I've used the megathread to make a super basic proof-of-concept for my own streaming setup, and I'm not sure where to prioritize upgrading first and in what way. Any help is appreciated!
Current setup: I got a subscription to a VPN, so I figure I'll use that until it runs out. I have that with my main PC (a laptop, I haven't been able to save for a proper gaming PC yet), a torrent client, and Plex. I tested it out with one TV show and one movie with the Plex app on my TCL Series 4 Roku TV and it seems to work! The video and audio quality work even better when I turn my VPN off and it can tell my server is "nearby", but whatever.
Possible Improvements I've Seen People Talk About: I figure I should split off some of these services from my main laptop. I don't really want to keep it on 24/7, and I should save the room on it for games and other projects. I'll put things I've seen people talk about below, but not sure what order to do stuff to make the best Netflix replacement.
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I can buy another smaller machine or two I can use as a server. Not sure whether to put the torrent parts on it, so it can torrent while I'm at work and stuff, make it host the Plex server, or both. And even then, I'm not sure whether to use an NAS, raspberry pi, NUC, Nvidia Shield TV Pro, buy or find an old cheap laptop, a ThinkClient I saw another post suggest, etc. I need something super small and quiet because I am splitting a small place right now. Should I get 2? One to torrent things while I'm gone and one to host Plex, or can I put them on the same machine?
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Or should I start improving other parts of the torrenting and streaming experience? I've seen people mention Sonarr, Radarr, and other applications that I haven't experimented with yet.
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Or should I just port all of this into a seedbox hosted by someone else even though I have the VPN subscription for awhile longer? It would clear up some room but I'd hate to be tied to a subscription.
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I know I'll also need to buy more storage soon to make it a viable library, too.
What do you all think should prioritize next?
Just making sure I understand the ask here. You’re currently running Plex & a torrent client off of your laptop, and using the Plex app on your TV to connect to your Plex server running on your laptop?
I’m going to treat this as a simple guide of where I would start if I was just starting again.
You’re going to need two things, a completely separate PC, usually an Intel NUC, to run all of these services with docker on Linux. Then you’ll need storage. Most users start out with a simple 2 or 4 bay NAS, that connects over the network to your other machine (Plex server)
If you don’t want to tinker with all of that and get straight to the point, build yourself your own computer that has a case for multiple 3.5inch HDD drives, then install unRAID on it. There’s your perfect media server right there. I’ve been running that setup for years without it breaking a sweat.
Let me know if you want me to elaborate on these details