🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:10 💡 *Plex Media Server can be configured in various ways, including budget-friendly options.* 01:08 ⚙️ *Adjusting the transcoder quality settings can optimize server performance based on hardware capability.* 03:14 🚀 *Utilizing RAM transcoding can improve Plex Media Server's speed and reduce SSD wear.* 05:46 🌐 *Background x264 encoding settings can be adjusted for faster transcoding or higher quality based on server power.* 08:36 🎞️ *Generating video preview thumbnails can enhance the user experience but requires significant storage space.* Made with HARPA AI
Loved the blooper at the end. Thanks for the tip on transcoding in RAM. Excellent idea, will get moar RAM and do this in my NAS. I’m building out Plex on a QNAP, so it’s getting installed on an NVMe volume. I’ll do, if possible on the QNAP, the ram disk thing. Media is on a RAID 6 HDD pool, and that appears fast enough to be able to serve the content without issue.
Transcoding to ram to save wear and tear on SSDs is exactly what I want to do. I don't know how much it really speeds things up, but the wear and tear over SSDs seems more than worthwhile.
Just remember that this is only necessary if you are transcoding. If your playback is local this is unnecessary since you can directplay. That said it's a good idea if you have lots of extra ram and transcode often.
To give you an idea of how long ssd's can last the mSATA (256gb) in my Toshiba Z930 i7 that ran the same 24/7 as my Asus G74SX laptop does that I've commented on elsewhere. I reboot once a week... The Toshiba is a downdloading, pirating (seedbox) everything device basically! That ssd lasted close to 7yrs (almost to the day actually) as it was my wife's birthday when I bought it for her and when she noticed it had died... The bad though like all things in life is that I tell everyone to back everything up and didn't do the same for myself in that last 3 months!!! The 960gb ssd Crucial (cheap ssd) in my PS4 has been going strong with repeated abuse from being full of new games and updates, patches etc (poeer outages!) since I bought it and it is the first generation console. The ejection button is rooted though!
@@brettus9115 That is a completely different use case from transcoding. Vastly different. Neither of your use cases have near the same level of writes as transcoding.
I set up a plex server on an old (about 5 years old) Intel NUC with an I3 CPU running Ubuntu server. It's got a 2T SSD. Performance is fantastic. The hardest part is ripping all the DVD's that I've bought or rented over the years.
Keep in mind that /tmp is not always on the ram. So first make sure it is on the ram on your linux server, or modify /etc/fstab to mount it in the ram, otherwise there will be no difference :). Great video thanks
Can you possibly do another video or give feedback on how to best install and configure Plex on unraid. I'm setting up a new server I'm building and curious if there are best practices
I see a lot of unanswered questions and comments that we can still hear crickets on. I checked the UA-camrs videos, and he’s still making “content” so apparently he’s still attempting to grow his channel. However, ghosting and ignoring viewers for three years is the way NOT to do it.
i mean i run my plex server off my RPI4 with a 5TB HDD where i store all my media, i know its not the best, but i only use it for me and a few friends and i only stream 1080p H.264 the the RPI4 can easily handle it, tho if i get serious about it at a later date i might build a dedicated system for it, i do have a powerful gaming pc, but i did not want to have that on 24/7 so i just went with a small less powerful solution for both storing all my media and the being able to watch it on my phone in bed or ón my pc, so basically i got a plex server because of lazyness :D
Just a quick suggestion about watching episodes that you may have synced. I set to sync my shows but I select "unwatched only" and limit to 5-10 items. That way as I watch the shows it will delete them from my phone then sync the next epsiode.
After a few files that were full HD stopped in its track to start buffereing, I thought it was the format. Now I'm streaming from the same server for years without any problems, until that event. At this time I write here, one file, 300 mb-ish 0.8 mbps transfer at 408 p and it still is buffering - when I use chrome full screen on my pc- - Doing this on that pc without full screen, it keeps buffering. Now I tried to rollback a version or what Reddit told to try, but still, this is weird. It is only a F*king 300 MB and not 20 GB that plex needs to transfer. Most files about the same size do ok, this one..... I can't understand...
To add media to your Plex server, you need know the best video formats for Plex first. • Container: MP4 • Codec: H.264 video (30fps or less, high@4.0 or lower, reference frames 5 or less) • Audio: AAC 2.0 audio (320kbps or lower) • Resolution: 720p or 1080p • Aspect ratio: 16:9 So if your bunch of videos are not in above parameters, you can run your media through a video transcoding tool like DumboFab Video Converter to make these videos more compatible with Plex. As a simple video transcoding and compressing software, this program features high efficiency and seamless conversion.
Hi, a question about Plex: How do you locally connect the computer to your TV to use Plex without the internet? I want to get the best picture without using internet bandwidth.
Sorin Ichim wrong. if you're talking about using your plex LOCALLY at your house on your iwn wifi network you arent using the "internet" at all. you can have no internet access but as long as your wifi router is up and running and its connected via plex and the player you wanna use, youll be able to watch anything. and transcoding also have nothing to do with the internet either. its all server-side. so yes you can use it locally without connection to the internet
@@SteveWellsNZ thanks. its already set to point to my C: drive which is an SSD anyways. is it better to have a separate SSD just for the local application data?
@@combatepistemologist Won't work for a WD PR4100 NAS need to use a seperate program, SFTP, to access metadata, every single time you want to access and back it up.
Thank you - I have a QNAP NAS with 72TB of storage with an i5 with 16GB of mem - I have run Plex without issue for years (Early Days were fun!) Just found your channel.
Not bad, but would be helpful if you explained why PLEX or we would need to transcode media in the first place. I've used PLEX on my Synology NAS for over a few years now and all my library files can be played in their original qualities (MKV/mp4 at 1080p 5-14 Mb bit rates) and the only few times I needed PLEX to transcode was when I watched some videos on my phone without a good WiFi connection, and that I changed from the phone's PLEX player anyway as my video was slow or not loading, I just chose a lower playback quality... So not sure why we needed to know what you said in the video about transcoding, you didn't mention why or showed any examples either... :/
quick question: NAS Synology 918+ vs desktop PC for plex? my setup is currently on a desktop, but i was looking into getting its dedicated machine to have more storage / not lose my data (what was already watched and whatnot) from my database in case of a computer format or crash. what would you recommend? (ideally that works for 4k)
It’s always cool to see UA-camrs answer viewers questions about topics they are experts in. Hang in there, I’m sure he’ll get around to it in the next three years…
you have any videos about installing Plex directly on a WM Mycloud Mirror, which it supports now I'm just looking to store photos, music, and video and have access through tablet tv whatever. I don't want to have a dedicated computer or anything. But it doesn't sound like it. The only other user would be a friend streaming from another country. Do I just need to get a tech guy? Thanks for dealing with my ignorance.
I just have a bunch of old laptops with random drives dangling haphazardly about, and i just keep them at friends and families places who use them, we'll see how optimization works out thanks for the tips!
Curious how you do that, my family always on my plex if I can make a portable version, that would be cool so they leave my Bandwith alone hahaha But really how you do that, if I understand right, I might have the purpose of the spare HDDs wrong, can you explain a bit more?
When you spoke of Metadata storage for the thumbnails, where are those files stored? I currently have mine off, but would be interested to see how much data is actually used when these are stored
3:10 ram transcoding sounds good, but how much did it help you? Would have been nice if you mentioned how many more files you could transcode after using ram transcoding. Also, how much ram do you need? You never discussed that. And why use Unraid that costs $60 when there are free ramdisk software like RAMDisk? Yes, the free version of RAMDisk only allows 1 GB but that is more than enough for transcoding purposes.
The issue I've been having is that remote access keeps randomly disabling and not reconnecting. Just bought a qnap server and got things set-up as per the usual. When it works it works. Perhaps I should set-up port forwarding or something, I am noob.
Interested in setting up a Plex Cloud to allow specific subscribers of my UA-cam channel to watch 1080p special content. Good to be able to stream to 25+ individuals. Does Plex Cloud allow for this?
Great video! I’m currently building a HTPC/Plex media server using a AMD 2600x from my previous build. I already have the 32GB of 3200mhz Tridentz RAM. The video card is only a RX 580. RAM transcoding sounds like the best path for me. I’m going to dual boot Windows/FreeNAS as my operating systems.
@@alexipeck4201 At the time I was using it as my main system for everything. Windows is very inefficient for a HTPC environment. I eventually ditched that whole idea and went with a separate UNRAID server. A lot more efficient and management of docker containers is much easier in my opinion. Plus I have a dedicated box that can encode video to my desired format which is a benefit so my Plex media server content didn’t have to be transcoded on the fly to my devices.
So you mentioned the NVIDIA SHIELD. I purchased one with the hope of it doing better transcoding then my current Synology NAS. After a week of email exchanges with NVIDIA Support, the SHIELD is being returned. The problem? Although you can mount a NAS to it for media storage, you can't use the NAS for metadata storage. Any moderate Plex library will exhaust the SHIELD's internal memory and attaching a USB drive to the thing for metadata storage was not what I was looking to do; twice the power usage, significant additional expense. So, the device goes back. Very disappointing experience overall.
Mate, I came here for some basic Plex optimization advice. Your intro and wat not seemed straight to the point. but then I saw your channel name, Byte my bits, classic. just had to subscribe
Hello. I recently (October) purchased the QNAP TVS-h1688X NAS for Plex. I do share my media with most of family members. Remotely of course. After watching many videos I realize I should have purchased two SSDs to install the OS and Plex on. I still want to set it up like that, but afraid to lose my media. Which is four 10 TB HDDs. Is it possible to back the media up by plugging a external drive? If yes, which external HDD do you recommend? Also… Which SSDs do you recommend too?
Idk if this will get seen or not but I run a synology DS18+ with 8gb of ram and it runs fine for me but a friend uses it too and complains of buffering a lot and I have been pulling my hair out trying to fix it. Cable connection with 30-40MBS up, port forwarding, all the settings tweaked, it should all be good. I know sometimes it’s a transcoding vs direct play issue but for a 480p file while no one else is using the server, I’d think there would be no issues
How about SSD caching? My Synology NAS supports RAID 0 and 1 for read only or read/write caching. Plex is now mostly run from the cached files and feels much faster.
I’m trying to play files locally on my network using a fire stick and a decent PC. My upload speed is around 2 mbps, coincidentally I’m only able to watch videos around 2mbps without buffering. Am I using my internet instead of my local network and if so how do I bypass that?
Thanks a ton for this video! Been on plex for over a year and have added a second used enterprise server connected with fiber optic to triple my storage space and these are things that I just never knew. Hoping to combine my gaming machine and my server's into one new system with an array and 12 core AMD but just hammered mine with 5 streams at the same time and all of them played fine, I'm assuming quality was hurt because my cpu usage is the same with one stream or 5
i had a ds1019+ server running dedicated to plex server only. out of the box the nas came with 8gb. but recently I've been getting error on the logs saying "[Plex Media Scan] stopped running because the system is out of memory. normally playing 4k hdr movie, the cpu is always at 13 to 20% or less. and memory 15% maximum. i don't know why is getting that error.
When you say plex metadata on a separate SSD adds redundancy to all of the media you have matched/and posters of, does this only apply if your media content is stored on your SSD that has the plex server on it? I run on win 10 and have the plex server on my C drive on my 1tb SSD, but all of my movies are stored on my 3 10tb HDD, does this apply to me?
It really doesn't add redundancy, not sure where he got that idea. What it provides is a performance increase. If you move the Plex application data folder (the "metadata" folder") you are just moving it not duplicating it. So there is zero redundancy. The only benefit this gives is that it may now be separate from your media but if you media drives die then of course the metadata is useless. The only way to have redundancy in the Plex metadata is to back it up to a separate drive/location.
@@santiagodraco I think this is where he mentioned the RAID 1 array. The redundancy doesn't come from Plex configuration but from having the metadata stored on a RAID drive.
@@santiagodraco thanks! is there a video on how to back up plex metadata? I have all my media backed up but I have thousands of files and it took me weeks to match all of them. Id love to have the metadata backed up as well as the media.
@@casanovabutler Not sure about a video but there are help docs on the Plex site about this. But to be totally honest Plex SUCKS at facilitating backups of it's database. It's horrendous imo. Basically there is no option. Mainly you would need to identify where your Plex metadata folder is and your plex configuration settings and back those up regularly. Personally I don't even worry about it since it's such a problematic process. If I need to recover my Plex server I just let it rescan my media and I'm done. This is why it's important to be sure your media is properly named and structured. I use Media Center Master to manage my library (add metadata files, rename files and folders, etc) so that if I ever need to recover I know that Plex will create a new database with about 100% accuracy.
Great idea a about the RAM Disk. Now tell me how I can keep my latest movies up top when sorted by Date Added instead of movies showing up "a few seconds ago" that were added way before the latest movies I just added.
This "shouldn't" be happening, obviously :) A couple of potential issues come to mind. First, be sure that there's no instabilities in your storage connection. For example if you are using a share and that share disconnects it could cause issues with Plex's discovery process for content. The other thing I can think of is more of a TV show issue but... sometimes Plex can think that content is newer than other content when it's really not and this is due to the metadata for the content having a date in the future. I've had a few shows that stay up front until the incorrect future date is passed.
@@santiagodraco Thanks for the reply. All of the media in question was added at the same time when I switched from Kodi to Plex. Then, I've been adding movies as I collect them. There were no disconnects during the initial import that I know of and if you Google this issue, there are literally 1000's of people with this issue. There is even a "fix" called the Plex Dance to delete your library and add them back slowly to get them in the correct order. There are also a ton of threads about directly editing the SQL database to correct the dates.
@@MrV1NC3N7V3G4 Gotcha. I've been running Plex for a LONG time and have gone through many different platforms and the like... this particular problem I've not experienced unless I rebuilt the library. The real solution to the problem would be for Plex to embed some form of metadata into the movie folder itself much like was done for/with Media Center, Kodi and the like. So that when Plex loads a movie into the library it updates the status of that title within a metadata file in the title directory. Play the file? Set the played flag... alongside the file. This would allow for a full recovery of the state of your Plex environment even if you completely lost your Plex data directory/db itself. Doubt that will ever happen though :/
@@santiagodraco Exactly. Up until Plex, I used Kodi with local information only and Tiny Media Manager to look up all Metadata and then be able to modify any of that data in your nfo files automatically so your library is exactly how you want it. With Plex, it gets added and that's it. You cannot pre-configure the Metadata. I am currently using the native Plex app for Android but was wanting to use Plexkodiconnect, however it wasn't reading my RAID array correctly or something so I'll have to work on that some more.
Great Video. Re: #5, I have a Synology DS218+ I have 2 12TB WD Red drives. Can I plus my Sandisk Extreme SSD into the USB-3 port and use it for Plex metadata, or does my setup not allow for that?
Hi Jason... Thanks for your videos i am in the process of setting up a small Plex server myself. The server is based on a dedicated Nuc 8th i7 pc hooked via usb-c to a 48TB mediasonic DAS to store my movie collection. As for the Nuc i have 3d printed a new base to accommodate a 2.5" 5TB BarraCuda hard drive. I was wondering if i use the M.2 to install a Intel optane H10 1TB memory to speed up the 5TB BarraCuda hard drive which will primarily bee the boot drive as well as the drive to hold my metadata. do you this this would be a decent config ? kindly suggest.
Hey Jason, does No 1. option Transcode quality also impact transcoding with GPU hardware acceleration activated? i.e. will it make my GPU hurt instead?
What about using a GPU for transcoding? Those processing units are made for that kind of stuff, the CPU is (usually) not as good at video transcoding as a GPU.
I want to do step 5, I want to move Plex to a stand alone drive but I am unsure how to move this. I have a Plex Media server 23 GB in size Running on my C: SSD 250 GB drive I want to add a dedicated SSD 250 just for Plex. I also want to enable “Generate Video Preview Thumbnails” I just don’t know how to move my data to the new dedicated drive. I watched your video on backing up, but that is just to move your data to a new computer, not just a new drive. Help please…
Hello, I have used some of your advice on my plex media server. like having my ram set up for trancoding. I have a question for you. I will be watching a video from my library and it appears that it seems to be good, then I get this. "playback error conversion failed. the transcoder exited due to an error. How do i fix this issue? Please and Thank you
Any idea on how to reset the settings as I now get the server is not strong to play. I cant find the settings that changed this to happen :( PS. nvm It was "disable video stream transcoding" witch is odd as my server is on my device. I use the web browser. So there should be no streaming seeing its on local physical device.
I had to create a temp folder in the ram disk before it worked then point the transcoding to that folder. seems all data deletes when trans coding is done. I realized after I did this I don't even use transcoding! I copy the movies I need to the microSD before leaving on a trip and I don't stream, no sense opening another door to you network just to watch a movie!
I didn't realise that the RAM disk transcode would take up such little room. I too have 32GB of RAM but running Windows 10 instead of UnRAID. Will have a play when I get 5 mins.
I run plex server on my gaming pc. I have issues streaming large 4k files to my ps5 console. Some 4k content will play, others won't. I've also tested the video files that won't work, streaming them from a different server, and got the same results. Is this my ps5 console plex app that is the issue? I can't stream any 4k content on my ematic android tv box. When I try it says connection to server lost. Any advice?
Changed to RAM transcoding now that I have enough RAM! Thanks for the reminder. Did you see a SIGNIFICANT increase in Plex performance moving from a cache-only appdata on SSD vs dedicated SSD? I have some VM's, other dockers, etc. but have a hard time believing my SSD isn't keeping up?
for number 5 though... (and sorry for repeating the question on a separate video) , is this something you are doing automatically with a setting somewhere in Plex, of are you literally saving the metadata manually on a different drive every time?
I also have 32 gig on my unraid however you can only do about 3 hours of DVR. (Maybe) it definitely won't do the Superbowl. Found out the hard way when DVR was tempermental. I was getting out of storage errors. Turned out it was only happening for show's over about 3 hours aka NFL stuff!!!
There would absolutely be a difference as long as the nvme SSD was in a slot that could support it's full speed BUT it wouldn't be all that noticable because ssds are so fast already for Plex tasks.
@@sirgriffinman - For normal file transfers I'd agree with you, but Plex I would think would be limited by other factors such as your network speed to and from it. So even with the faster indexing of NVME, would that actually increase by going to nvme or would you still be limited by the network?
Since metadata is mainly used for querying, it really depends on the size of your data set. A small data set won't see much difference between a Sata, Nvme, or PCI SSD. A bigger dataset, would see the differences with higher speed storage.
I have my PMS running on a 2 bay NAS. Currently only have 1 HDD for my plex. If I want to populate the 2nd drive bay with an ssd, how would I change my metadata to that ssd?
What do you think is the best Database Cache Size (MB) in Settings/Library? It's automatically set to 40 on my server. I have a 13000 movie DB if that info helps. THANKS Brother!!
No, it's not required. The only way anyone knows that a file is torrented is if you're actively seeding or leeching in a publicly accessible pool. You're likely having issues with the formatting
Im testing out plex again after years hoping its not that buggy anymore but it still is a pain in the ass. Everything works fine for me but the android app keeps exiting from the media player and going back to the content page. Im running large video files over wifi and everything runs smoothly until this happens every now and then. Any clue whats going on?
Question: is the server named after the Norse demigod or the marvel guy? Fun fact, the Norse dude’s name is Loke and not Loki. Probably named after the marvel bro but just thought I should mention it. Plex rocks and I use it with Kodi with the plexkodiconnect add on for Kodi, which I feel is the best of 2 worlds!
1:09 - Transcoder Quality
3:10 - RAM Transcoding
5:53 - Background x.264 Encoding
8:31 - Generate Video Preview Thumbnails
10:17 - Store Plex Metadata on an SSD
The hero we need, not the one we deserve. Thanks for your work dude!
Thanks, this video was being dragged out so much, this helped.
You're amazing
Thanks. This is nice to have.
13:35 Sneeze
Idk if yall heard but he has a powerful server
Fake news lol
🤣🤣🤣🤣
With only 32GB of memory?
9:00 Whoa whoa whoa, you're spoiling Back To The Future for me!
never knew about the RAM transcoding, have now set it up! thanks for that. having 30gb of spare ram is now no longer pointless!
Wow
30gb spare ram ..!!! Wth man ..what do you even do??
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:10 💡 *Plex Media Server can be configured in various ways, including budget-friendly options.*
01:08 ⚙️ *Adjusting the transcoder quality settings can optimize server performance based on hardware capability.*
03:14 🚀 *Utilizing RAM transcoding can improve Plex Media Server's speed and reduce SSD wear.*
05:46 🌐 *Background x264 encoding settings can be adjusted for faster transcoding or higher quality based on server power.*
08:36 🎞️ *Generating video preview thumbnails can enhance the user experience but requires significant storage space.*
Made with HARPA AI
Hi, when you said that the metada should be stored on SSD how did you do that ? did you install all the plex-software into your ssd ? then jailed it ?
1. 1:11 Transcoder quality
2. 3:11 RAM transcoding
3. 5:54 Background x264 endcoding
4. 8:31 Generate video preview thumbnails
5. 10:19 Plex metadata stored on an SSD
The RAM disk stood out for me...will have a tinker tonight. Cheers for that - all good tips.
Loved the blooper at the end. Thanks for the tip on transcoding in RAM. Excellent idea, will get moar RAM and do this in my NAS. I’m building out Plex on a QNAP, so it’s getting installed on an NVMe volume. I’ll do, if possible on the QNAP, the ram disk thing. Media is on a RAID 6 HDD pool, and that appears fast enough to be able to serve the content without issue.
Transcoding to ram to save wear and tear on SSDs is exactly what I want to do. I don't know how much it really speeds things up, but the wear and tear over SSDs seems more than worthwhile.
Just remember that this is only necessary if you are transcoding. If your playback is local this is unnecessary since you can directplay. That said it's a good idea if you have lots of extra ram and transcode often.
To give you an idea of how long ssd's can last the mSATA (256gb) in my Toshiba Z930 i7 that ran the same 24/7 as my Asus G74SX laptop does that I've commented on elsewhere. I reboot once a week...
The Toshiba is a downdloading, pirating (seedbox) everything device basically! That ssd lasted close to 7yrs (almost to the day actually) as it was my wife's birthday when I bought it for her and when she noticed it had died... The bad though like all things in life is that I tell everyone to back everything up and didn't do the same for myself in that last 3 months!!!
The 960gb ssd Crucial (cheap ssd) in my PS4 has been going strong with repeated abuse from being full of new games and updates, patches etc (poeer outages!) since I bought it and it is the first generation console. The ejection button is rooted though!
@@brettus9115 That is a completely different use case from transcoding. Vastly different. Neither of your use cases have near the same level of writes as transcoding.
The Tip for Ram transcoding really helped my boost my plex server to the next level, Thanks for the Tip! 👍👍
I set up a plex server on an old (about 5 years old) Intel NUC with an I3 CPU running Ubuntu server. It's got a 2T SSD. Performance is fantastic. The hardest part is ripping all the DVD's that I've bought or rented over the years.
Thank you for this video! It is still worthy 3 years later.
Keep in mind that /tmp is not always on the ram. So first make sure it is on the ram on your linux server, or modify /etc/fstab to mount it in the ram, otherwise there will be no difference :). Great video thanks
Can you possibly do another video or give feedback on how to best install and configure Plex on unraid. I'm setting up a new server I'm building and curious if there are best practices
I see a lot of unanswered questions and comments that we can still hear crickets on. I checked the UA-camrs videos, and he’s still making “content” so apparently he’s still attempting to grow his channel. However, ghosting and ignoring viewers for three years is the way NOT to do it.
i mean i run my plex server off my RPI4 with a 5TB HDD where i store all my media, i know its not the best, but i only use it for me and a few friends and i only stream 1080p H.264 the the RPI4 can easily handle it, tho if i get serious about it at a later date i might build a dedicated system for it, i do have a powerful gaming pc, but i did not want to have that on 24/7 so i just went with a small less powerful solution for both storing all my media and the being able to watch it on my phone in bed or ón my pc, so basically i got a plex server because of lazyness :D
Just a quick suggestion about watching episodes that you may have synced. I set to sync my shows but I select "unwatched only" and limit to 5-10 items. That way as I watch the shows it will delete them from my phone then sync the next epsiode.
After a few files that were full HD stopped in its track to start buffereing, I thought it was the format. Now I'm streaming from the same server for years without any problems, until that event. At this time I write here, one file, 300 mb-ish 0.8 mbps transfer at 408 p and it still is buffering - when I use chrome full screen on my pc- -
Doing this on that pc without full screen, it keeps buffering. Now I tried to rollback a version or what Reddit told to try, but still, this is weird. It is only a F*king 300 MB and not 20 GB that plex needs to transfer. Most files about the same size do ok, this one..... I can't understand...
Thank you so much for the information regarding temp file. My transcoding went from 12x to 500x!!!!
What OS did you use?
I'm sitting here running plex on my windows gaming pc, lol
Same I figure my 8700k gaming pc is on 24/7 anyways. I just have a synlogy nas as a network drive mapped to my gaming pc and it works pretty well.
Pssh, my Plex server is running on Ubuntu server which is running in a virtual machine on my Windows 10 PC.
@@robertfox05 How many users at once can you handle?
I got a pi ffs
@@jackiechan8840 Does plex even work on a pi?
Thank you for all that you are teaching us. I appreciate it.
To add media to your Plex server, you need know the best video formats for Plex first.
• Container: MP4
• Codec: H.264 video (30fps or less, high@4.0 or lower, reference frames 5 or less)
• Audio: AAC 2.0 audio (320kbps or lower)
• Resolution: 720p or 1080p
• Aspect ratio: 16:9
So if your bunch of videos are not in above parameters, you can run your media through a video transcoding tool like DumboFab Video Converter to make these videos more compatible with Plex. As a simple video transcoding and compressing software, this program features high efficiency and seamless conversion.
Jason always rocking the good plex tips!
Hi, a question about Plex: How do you locally connect the computer to your TV to use Plex without the internet? I want to get the best picture without using internet bandwidth.
You cannot. Plex need internet to work, for transcoding. That is the downside of this program.
Sorin Ichim wrong. if you're talking about using your plex LOCALLY at your house on your iwn wifi network you arent using the "internet" at all. you can have no internet access but as long as your wifi router is up and running and its connected via plex and the player you wanna use, youll be able to watch anything. and transcoding also have nothing to do with the internet either. its all server-side. so yes you can use it locally without connection to the internet
So how do we put the metadata on another ssd?
Im wondering the same thing... I was left waiting for the instructions...
On the "General" tab, change the path for the "Local Application Data" to a folder on the SSD.
@@SteveWellsNZ thanks. its already set to point to my C: drive which is an SSD anyways. is it better to have a separate SSD just for the local application data?
@@velocci6666 It can get big. Also, easier to backup with a disk imager utility or if you want to move it to another system.
@@combatepistemologist Do you need to copy any files over after you change the path?
One of the best videos you have made. I got a lot out of it.
Setup unraid to automatically backup your plex metadata drive to the spinning rust array for even better protection!
Or just setup free Macrium Reflect to backup your metadata drive to an image file automatically every night.
@@combatepistemologist Hadn't heard of that... going to have to look into it. Thanks!
@@combatepistemologist Won't work for a WD PR4100 NAS need to use a seperate program, SFTP, to access metadata, every single time you want to access and back it up.
video on how to move meta data to a ssd on unraid?
forget unraid, you FreeNAS
Thank you - I have a QNAP NAS with 72TB of storage with an i5 with 16GB of mem - I have run Plex without issue for years (Early Days were fun!) Just found your channel.
Good to have you back Jason
Not bad, but would be helpful if you explained why PLEX or we would need to transcode media in the first place. I've used PLEX on my Synology NAS for over a few years now and all my library files can be played in their original qualities (MKV/mp4 at 1080p 5-14 Mb bit rates) and the only few times I needed PLEX to transcode was when I watched some videos on my phone without a good WiFi connection, and that I changed from the phone's PLEX player anyway as my video was slow or not loading, I just chose a lower playback quality... So not sure why we needed to know what you said in the video about transcoding, you didn't mention why or showed any examples either... :/
For example, some players like Fire TV or some TV cant play MKV files so your server transcode them to MP4.
Agree, I want to take the advice on the dedicated ssd for Metadata on my symology. But no instructions at all.
Is it possible to enable RAM transcoding on a Synology DS920+? It only has 4GB from the factory but I can add more pretty easily.
I have a WD My Home as my server…can I plug an external ssd into one of the usb drives for my meta backup?
great tips, thanks! Your video popped up, I imagined a russian voice (weird I know), until I heard that perfect English... thanks again!
quick question: NAS Synology 918+ vs desktop PC for plex? my setup is currently on a desktop, but i was looking into getting its dedicated machine to have more storage / not lose my data (what was already watched and whatnot) from my database in case of a computer format or crash. what would you recommend? (ideally that works for 4k)
It’s always cool to see UA-camrs answer viewers questions about topics they are experts in. Hang in there, I’m sure he’ll get around to it in the next three years…
you have any videos about installing Plex directly on a WM Mycloud Mirror, which it supports now I'm just looking to store photos, music, and video and have access through tablet tv whatever. I don't want to have a dedicated computer or anything. But it doesn't sound like it. The only other user would be a friend streaming from another country. Do I just need to get a tech guy? Thanks for dealing with my ignorance.
New Plex user here. Thanks, those tips help a lot. :)
I just have a bunch of old laptops with random drives dangling haphazardly about, and i just keep them at friends and families places who use them, we'll see how optimization works out thanks for the tips!
Curious how you do that, my family always on my plex if I can make a portable version, that would be cool so they leave my Bandwith alone hahaha
But really how you do that, if I understand right, I might have the purpose of the spare HDDs wrong, can you explain a bit more?
When you spoke of Metadata storage for the thumbnails, where are those files stored? I currently have mine off, but would be interested to see how much data is actually used when these are stored
They get stored where ever you are storing your plex metadata.
3:10 ram transcoding sounds good, but how much did it help you? Would have been nice if you mentioned how many more files you could transcode after using ram transcoding. Also, how much ram do you need? You never discussed that. And why use Unraid that costs $60 when there are free ramdisk software like RAMDisk? Yes, the free version of RAMDisk only allows 1 GB but that is more than enough for transcoding purposes.
You have to check use hardware acceleration if available right?
The issue I've been having is that remote access keeps randomly disabling and not reconnecting. Just bought a qnap server and got things set-up as per the usual. When it works it works. Perhaps I should set-up port forwarding or something, I am noob.
Interested in setting up a Plex Cloud to allow specific subscribers of my UA-cam channel to watch 1080p special content. Good to be able to stream to 25+ individuals. Does Plex Cloud allow for this?
Great stuff/video, thanks!
I wonder if you can keep the transcoding like in Popcorn time.You can choose not to erase cashe
Great video! I’m currently building a HTPC/Plex media server using a AMD 2600x from my previous build. I already have the 32GB of 3200mhz Tridentz RAM. The video card is only a RX 580. RAM transcoding sounds like the best path for me. I’m going to dual boot Windows/FreeNAS as my operating systems.
Out of curiousity, why bother bual booting Windows/FreeNAS? Shutting down your NAS and loading up Windows doesn't seem to make much sense.
@@alexipeck4201 At the time I was using it as my main system for everything. Windows is very inefficient for a HTPC environment. I eventually ditched that whole idea and went with a separate UNRAID server. A lot more efficient and management of docker containers is much easier in my opinion. Plus I have a dedicated box that can encode video to my desired format which is a benefit so my Plex media server content didn’t have to be transcoded on the fly to my devices.
So you mentioned the NVIDIA SHIELD. I purchased one with the hope of it doing better transcoding then my current Synology NAS. After a week of email exchanges with NVIDIA Support, the SHIELD is being returned. The problem? Although you can mount a NAS to it for media storage, you can't use the NAS for metadata storage. Any moderate Plex library will exhaust the SHIELD's internal memory and attaching a USB drive to the thing for metadata storage was not what I was looking to do; twice the power usage, significant additional expense. So, the device goes back. Very disappointing experience overall.
What would be better for a plex server, a NAS or a computer?
Mate, I came here for some basic Plex optimization advice. Your intro and wat not seemed straight to the point. but then I saw your channel name, Byte my bits, classic. just had to subscribe
Hello. I recently (October) purchased the QNAP TVS-h1688X NAS for Plex. I do share my media with most of family members. Remotely of course. After watching many videos I realize I should have purchased two SSDs to install the OS and Plex on. I still want to set it up like that, but afraid to lose my media. Which is four 10 TB HDDs. Is it possible to back the media up by plugging a external drive? If yes, which external HDD do you recommend? Also… Which SSDs do you recommend too?
I’ve got 1tb ssd 4tb hdd i5 6500 and a Rx 6400 with 16gb of ram and it sips power at most pulls 180 watts I love my server
Hi there, I am new to the Plex world and thank you for the video. Could you please clarify how do you determine what is considered a powerful server?
Idk if this will get seen or not but I run a synology DS18+ with 8gb of ram and it runs fine for me but a friend uses it too and complains of buffering a lot and I have been pulling my hair out trying to fix it. Cable connection with 30-40MBS up, port forwarding, all the settings tweaked, it should all be good. I know sometimes it’s a transcoding vs direct play issue but for a 480p file while no one else is using the server, I’d think there would be no issues
How are you moving meta data in unraid.
We need instructions over here!!
;)
P.s Thanks for (finally) telling us how you got RAM transcoding. I've wanted to know since you mentioned it a year or so ago.
@@KillaBitz Usually you can just set the location to /dev/shm if in doubt in any linux distro for RAM temp location.
Matthew Drodge He has had a video up for 2 years on how to transcode on ram buddy
How about SSD caching?
My Synology NAS supports RAID 0 and 1 for read only or read/write caching. Plex is now mostly run from the cached files and feels much faster.
Sorry if it was already a question, how to save metadata on an SSD? Which way? How do I do this?
I’m trying to play files locally on my network using a fire stick and a decent PC. My upload speed is around 2 mbps, coincidentally I’m only able to watch videos around 2mbps without buffering. Am I using my internet instead of my local network and if so how do I bypass that?
Thanks a ton for this video! Been on plex for over a year and have added a second used enterprise server connected with fiber optic to triple my storage space and these are things that I just never knew. Hoping to combine my gaming machine and my server's into one new system with an array and 12 core AMD but just hammered mine with 5 streams at the same time and all of them played fine, I'm assuming quality was hurt because my cpu usage is the same with one stream or 5
i had a ds1019+ server running dedicated to plex server only. out of the box the nas came with 8gb. but recently I've been getting error on the logs saying "[Plex Media Scan] stopped running because the system is out of memory. normally playing 4k hdr movie, the cpu is always at 13 to 20% or less. and memory 15% maximum. i don't know why is getting that error.
When you say plex metadata on a separate SSD adds redundancy to all of the media you have matched/and posters of, does this only apply if your media content is stored on your SSD that has the plex server on it? I run on win 10 and have the plex server on my C drive on my 1tb SSD, but all of my movies are stored on my 3 10tb HDD, does this apply to me?
It really doesn't add redundancy, not sure where he got that idea. What it provides is a performance increase. If you move the Plex application data folder (the "metadata" folder") you are just moving it not duplicating it. So there is zero redundancy. The only benefit this gives is that it may now be separate from your media but if you media drives die then of course the metadata is useless.
The only way to have redundancy in the Plex metadata is to back it up to a separate drive/location.
@@santiagodraco I think this is where he mentioned the RAID 1 array. The redundancy doesn't come from Plex configuration but from having the metadata stored on a RAID drive.
@@santiagodraco thanks! is there a video on how to back up plex metadata? I have all my media backed up but I have thousands of files and it took me weeks to match all of them. Id love to have the metadata backed up as well as the media.
@@casanovabutler Not sure about a video but there are help docs on the Plex site about this. But to be totally honest Plex SUCKS at facilitating backups of it's database. It's horrendous imo. Basically there is no option.
Mainly you would need to identify where your Plex metadata folder is and your plex configuration settings and back those up regularly. Personally I don't even worry about it since it's such a problematic process. If I need to recover my Plex server I just let it rescan my media and I'm done. This is why it's important to be sure your media is properly named and structured. I use Media Center Master to manage my library (add metadata files, rename files and folders, etc) so that if I ever need to recover I know that Plex will create a new database with about 100% accuracy.
@@santiagodraco very good information sir thank you! I will get that program ASAP. Sounds like the smartest route for sure. Thanks again.
wears the meda datea setting you were chatting abut at the end ?
Great idea a about the RAM Disk. Now tell me how I can keep my latest movies up top when sorted by Date Added instead of movies showing up "a few seconds ago" that were added way before the latest movies I just added.
This "shouldn't" be happening, obviously :) A couple of potential issues come to mind. First, be sure that there's no instabilities in your storage connection. For example if you are using a share and that share disconnects it could cause issues with Plex's discovery process for content. The other thing I can think of is more of a TV show issue but... sometimes Plex can think that content is newer than other content when it's really not and this is due to the metadata for the content having a date in the future. I've had a few shows that stay up front until the incorrect future date is passed.
@@santiagodraco Thanks for the reply. All of the media in question was added at the same time when I switched from Kodi to Plex. Then, I've been adding movies as I collect them. There were no disconnects during the initial import that I know of and if you Google this issue, there are literally 1000's of people with this issue. There is even a "fix" called the Plex Dance to delete your library and add them back slowly to get them in the correct order. There are also a ton of threads about directly editing the SQL database to correct the dates.
@@MrV1NC3N7V3G4 Gotcha. I've been running Plex for a LONG time and have gone through many different platforms and the like... this particular problem I've not experienced unless I rebuilt the library.
The real solution to the problem would be for Plex to embed some form of metadata into the movie folder itself much like was done for/with Media Center, Kodi and the like. So that when Plex loads a movie into the library it updates the status of that title within a metadata file in the title directory. Play the file? Set the played flag... alongside the file. This would allow for a full recovery of the state of your Plex environment even if you completely lost your Plex data directory/db itself. Doubt that will ever happen though :/
@@santiagodraco Exactly. Up until Plex, I used Kodi with local information only and Tiny Media Manager to look up all Metadata and then be able to modify any of that data in your nfo files automatically so your library is exactly how you want it. With Plex, it gets added and that's it. You cannot pre-configure the Metadata.
I am currently using the native Plex app for Android but was wanting to use Plexkodiconnect, however it wasn't reading my RAID array correctly or something so I'll have to work on that some more.
Opinions for Plex Media Server running on a Optane system instead of SSD? Should I upgrade to SSD and remove the Optane?
Great Video. Re: #5, I have a Synology DS218+ I have 2 12TB WD Red drives. Can I plus my Sandisk Extreme SSD into the USB-3 port and use it for Plex metadata, or does my setup not allow for that?
I'm using the nVidia Shield 4k for server and don't see the Transcoder quality settings. It is not available.
Transcoding to ram: The maximum transcode quality setting is 30 mbps, isn't it? That's less than 4 mB/s--you need an ssd/ramdisk for that?
Hi Jason... Thanks for your videos i am in the process of setting up a small Plex server myself. The server is based on a dedicated Nuc 8th i7 pc hooked via usb-c to a 48TB mediasonic DAS to store my movie collection. As for the Nuc i have 3d printed a new base to accommodate a 2.5" 5TB BarraCuda hard drive. I was wondering if i use the M.2 to install a Intel optane H10 1TB memory to speed up the 5TB BarraCuda hard drive which will primarily bee the boot drive as well as the drive to hold my metadata. do you this this would be a decent config ? kindly suggest.
What is an i7 9700 8 core considered as? A powerful server, or just average? People have different ideas as to what is powerful. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for the tips. And for repeating the obvious. I'm copying my Plex folder to a USB key. Would that do it?
Hey Jason, does No 1. option Transcode quality also impact transcoding with GPU hardware acceleration activated? i.e. will it make my GPU hurt instead?
No. It doesn't do anything if you are using hardware transcoding
most people when I tell I am transcoding they say , just use direct play . If your doing just a Home Library any reason to do all of this stuff ?
What about using a GPU for transcoding?
Those processing units are made for that kind of stuff, the CPU is (usually) not as good at video transcoding as a GPU.
I want to do step 5,
I want to move Plex to a stand alone drive but I am unsure how to move this.
I have a Plex Media server 23 GB in size
Running on my C: SSD 250 GB drive
I want to add a dedicated SSD 250 just for Plex.
I also want to enable “Generate Video Preview Thumbnails”
I just don’t know how to move my data to the new dedicated drive.
I watched your video on backing up, but that is just to move your data to a new computer, not just a new drive.
Help please…
Would also like to know how to do this.
Hello, I have used some of your advice on my plex media server. like having my ram set up for trancoding. I have a question for you. I will be watching a video from my library and it appears that it seems to be good, then I get this. "playback error conversion failed. the transcoder exited due to an error. How do i fix this issue? Please and Thank you
Can you tell me what "conversion failed" means and how do I fix this thank you 😊
Speaking of Nvidia Shield Pro w/external SSD, is there a way to use that offline. Like as a media server in a Minivan?
Any idea on how to reset the settings as I now get the server is not strong to play. I cant find the settings that changed this to happen :(
PS. nvm It was "disable video stream transcoding"
witch is odd as my server is on my device. I use the web browser. So there should be no streaming seeing its on local physical device.
Can you link how you set up your plex docker to use ram transcoding? Mine doesn't seem to be working for some reason.
I had to create a temp folder in the ram disk before it worked then point the transcoding to that folder. seems all data deletes when trans coding is done. I realized after I did this I don't even use transcoding! I copy the movies I need to the microSD before leaving on a trip and I don't stream, no sense opening another door to you network just to watch a movie!
I'm just gonna direct play guys, so do I need so much power? Is a normal windows laptop with 1050 ti and 8gb ram enough!
That's enough for sure.
so set like ur vid to /tmp..its auto on ram ? no other setting up needed?
What would cause a library not to update. I added at series but only 3 episodes uploaded.
What camera and settings did you use to create this super smooth looking video?
I didn't realise that the RAM disk transcode would take up such little room. I too have 32GB of RAM but running Windows 10 instead of UnRAID. Will have a play when I get 5 mins.
I run plex server on my gaming pc. I have issues streaming large 4k files to my ps5 console. Some 4k content will play, others won't. I've also tested the video files that won't work, streaming them from a different server, and got the same results. Is this my ps5 console plex app that is the issue? I can't stream any 4k content on my ematic android tv box. When I try it says connection to server lost. Any advice?
Changed to RAM transcoding now that I have enough RAM! Thanks for the reminder. Did you see a SIGNIFICANT increase in Plex performance moving from a cache-only appdata on SSD vs dedicated SSD? I have some VM's, other dockers, etc. but have a hard time believing my SSD isn't keeping up?
for number 5 though... (and sorry for repeating the question on a separate video) , is this something you are doing automatically with a setting somewhere in Plex, of are you literally saving the metadata manually on a different drive every time?
What size SSD drives should we use?
I also have 32 gig on my unraid however you can only do about 3 hours of DVR. (Maybe) it definitely won't do the Superbowl. Found out the hard way when DVR was tempermental. I was getting out of storage errors. Turned out it was only happening for show's over about 3 hours aka NFL stuff!!!
Where'd you get that Plex decal? Want one for my car! haha
Google :)
www.redbubble.com/shop/plex+stickers
I'd still like to know if there's a noticeable difference in running your metadata on an SSD vs NVME or U.2.
There would absolutely be a difference as long as the nvme SSD was in a slot that could support it's full speed BUT it wouldn't be all that noticable because ssds are so fast already for Plex tasks.
@@sirgriffinman - For normal file transfers I'd agree with you, but Plex I would think would be limited by other factors such as your network speed to and from it. So even with the faster indexing of NVME, would that actually increase by going to nvme or would you still be limited by the network?
Since metadata is mainly used for querying, it really depends on the size of your data set. A small data set won't see much difference between a Sata, Nvme, or PCI SSD. A bigger dataset, would see the differences with higher speed storage.
is there a quick way to find out if any video files will need to be transcoded for specific devices? would like to stick to direct play where possible
I have my PMS running on a 2 bay NAS. Currently only have 1 HDD for my plex. If I want to populate the 2nd drive bay with an ssd, how would I change my metadata to that ssd?
What do you think is the best Database Cache Size (MB) in Settings/Library? It's automatically set to 40 on my server. I have a 13000 movie DB if that info helps. THANKS Brother!!
Do you need a VPN when watching a torrent movie you added to plex? Can't get it linked to my buzz box on my smart TV but its linked on my smart TV
No, it's not required. The only way anyone knows that a file is torrented is if you're actively seeding or leeching in a publicly accessible pool. You're likely having issues with the formatting
How big is your metadata folder based on your library size?
It's based on your file count more so than space. That said I have a very large library, over a hundred TB, and my application data folder is 55gb.
Im testing out plex again after years hoping its not that buggy anymore but it still is a pain in the ass. Everything works fine for me but the android app keeps exiting from the media player and going back to the content page. Im running large video files over wifi and everything runs smoothly until this happens every now and then. Any clue whats going on?
My only question is to have all my video folders do I need to pay?
Question: is the server named after the Norse demigod or the marvel guy? Fun fact, the Norse dude’s name is Loke and not Loki.
Probably named after the marvel bro but just thought I should mention it.
Plex rocks and I use it with Kodi with the plexkodiconnect add on for Kodi, which I feel is the best of 2 worlds!
Hi , is there a Plex Sync tutorial ? or have you made a detailed video on how to use this feature please?