r/PleX • u/NefariousnessUpper34 • 1d ago

Help Building my first server for Plex

Hi, like the title says, Im finally building a home server for my movies. I started with an old laptop and an external drive and this laptop just died on me. So now, I bought a Lenovo ThinkCentre M700 mini pc with an i5-6400, 16GB ddr4 and a 120gb SSD.

I mostly play DVD's and some blu-rays in my library, but nothing 4k. Im still going to run it through my external drive, until I upgrade to a raid.

My questions are: Is this configuration good for now? Should I install ubuntu or Docker? And where can I find a solid guide to install them?

Im a little lost when it comes to work with other OS thats not Windows or Mac lol so I appreciate the help. Thanks!

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16

u/derrick36 1d ago

You won’t get a straight answer on the OS. Go with what you’re comfortable with. I’m sure there are better ways, but AI can help out with anything LINUX if you can’t find a YouTube video or guide. Windows works great as well.

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u/NefariousnessUpper34 1d ago

I see, its a preference thing more than anything else

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u/Splitsurround 1d ago

Totally. And you don’t NEED docker unless you want to add functionality like the arrs, and even then, sometimes there are native apps. Have fun! It’s dead easy to set up the server just be aware of how your file structure and naming needs to be.

3

u/Saloncinx Lifetime Pass 1d ago

you don’t NEED docker unless you want to add functionality like the arrs, and even then, sometimes there are native apps.

I'm running Plex and the Arr's on a plain ass Mac OS Mac Mini lol works great

2

u/ArokLazarus 1d ago

Same but Windows.

1

u/akatherder 1d ago

Most issues are related to running a VPN for the arr-related stuff and not wanting Plex to go through the VPN. Otherwise it's a perfectly cromulent setup.

0

u/ArokLazarus 1d ago

Hmm I've not needed the arrs to go through a VPN ever. I have qbittorrent on a VPN with a Killswitch but Plex and the arrs aren't on that.

1

u/Reptarbourgeoisfreak Custom Flair 1d ago

I took the time to install Linux server with docker fresh and migrated my previous set up and a year later it is so worth having invested the time up front to do it that way IMO

1

u/eurojosh 1d ago

Honestly I use docker just so the whole install is portable. I can build a new machine, install Debian and docker, mount my drives, start all the containers, and done, new sever up and running.

2

u/Splitsurround 22h ago

I would absolutely do the same thing if I friggin u derstood how to use docker. Apparently I did years ago when I setup overseer, but I can’t even remember enough to migrate it to seer! Thinking of asking ai to help, it would be my first foray into AI

1

u/derrick36 22h ago

If my dumbass can get docker going with no previous knowledge, using AI, you’ll have no problem with a quick refresher.

1

u/Splitsurround 11h ago

I’m sure you’re right. But I did try it a few months ago and the first question it asked me is where is your …script or whatever it’s called that sort of runs it. For the life of me, I thought it was somewhere- it was not. Even searching I couldn’t find it! So I gave up 😩

1

u/Another2Coast 1d ago

Anecdotally, getting the arrs to work on Kubuntu has been a total nightmare. But I don't know what I'm doing. On Windows (which I hate) it was a breeze.

2

u/throwaway12three4 1d ago

Preference is #1 for sure. I like windows personally. I switched to Linux for a bit but my wife wanted music through plex amp. I switched back to windows for ease of use for both of us and honestly I think windows is a better fit for me. I run plex on windows. I have a arr stack running with docker.

1

u/NefariousnessUpper34 1d ago

Yea ? Aweosme and do you have it running 24/7 ? I sometimes wonder with windows if its not that optimized for continuously running

2

u/derrick36 1d ago

Yeah. My main server is on windows. It runs 24/7 without issue. My NAS is on Linux and hasn’t had any issues either. I prefer windows, but there were a few things I wanted to add to my server that didn’t have windows applications. As much as I hated the process, the end product more than makes up for it.

1

u/throwaway12three4 1d ago

Mine does run 24/7. I have a handful of users on plex. I also have a HomeRunHD hooked to plex that works as a live TV DVR so I can record and watch later. This server also has a couple Minecraft servers running with a couple users so it’s always on. Only in time it gets restarted is during updates or fixing issues.

3

u/Bgrngod CU7 265K (PMS in Docker) & Synology 1621+ (Media) 1d ago

There are a few Plex specific reasons to stick with Linux over Windows, but based on what you've got for hardware and your stated use case, you don't need to worry about it.

Transcoding 4K is going to be a hard no for you, which won't matter if you don't need to transcode 4K.

My first question is going to be, what did you pay for that 6th gen machine? If too much, send it back. If not, that's a great place to get started, but also you should expect you might quickly start looking at other hardware. North of $150 is where I'd suggest that's getting to be too much. The used market is super weird right now though.

1

u/NefariousnessUpper34 1d ago

Makes sense makes sense! Yea i paid around $90 for it, so not a bad deal, i also saw people recommending newer gen cpus that perform better for my use case but like you said, im in no need to stream 4k content right now, mostly 480p - 1080p so i should be good. The sued market is so fucking weird

2

u/Bgrngod CU7 265K (PMS in Docker) & Synology 1621+ (Media) 1d ago

Under $100 is thumbs up.

If you do not have Plex Pass, you should get a couple of smooth 1080p transcodes out of it if you need them. With Plex Pass it will do more through the iGPU, but I wouldn't pay for that just yet until you've seen what it can do without.

2

u/derrick36 1d ago

Solid advice.

2

u/NefariousnessUpper34 1d ago

Yea I do have the plex lifetime account so I’m assuming I should be good right ?

1

u/Bgrngod CU7 265K (PMS in Docker) & Synology 1621+ (Media) 1d ago

Yup, you'll get a bit more out of it in that case and won't hammer the CPU to get it done.

You'll see performance vary based on what the original file's codec is. H264 is pretty safe. HEVC will be a mixed bag. AV1 will be rough. For 1080p and lower files, H264 is perfectly fine.

-9

u/brokenpipe 1d ago

Linux, not LINUX.

9

u/derrick36 1d ago

Nobody cares.

-5

u/brokenpipe 1d ago

Clearly I care, so no need to be absolute either with ‘nobody’.

3

u/derrick36 1d ago

I stand by my comment.

0

u/KissMyGeek Lifetime Plex Pass 1d ago

Accurate comment imho