Plex Server Improvements (9-26-24)

Convert to using RAM for transcoding. 
 
 
 Configured Settings for RAM Transcoding 
 
 Created new "Path" variable named RAM Transcode Path: /RAM 
 Container path is  /RAM 
 Host path is  /dev/shm 
 Access Mode is  Read/Write 
 Modified Plex in Settings > Transcoder to reflect the transcoding directory change of  /RAM 
 Restarted Plex server to apply changes 
 
 
 
 RAM Transcoding Instructions 
 Configure a path if not one exists: 
 Name: Transcode Container Path: /transcode Host Path: /dev/shm/ 
 That's all that's needed for the container setup 
 Then, inside Plex settings Settings > Transcoder > Transcoder temporary directory /transcode 
 Side note: the host path can be  /dev/shm/  or  /tmp 
 They are both RAM drives  /dev/shm/  using no more than 1/2 your RAM while  /tmp  will use up to all of it. , neither of which will use more than 1/2 of your available RAM. 
 There's no wrong answer which you use. 
 I am using Intel 10100 w/ Quick Sync RAM transcoding.. This is all i had to do to get it running... 
   
 Step 1: 
 In the container, I created a path from the RAM to /transcode, so the location transcodes occur in are in the system ram shared with the unRaid OS. 
 in the container (binhex-plexpass) in my case... *you need plexpass active for quick sync transcoding... 
 Name: Transcode 
 Container Path: /transcode 
 Host Path: /dev/shm 
   
 Then you will need to go into the docker container and change transcoding inside plex to /transcode under settings-transcoder-transcoder temporary directory 
   
 Step 2: 
 This was required for my system to use Quicksync properly as the out-of-box docker container wouldn't work naturally. I followed this guide to give permissions and change access settings for the docker to properly use the iGPU driver for transcoding. 
 Guide i followed:  https://forums.unraid.net/topic/77943-guide-plex-hardware-acceleration-using-intel-quick-sync/ 
   
 Those two steps is all i needed to get mine working on the Intel 10100 for video transcoding, Audio still uses the CPU unfortunately, but that has minimal impact on the CPU overhead as i can run 20+ streams at the same time transcoding with no issue.. The only way i have found to get the iGPU to perform hardware transcoding on both video and audio is to use a Linux VM, but when i tried it out the system resources required to run the linux VM to gain this was not worth it. In linux gaining audio transcode my system would only do 17 transcodes at the same time, but in the docker container, I could get 20 before maxing out the CPU. 
 
 
 
 Migrate data from existing drive and remove current "Transcode" ("Nvme" drive also or both) drive to prepare for installation of new Samsung SSDs. 
 Install new Samsung SSDs, setup as ZFS Mirrored, and migrate data from existing disks to new ZFS array. 
 
 
 ZFS Videos From Space Invader One 
 ZFS Essentials: Array Disk Conversion to ZFS or Other Filesystems - No Data Loss, No Parity Break! ZFS Essentials: Auto-Converting Folders to Datasets on Unraid Mastering ZFS: Easily Auto Snapshot & Replicate a ZFS Dataset - Part A Mastering ZFS: Snapshot to Rsync Replication to Non-ZFS Destinations - PART B 
 
 
 
 Setup folders per container as ZFS datasets. 
 Setup replication and backups for ZFS datasets including on server and off. 
 Remove Syncthing and other deprecated backup tools.