What is the cheapest setup that works for your Plex/Jellyfin setup? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SirDarknight1 · 2023-10-19 10:03 I have a QNAP TS-253D (Celeron J4125, 4GB RAM) hosting all my files. I used to have Jellyfin running on it in a Docker container, but it performed really poorly (which is expected ig). It used to take forever to stream a 1080p movie, and seeking back and forth would freeze the whole thing. Then I moved my Jellyfin setup to my desktop PC (i9-10850k, 16GB RAM, 2080 Super), the files are still on my NAS. It performs much better now, streaming is a breeze and it almost never freezes or anything. Problem is, it eats up all my RAM. My RAM usage is 99% almost all the time someone uses Jellyfin and it significantly hampers my regular work on my desktop. I can upgrade my RAM to 32 or 64 GB, but would that solve the problem? If not, what is the cheapest mini PC or home setup that I can do that'd free up my desktop but still give me similar or at least good enough performance? Thank you for your advice. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-19 10:09 Fyi this sub here is about selfhosting **software services**, not about any hardware purchase or upgrade advice. Consider subs like /r/HomeServer /r/Homelab /r/BuildaPC for that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thestupidmetadata · 2023-10-19 12:32 Booooooo ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thestupidmetadata · 2023-10-19 12:34 Are you running any 4k content or just 1080p? How many users? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SirDarknight1 · 2023-10-19 12:44 I don't have any 4k content. Maybe one or two movies among a thousand. I have about 4 regular users. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Krieg · 2023-10-19 12:58 I run Plex on an N100 MiniPC, including hardware transcoding. I have the media in another system running TrueNAS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- machetie · 2023-10-19 13:12 Make sure you get a box that can be upgraded to at least 32GB, made that mistake got the beelink s12 pro, not enough with 16GB. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thestupidmetadata · 2023-10-19 13:12 https://www.ebay.com/itm/284934336562?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711- 127632-2357- 0&ssspo=e94Q7yFnQvW&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=hXREalKuT2y&var=&widget_ver=ar temis&media=COPY Map this guy to your NAS. Load up Plex/Jellyfin dockers with /dev/dri mapped for Intel QuickSync. Nice and easy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jasondaigo · 2023-10-19 13:26 I never had any performance problems with up to 3 clients on intel J3/4 xxx apu boards. Currently running atom board. With a cheap Quadro and 8GB ddr4. My nas is on the same system even. I can’t believe someone is recommending 32GB for real. I don’t use docker though. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DIBSSB · 2023-10-19 13:31 Link for pc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wdrussell1 · 2023-10-19 13:47 Then you goto homelab and homeserver and they tell you X and Y things and bitch and moan about power usage. Or they suggest things that logically don't line up with what OP wants/needs. Or they will say lines like "for just a little more" about 10 times until a build is $1000 or more. Lets try to be helpful instead of just pushing people other places...hmm? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- discoshanktank · 2023-10-19 13:51 if it's just plex i've been running it on an old laptop with 16gb soldered ram and it runs everything without issues ---------------------------------------------------------------------- umataro · 2023-10-19 13:54 Because of jellyfin? Mine is restricted to 3GB and runs happily on raspberry pi 4. I've even had it run on 2GB pi4 and it only struggled occasionally. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wdrussell1 · 2023-10-19 14:13 There are a TON of ways you can do this. Since you have a NAS already it makes it super easy. You just need a tiny desktop for about $100 and you are golden. Look on ebay for one of those mini desktops from HP/Dell/Lenovo. The one thing though is you will need to find one that has a CPU that supports quicksync. So 7th gen or newer. So you want to find as far up the chain as you can. They are: 1. HP Prodesk 2. Dell Optiplex 3. Lenovo Thinkcenter This is the cheapest way to get away with it. There may also be an option to use one of the Intel Arc cards with a cheaply built desktop for quicksync support. But I have not seen anything related to comparing them to on die quicksync. I would be especially curious on the cheaper option from Arc and how well it works for video encoding. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- smsorin · 2023-10-19 14:20 I am using a cheap custom setup with a Ryzen 3600 and 16 GB of ram with TrueNas and works ok. Jellyfin takes a few seconds to get started but runs fine otherwise. I can even run 4k streams but only works smoothly if i encode them with the fast decode option. This was very cheap because of the old hardware, about $300 before the drives. The only thing I would change is to get a CPU with integrated graphics. Some can help with decoding and massively simplifies the first time setup. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-19 14:21 > Then you goto homelab and homeserver and they tell you X and Y things and bitch and moan about power usage. Or they suggest things that logically don't line up with what OP wants/needs. Or they will say lines like "for just a little more" about 10 times until a build is $1000 or more. What does any of that have to do with this sub here? > Lets try to be helpful instead of just pushing people other places...hmm? You mean like [last time](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments /179ybgl/any_ideas_of_what_to_run_next_just_looking_for/k59exus/) you replied something similar to me? > Self-hosting, as it pertains to the /r/selfhosted subreddit, is any software intended to replace or replicate an existing website, web service, or web app, that the user who puts said software into place has full control over the hosting environment either at the Operating System level or at the level where they fully control all data pertinent to the software being hosted, including data related to the functionality of the software being hosted. > This subreddit focuses on the software that is considered to be self-hosted, regardless of where it is being hosted. > https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/wiki/selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- androy518 · 2023-10-19 14:40 I run Jellyfin on a laptop that was too slow to use for anything else and an external hard drive. Intel Celeron N3060, 2 cores, 2 threads, less than 4gb ram, 32gb eMMC storage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey-Its-Dad · 2023-10-19 14:56 I'm currently running it with some other services on a cheap r230 with a quadro p400 and 16gb ram. I usually have about 3 concurrent users at 1080p with no issues. Everyone gets forced transcoded video streams. I don't think the ram usage for jellyfin ever goes above 2GB. It's running in docker on Ubuntu server. This set me back around $100 ($80 for r230 and $20 for the p400). You could easily run a standalone server for even less if you pick up some used gear. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dcabines · 2023-10-19 15:32 [I use this one.](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CR52LH3) There are many others like it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- griphon31 · 2023-10-19 16:13 16 runs fine for me. I transcode to an SSD and run home assistant and airsonic and emulatorjs and immich and frigate and monitoring software like glances and uptimekuma and and and. Ram is at 70%, could use more, 8 isn't enough but 16 will get you going ---------------------------------------------------------------------- xftwitch · 2023-10-19 16:28 Running Jellyfin on a 5th gen i5 that I've had sitting in a closet for years doing nothing. Running Ubuntu with 16 gb of ram. Transcodes single streams just fine. Most of my files are MP4 anyway. I run everything at 1080. I ran for a bit on a Raspberry Pi 4. That seemed a bit strained, but OK. I didn't like the reliability of the Pi. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- seniledude · 2023-10-19 16:53 I run my truenas scale on a 17-4790 32gb ddr3 and run plex on it. Use a 1060 3gb for transcoding ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jerwong · 2023-10-19 16:57 I'm using a raspberry pi 4 8 GB. It's not a problem until someone transcodes, and that usually happens with H265 HEVC media when the person is on a browser that doesn't support it which is most browsers these days. If the person is doing directplay (click the gear during play and click on Playback Info). If it's forced to transcode, it will tell you why. Direct-play in native resolution and codec should give you perfect performance and consume almost no resources since it's essentially just a file transfer. I find performance works best when I use the Jellyfin Media Player app on my computer or the Android app. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noodleswind · 2023-10-19 17:01 running on a single core 2 gig cloud server. just set filter to h264 so there is no transcoding. works for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RoRoo1977 · 2023-10-19 17:18 Transcoding what? UHD? Atmos? Or something else. I’m looking for a cheap solution since 1 tv in my household needs those files transcoded and my NAS can’t 😞 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- beerpolice · 2023-10-19 17:23 Intel Nuc 11 NUC11ATKC4 Atlas Canyon Mini pc,Intel Celeron N5105, 2.0 GHz - 2.9 GHz Burst, 4 core, 4 Thread, 15W Intel UHD Graphics, 450 – 800 MHz Burst, 0GB RAM, 0GB SSD, Barebone https://a.co/d/a4U3dVJ This thing will eat up Plex. It’s cheap af! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bagelsarenakeddonuts · 2023-10-19 17:33 That must be an absolute power hog though? The n100 mini pcs use like 10w ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _ncko · 2023-10-19 17:34 I bought a used computer off of Facebook marketplace for $200. It has a Xeon processor from 2014 and 2 TB of hard drive space and works like a charm. I can add 2 more 4 TB drives if I want. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DIBSSB · 2023-10-19 17:35 It’s so fucking amazing in my country we don’t have a concept of mini pc or abc sadly Currently using an i5 11 gen full pc build as unraid Power consumption is over roof 😭 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pm_something_u_love · 2023-10-19 17:41 I run Plex and Jellyfin and about 20 other containers in 8GB. They perform really well even though Plex doesn't support hardware transcoding. I only have an i5 7500. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Krieg · 2023-10-19 17:45 4k x265 down to 1080p (x264). Basically any Intel CPU that supports quicksync can do several simultaneous hardware transcodes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FrozenLogger · 2023-10-19 17:48 Something is wrong if Jellyfin is using more than 2gb max. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jerwong · 2023-10-19 18:19 I'm doing something similar except now I'm running out of space on my 1 TB volume. Now I need to upgrade and/or figure out a long term solution to convert to H265. Some of my files have file size differences on the scale of 400 MB vs 2 GB. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noodleswind · 2023-10-19 18:21 >I'm doing something similar except now I'm running out of space on my 1 TB volume. Now I need to upgrade and/or figure out a long term solution to convert to H265. Some of my files have file size differences on the scale of 400 MB vs 2 GB. run tdarr. schedule it to run at downtime. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rjr_2020 · 2023-10-19 18:22 So, I actually leave my data on a NAS and use Plex on a mini. It has an i7 gen 10 in it, a 2.5G NIC since I'm transferring all the media across the net and 32G of memory. It handles transcoding extremely well but I have started making both 4k and 1k files for my media to eliminate as much transcoding as possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- noodleswind · 2023-10-19 18:23 also delete redownloadable media. most of the media i want to watch is downloaded 10 minutes prior. I just leave hard to find media always there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RoRoo1977 · 2023-10-19 18:28 Excellent!! Thanks for the info ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AnalProlapseForYou · 2023-10-19 18:30 I use a stack of old, retired laptops, including one from 2010, that I installed Gentoo on and setup Xen as the Dom0 hypervisor. From there, Podman and Kubernetes, and then containerized plex. I've never had any problems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- iXPert12 · 2023-10-19 18:30 Same. My NAS with j3455 and 16 gb of RAM can handle 3 parallel transcoding streams. Maybe OP has some configuration issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- techie2200 · 2023-10-19 18:33 I use a beelink mini s w/ an N5095 Jasper Lake processor and 8GB RAM. Hardware acceleration supported for the vast majority of my media, and I can do 2-3 simultaneous streams without issue (I haven't tested higher since it's usually just my wife and I streaming). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CheckCheckOneTwo1 · 2023-10-19 18:40 Same here. Working very well on my Pi 4 8gb. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GolemancerVekk · 2023-10-19 19:17 How is your RAM being used? Look at CPU-X in the "System" tab. If the memory is mostly used for buffers and cache then it's not a problem, you *want* it to be used like that. I ran my NAS for years off an i5 (Kaby Lake) with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of NVMe storage and it handled any of the usual media servers just fine. I've used them all, Plex, Emby and now Jellyfin. [Have a look at this table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_ Sync_Video#Hardware_decoding_and_encoding), get the cheapest used Intel CPU you can find that fits your transcoding requirements, slap it on a board with enough SATA connectors and 4 GB of RAM and you should be good to go. Docker should not have a large impact, I have 15 containers running right now and they only use 2.5 GB of RAM in total (for reals, without buffers/cache). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CactusBoyScout · 2023-10-19 19:20 Do you run Linux on it? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pete-standing-alone · 2023-10-19 19:21 Running Emby on my TS-251+ with 2gb of ram. Could be snappier when browsing my library but not a single issue streaming 1080p. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dcabines · 2023-10-19 19:22 Yes, it is actually running Alpine Linux, but others work just as well. [It runs my services.](https://i.imgur.com/dei0M2e.png) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NattyB0h · 2023-10-19 19:53 Raspberry pi 4 (4gb) with only direct stream/direct play. Works perfectly as long as the media is compatible ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Check-Mate-sir · 2023-10-19 19:55 I run Plex in Unraid on a 6th Gen i7 with zero perf issues and also only using the iGPU. Multiple concurrent streams no problem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- grandfundaytoday · 2023-10-19 20:28 I run it on gen6 intel in micro Dell PC. Works great - the intel provides acceleration for video. Costs $150CAD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- elroypaisley · 2023-10-19 20:40 Jellyfin on an Oracle Free tier instance, all your media encoded h.264 mp4 aac and stored on a cloud service like Mega. Total cost $100/ year - no electricity usage, 100% uptime, static IP. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey-Its-Dad · 2023-10-19 20:45 Nah, it idles in the mid 30's, peaks in the 70-80s for what I use it for. Everything is transcoded so it isn't really pulling much more power when it's working. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- redoubt515 · 2023-10-19 20:46 Probably a used enterprise HP/Lenovo/Dell mini or sff pc (e.g. Hp Elitedesk or Lenovo thinkcentre). The 7th gen Intel CPU's would be the sweet spot between price and streaming performance I think. They can be had for $50-80. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Invayder · 2023-10-19 20:52 How do you connect the 2 machines together? This is something I’ve been interested in doing so I can technically keep expanding by adding more “carriers”. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Krieg · 2023-10-19 21:00 Export the files via SMB on the NAS and mount them on the Plex server. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Invayder · 2023-10-19 21:02 Oh I was thinking like a wired link like a JBOD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Krieg · 2023-10-19 21:03 Network. They are two computers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- iamsickened · 2023-10-19 21:29 Raspberry pi zero is the cheapest server I ever built. It ran like crap but it was fine for hosting any audio. My idea was to just have it with a usb drive plugged in hosting away but then I figured I may as well just use my Mac because it was on anyway. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DJTopNotch · 2023-10-19 22:17 Same here. Even 4 different playbacks without transcoding arent a problem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro2352 · 2023-10-19 22:56 I’ve run a copy on a smb mounted network drive from a pi 4, 4gb model. How do you tell Jellyfin not to transcode? Most of my stuff is mkv and mp4 with 480p or 720. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- wally40 · 2023-10-19 23:56 On Linux, use NFS. SMB is best for Windows, FYI. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DtxdF · 2023-10-20 01:04 Running Jellyfin on my old Pentium E5200 (dual core), 4 GiB memory. I use FreeBSD with ZFS, but I use AppJail to manage my FreeBSD containers (>15). It works very well. There is no performance difference between containers and host (at least on FreeBSD): Jellyfin consumes up to 400-500 MiB of memory with a single client, a bit more when some other client wants to play a movie, but in general I use movian on my PS3 or the Jellyfin app on my android device. When I rewind or fast forward the movie it only hangs 1 or 2 seconds depending on network traffic (in general the rate is low) but I think the Jellyfin app or Movian prefetch chunks of the movie and caches it to improve performance a bit. I think the other thing that helps me not to consume a lot of my resources is that my movies are usually of decent quality, but not the best, as they are either classics or too recent to be of decent quality. I don't test the following because I don't need to, but maybe it can be useful to you: * https://github.com/joshuaboniface/rffmpeg * https://github.com/aleksasiriski/rffmpeg-go * https://github.com/Shadowghost/jellyfin-rffmpeg ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VettedBot · 2023-10-20 01:44 Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the **Beelink Mini PC Mini S12 Mini Computer 12th Gen Quad Core N100 Desktop Computers 16G DDR4 RAM 500G SSD Small PC 4K UHD Dual HDMI 2 4G 5G WiFi Gigabit Ethernet BT5 2 for Office Home HTPC NAS** you mentioned in your comment along with its brand, **Beelink**, and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful. **Users liked:** * Device is fast and capable (backed by 5 comments) * Device is small and space-efficient (backed by 5 comments) * Device is affordable and good value (backed by 3 comments) **Users disliked:** * The computer crashes during video calls (backed by 1 comment) * The fan is noisy (backed by 3 comments) * The computer is slow (backed by 1 comment) According to Reddit, people had mixed feelings about **Beelink**. Its most popular types of products are: * Desktop Computers (#16 of 24 brands on Reddit) If you'd like to **summon me to ask about a product**, just make a post with its link and tag me, [like in this example.](https://www.red dit.com/r/tablets/comments/1444zdn/comment/joqd89c/) This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a “good bot!” reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved. *Powered by* [*vetted.ai*](http://vetted.ai/reddit) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- selfhosted-ModTeam · 2023-10-20 03:25 This post is being removed due to the subject not being related to the "selfhosted" theme of the community. Please message the mods if you have any questions or believe this removal has been in error. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TorSenex · 2023-10-20 03:26 I've been using an Orange Pi 5+. It can handle the whole arr stack, plus one transcode. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- machetie · 2023-10-20 04:41 Oh, I don't want the SSD to die. Transcoding to ram and caching Rclone with buffer to ram also. Have at least 10 users to share with my Plex. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jerwong · 2023-10-20 05:06 Run the playback natively. Don't change resolution. Try turning off subtitles because sometimes those can cause transcoding depending on how the subtitles were added to the file. During playback, click the gear icon and click on Playback Info. It will tell you the reason for the transcode. Adjust settings accordingly. If the problem is H265/HEVC and you're using a browser, try using a native app instead. I use the official [Jellyfin Media Player](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-media-player/releases) on my computer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PatrickWTTV · 2023-10-20 14:36 >N100 MiniPC You should not show your domain name lest you inviet some unwanted attention. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dcabines · 2023-10-20 14:41 I haven't opened any ports on my router and you can only access it if you're on my VPN. Do you think there is still any risk? [devpl.us](https://www.devpl.us/) is a public website hosted on Azure so I figure the domain is already publicly available. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PatrickWTTV · 2023-10-20 14:43 If you have taken those precautions then you should be fine. As we enjoy selfhosting there are those who troll the selfhosting threads attempting to hacks stuff. Just want to be sure you were safe : )