0% CPU usage when idle, which keeps me content.

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, kingmustard said:

I recently bought a system, containing an Intel Xeon E3-1270 (scores just above an Intel i5-6600K in PassMark's CPU benchmark) and 8 GB RAM, to act as a Plex server,

 

I'm using Windows 10 LTSB, as it's Windows 10 but without pre-installed UWP apps, Cortana etc. that I won't need.

 

I have also disabled various unnecessary services and the system has 0% CPU usage when idle, which keeps me content.

Not a bad way to run Plex.

 

If you are a student, you can get free licenses for Windows Server via Dreamspark (or whatever they're calling it these days). You do need a valid school email address - so that usually means colleges or universities only.

[Ish1337]

I've ran Plex on many different OS. (windows, ubuntu, centos, debian, freenas jail,)

 

I now run it on a headless Ubuntu server VM, and I haven't had a better experience. I will continue running on Ubuntu.

 

Ubuntu server can run on low system requirements.

[jde3]

On 4/11/2018 at 6:39 PM, MKeefeus said:

I'm planning on turning an old computer into a media server that I will leave on. I was originally going to use Ubuntu but wanted to know if there is a power draw advantage to using something like FreeBSD instead. The old computer is some old eMachines desktop that had Vista on it

Thats a good question. What OS is more power efficient, Linux or FreeBSD? I'm gonna say the one that does less stuff and has better power management support. (that might not be the same ones though)

[Razor Blade]

5 hours ago, jde3 said:

Thats a good question. What OS is more power efficient, Linux or FreeBSD? I'm gonna say the one that does less stuff and has better power management support. (that might not be the same ones though)

I use freenas myself and it does have a few power management features like putting the drives to sleep. I don't bother running it though because I do tend to access it sporadically throughout the day or night. Also if any of my other servers need to access it that would trigger the drives to spin up again.

[jde3]

22 hours ago, Razor Blade said:

I use freenas myself and it does have a few power management features like putting the drives to sleep. I don't bother running it though because I do tend to access it sporadically throughout the day or night. Also if any of my other servers need to access it that would trigger the drives to spin up again.

That's not it's only option, it can do frequency scaling as well.. pretty much everything Linux does, I don't know what one is more efficient however.

[dalekphalm]

3 hours ago, jde3 said:

That's not it's only option, it can do frequency scaling as well.. pretty much everything Linux does, I don't know what one is more efficient however.

Honestly the difference is probably negligible. 

 

The OP would likely have to test each OS under typical scenarios, and measure w/ a watt meter, to find out the difference. 

[BaneOfKnoll]

Nobody going to suggest Unraid??? 

https://lime-technology.com/

[jde3]

3 hours ago, TopHatTom said:

Nobody going to suggest Unraid??? 

https://lime-technology.com/

[KoganeNoKenshi]

I'm using plex on my Debian Server (Terminal only) and it runs very well. Also easy to set up.

 

Hit me up if you need any help ^^