Robert - Plex Server

OS 
 Unraid 
 
 
 
 Pros 
 Cons 
 
 
 
 
 Relatively easy to use/maintain 
 Cost (base $49 to $250 for lifetime updates) 
 
 
 Flexible storage options (Array/Pool options that are separate) 
 Finicky OS 
 
 
 Can have Media Server app setup within a few clicks 
 Not personally stable 
 
 
 Incredible community app support (uses Docker and Docker Hub for templates) 
 Slow storage if using array (uses a proprietary RAID system that does not favor performance) 
 
 
 Native community plugin support 
 
 Has issues sometimes with updates 
 
 
 
 Incredible community documentation (SpaceInvader One and Ibracorp) 
 
 Network config can be frustrating/unstable 
 
 
 
 Requires USB Flash drive for installation and license management 
 
 Slow development cycles (bugs don't get fixed often or at all) 
 
 
 
 Can virtualize VMs 
 
 Official documentation lacking 
 
 
 
 Can utilize self network shares 
 
 Backups not easy to setup 
 
 
 
 
 
 Network shares buggy/unstable 
 
 
 
 
 
 Permissions with shares are difficult to navigate 
 
 
 
 
 
 Relatively easy to lose data when rearranging drives in array 
 
 
 
 
 
 Requires at least one drive setup in the array even if using only pools (can setup a USB drive to be used here) 
 
 
 
 
 
 Troubleshooting difficult with base setup since logs are deleted upon reboot 
 
 
 
 
 
 https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceinvaderOne 
 https://www.youtube.com/@IBRACORP 
 
 TrueNas Scale 
 
 
 
 Pros 
 Cons 
 
 
 
 
 Depending on what you want, can range from very easy to setup, to extremely complicated 
 App support has recently changed to Docker and may/may not be 100% stable 
 
 
 Cost (free) - Open Source 
 App setup on the more complicated end 
 
 
 The fastest OS in these options 
 Eats RAM (uses all available RAM as a cache for storage) 
 
 
 Allows for mirroring OS storage to ensure if a drive fails you can replace it before needing to recover from backup 
 Can be complicated to maintain especially if something goes wrong (not everything has GUI support). YOU WILL LEARN ZFS COMMANDS 
 
 
 Uses one of the fastest storage filesystems available 
 
 Storage filesystem is not flexible in terms of expansion 
 
 
 
 Focused on being a storage solution first and has an incredible amount of options for that including network shares 
 
 ONLY has the ability to use ZFS as a filesystem 
 
 
 
 Most stable file system 
 
 
 
 
 
 Troubleshooting easy with most logs persisting after reboot 
 
 
 
 
 
 Can virtualize VMs 
 
 
 
 
 
 Backups easy to setup 
 
 
 
 
 
 Incredible community documentation 
 
 
 
 
 
 Incredible official documentation 
 
 
 
 
 
 VERY stable OS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 https://www.youtube.com/@LAWRENCESYSTEMS 
   
 CasaOS 
 
 
 
 Pros 
 Cons 
 
 
 
 
 Cost (free) - Open Source 
 Setup from an existing Ubuntu/Debian OS 
 
 
 App setup seems very easy but full featured 
 
 Not a large amount of options for storage 
 
 
 
 Simple interface 
 
 May require Debian based Linux knowledge for support 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Media Applications 
 Plex 
 
 
 
 Pros 
 Cons 
 
 
 
 
 Simplest network management (they have their own servers to broker external connections through to the hosted media server) 
 Cost ($5/mo for Plex Pass or $120 for lifetime) 
 
 
 Most management of libraries is set it and forget it (with proper media names) 
 
 Hardware acceleration for transcoding requires Plex Pass 
 
 
 
 IMO the most user friendly interface 
 
 Requires port forwarding on router to access externally (CGNAT becomes a major issue if ISP is using it) 
 
 
 
 Usable on a wider variety of players and media devices 
 
 Database management is a PITA, requires SQL knowledge to manage 
 
 
 
 Netflix like "Skip Intro" and "Skip Credits" 
 
 Database requires fast/stable storage (recommend to use some filesystem that protects against bit rot like BTRFS/ZFS and to utilize mirrored drives for redundancy/backups) 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mobile apps cost $5/ea per app store, per account (Google vs Apple) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 Jellyfin 
 
 
 
 Pros 
 Cons 
 
 
 
 
 Cost (free) - Open Source 
 Complex networking setup for external access 
 
 
 Management of libraries is relatively easy like Plex but not necessarily as set and forget 
 
 Requires specific domain/external IP address shared to users to access externally 
 
 
 
 Alright interface 
 
 Requires port forwarding on router to access externally (CGNAT becomes a major issue if ISP is using it) 
 
 
 
 Hardware acceleration for transcoding does not require paid service 
 
 
 
 
 
 Offline media free to download 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 Emby 
 
 
 
 Pros 
 Cons 
 
 
 
 
 Management of libraries is relatively easy like Plex but not necessarily as set and forget 
 Cost ($5/mo for Emby Premiere or $120 for lifetime) 
 
 
 Alright interface 
 Complex networking setup for external access 
 
 
 Offline media requires Emby Premiere to download 
 
 Requires specific domain/external IP address shared to users to access externally 
 
 
 
 Netflix like "Skip Intro" and "Skip Credits" 
 
 Requires port forwarding on router to access externally (CGNAT becomes a major issue if ISP is using it) 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hardware acceleration for transcoding requires Emby Premiere