>windows
>server

The most cost effective way is most likely using a refurbished/outlet laptop. They're usually cheaper and has better performance than a mini-pc. So unless you can get them for free, mini pcs are usually not worth it.

>>109312872
how are you supposed to fit a raid in there?

>>109312891
one nvme and one sata

>>109312872
Putting Windows on one of those would be pants-on-head retarded. Your OS will eat all of the available RAM.
One of those with a lightweight Linux distro is the easiest and most cost effective way, but for some reason I feel like you'll reject this advice.

>windows
are you retarded

>>109312888
yeah but the battery will eventually die won't it?

>>109312888

Is a crappy Pentium Gold Lenovo laptop enough?

>>109312915
No. Batteries actually never run out. Most people never test this, but when the battery life symbol hits zero, nothing happens. It keeps running.

>>109312906

Which Linux distro? I just wanna use Plex

>>109312915

Who cares? If it’s just gonna be plugged in forever used as a server

>>109312872
Buddy of mine gave me a few of these, have one set up as my first "home server". Just have docker compose running on mint and a few containers running. any ideas for what to do with it ? not alot of storage in it atm, so no NAS or media server stuff

>>109312930
Just spin up Ubuntu server to keep things easy. You'll need to command line install but it's not a big deal and you'll keep most your RAM for Plex

>>109312872
>Is one of these with Windows and Plex the easiest
Linux and kodi is what I'd try, but yeah, probably.

>most cost effective way to get a decent home media server?
A home media server is never going to be cost effective in Current Year because the AI kikes are paying fuck you money for any and all storage on the market. 2 years ago I would have said "use kodi/plex on a cheapo box like this for media server shit and a NAS with big drives as dumb storage behind it", but the latter costs serious fucking money now. Hell, a 4TB drive in this box might have done the trick but even these cost an arm and a leg now.

Also, don't use RAID for fucking media servers. Keeping a stash of movie slop isn't worth the premium of 2x insane storage cost. I'd argue it isn't even worth 1x insane storage cost.

>>109312872
You can't fit any real amount of storage in this thing unless you pay fuck you money for those DC SSDs.

>>109312872
Yes. Don't get the Lenovo ones, the M75q only has one fucking USB3 port. HP EliteDesk 705 G4's can be had for ~$80 with a Ryzen 3 GE. 35W. 16GB DDR4 (8x2) is $40.
>>109312888
>>109312906
Idiots

>>109313022

Storage isn’t a problem luckily because I have 1TB SSDs free from work.

>>109313036
>too stupid to follow an Ubuntu server guide to save literal gigs of RAM for a far superior server
>calls other people idiots

>>109313044
>paying extra for a laptop
Fuck off tinker tranny

>>109313034
>You can't fit any real amount of storage in this thing
The HP EliteDesk 800 G4 Mini has two 2280 M.2 slots (plus a 2230 for WiFi) as well as room for a 2.5" drive. That's an easy 21TB right there with consumer-grade drives. Plus of course any serious media server would have a DAS hooked up to it anyway, which is as scalable as you like.

>>109313061
That's a fuckton of money on SSDs back then and doubly so today. Just to stream at BD bitrates, likely less.
But OK, I guess it's technically possible.
>DAS
Might as well get a real case with real bays.

>>109313059
You called me an idiot but the post you originally called me an idiot for doesn't mention a laptop at all. Did you quote the wrong post? I never recommended a laptop to OP and never would.

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>>109312878
unemployed mentally ill tr00ns stay out or this topic.

>>109313097
if this is even remotely accurate its only tracking revenue

>>109313073
It appears I did. Windows is more than capable of running Plex just fine with 16GB of RAM, so you're still an idiot. He said EASIEST. Linux is never the fucking answer.

>>109312872
>most cost effective way
use something old you already have

>>109313185

Lenovo Pentium Gold laptop is what I have spare

>>109313173
I'm not surprised you can't even quote right. This is the human brain on Windows. It's quite a shame..
Linux is never the answer for you because like I said, you're too stupid to follow a simple guide to save gigs of RAM. You accept an OS that gobbles that shit up because you are incapable of following instructions. There's really nothing more to say here.

>>109313190
It will be jank but it will work, I ran something similar for about a year

>>109312872
>Is one of these with Windows and Plex the easiest and most cost effective way to get a decent home media server?
No.

>>109313190
my jellyfin machine runs on i5-4210M
no complains, but I don't stream 4k
also same laptop runs frigate, so it's recording 3x 2560x1920 steams 24/7

>>109313197

Cool, I just need a drive caddy then for my 2.5” drives since I doubt the Lenovo will have space for a 2.5” drive

>>109313237
If it's not gonna fit inside the laptop then you might as well use 3.5" drives.

My janky rig used a mix of drives going over both the native SATA ports and an asmedia card. I got the power from buck converter boards tapped into the laptop's 19V brick, then used one of those 1-to-5 sata power cables to split them.
The janky setup eventually caused an unrecoverable filesystem failure which is why I stopped using it.

Plex doesn't support hardware transcoding unless you pay. Get a mini pc with a CPU that supports Intel quicksync and use jellyfin instead. If you don't care about transcoding just set up a smb share and play the videos in vlc.

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>>109312872
>plex
>not jellyfin

>>109313301
>>109313287

Is Jellyfin more jank to configure tho?

>>109312872
Not really, unless you have a separate box to use as a NAS. Or like, just a couple of TB of content.

>>109313366
Jellyfin is easy as fuck to set up

>>109313423

Are the mobile apps good ?

>>109312872
Buy an ad.

>>109313445

The apps are not missing anything obvious and are stable.

>>109313192
>simple guide
Nigger I have a Linux server in my home lab and work with a dozen of them. HW transcoding if he decides to pony up for the Cuck Pass will just work in Windows. Networking will just work. Audio will just work. Will anything just work in Linux? Ever? I've seen it "just work" on a friend's Steam Deck. Stop being a disingenuous cunt, it takes a lot more than reading a god damn guide. Stop projecting your lack of fucking reading comprehension too. EASIEST.

>>109312872
OP unless you're planning on serving to family that's got a Spyware TV without an attached device that can install Emby or Jellyfin...use Emby or Jellyfin. It's impossible to recommend Plex if you didn't get a lifetime Cuck Pass a decade ago when they were only $80 and even then it's still a hard sell considering they sell all your fucking data.

>>109313685
>inb4 more freetard room temperature takes
Yes, I know Microsoft sells your data. Disabling most of the resource eating telemetry is in fact as simple as reading a guide: disable 3 services, change some shit in group policy, and blackhole some Microsoft URLs.
There's also a threshold for where that kind of niggerish behavior becomes acceptable. Plex sells all your fucking data to WBDiscovery (and others) just so they can run a reverse proxy for you. That's not worth it.

>>109312872
Use Jellyfin.

>>109313445
You have to pay to use Plex on mobile too, another point against it.

>>109313287
Only reason to use VLC would be UPnP, and the only other real reason is Blu-Ray menu support. If it's already SMB then just use MPC-HC or mpv.

>>109312878
Windows servers are basically all I ever see at businesses. Linux servers are for web hosting shit and containerization. Most servers in the wild are just using AD/Entra at businesses in a closet next to an aging cisco firewall and switch that is getting replaced by ubiquiti because everybody is tired of the loisensing and shitty ui.

>>109313747
ms is pushing for people to move away from on prem to cloud subscription shit so even the servers may all be gone one day

>>109313763
Azure Arc enabling itself on startup with Windows Server 2022 onwards gets a chuckle out of me. The small businesses I set dinky servers up for do it because they're making a conscious decision NOT to pay for cloud anything. The idea that they'd pay $100/mo for compute is hilarious.

>>109313685
>I have a linux server in my homelab
And you think I don't? You think I don't have the experience to see through your lies? In run three Optiplex 3070s for my homelab all with linux distros. Plex is on one of them and literally just works including hardware transcoding. To put it bluntly, I don't believe you. You're a liar and you are probably being paid too little to lie.

>>109312872
>Is one of these with Windows and Plex the easiest and most cost effective way to get a decent home media server?
There is so much wrong with this post.
>Windows
You are using Windows Server for a media server?
Quote queer but okay.
>Plex the easiest and most cost effective way to get a decent home media server?
ON a mini PC?
Cost effective: Yes
Decent: Debatable.

I bought UNRAID back when I set up my media server, with hindsight that was overkill since it never had more than one drive in there. Anyway, use a headless linux with Jellyfin. The hardware you have is similar to mine and it's good enough so long as you don't need transcoding.
>>109312906
Not to mention reboots you didn't ask for.

>>109312872
I'd use Jellyfin rather than Plex, nothing that you need to host yourself but at the same time requires a subscription for all the features to work is worth considering IMO.

>>109313097
>this schizz again
even your pajeet agency graph still has unix-like and unix derivatives together as #1
you are posting on a website which runs on BSD
microslop hotmail ran on BSD well after microslop bought it because windows server sucked so hard until they finally got it capable of running an email service
>tldr
kill yourself at our earliest convenience!
>>109313747
>Linux servers are for web hosting shit and containerization.
so... literally everything /hsg/? like uhhhhh plex/jellyfin?

>>109312872
I use one of these (m710q) as a media server. 128 GB nvme for the OS and 2.5" 4 TB HDD for storage. 12 GB of Ram (it came with x1 8 and I had a spare 4 laying around). I put this together last summer before prices went absolutely apeshit and have less than $200 in it all together. Linux/ Jellyfin. It has worked extremely well and can stream to five devices simultaneously without breaking a sweat.

>>109316080
*m910q
Although a 710 should work just as well.

>>109312872
How do you fit 120tb in there?

>>109313475
>Buy an ad.
in case you haven't noticed, shills have taken over 4chan completely
there's no longer any geniuine discussion to be had here

Thanks for the suggestions , I’ve decided to use Jellyfin with Winblows and see how it goes

>>109313747
>Windows servers are basically all I ever see at businesses.
Must be a business so small they don't even need a Synology file server.
Even my small mom and pop owned grocery store just upgraded their point of sales systems the other day. The pos terminals use a kiosk edition of windows but every terminal talks to a pizza box Linux or unix server doing the real work. Saw them bringing in 7 or 8 1u boxes. Seemed to be one for every register.

>>109318713

Office based businesses will have a windows server or more likely these days MS365/azure. A big law firm for example will most likely be running Exchange on prem , they aren’t using Linux.

>>109318977
>more likely these days MS365/azure.
>they aren’t using Linux.

>>109312872
>windows
>plex
holy ragebait

>>109319000
>>109318977
>>109318713
Also forgetting if any business has any kind of on prem security camera system, its 95% odds it's gonna be connected to a Linux server nvr.

>>109312872
These are FUN to deal with and feel real sturdy. I like them and have two M720q at home. While you can cram a lot of storage in, ssd prices aren't what they used to be, so you probbaly want to plan around what you have on hand. I run OMV with primary NAS/torrenting/docker persistent data being 2TB NVME, plus a USB-connected external spinny drive for offloading bulk storage to. I don't deal with actual media transcoding, though, and just use SMB shares.
While it has internal PCI-e port that can be accessed with a cheapo adapter, dealing with all that starts to go into derangement territory, so you'd want to check that whatever CPU you get would be up to the task of transcoding from/into the formats you want.

I just want a mini pc that idles at 5w for IB browsing and youtube. They're all >$150 (used) in australialand.

>>109319077
>While it has internal PCI-e port
I just got a few of these and only my 8th gens have a pci-e port. the 10th gens have the vias on the mobo for one, but no header/connector is soldered on. same goes for other parts of the mobo. I assume lenovo has different speced ones depending on the tier / CPU / model.

>>109312872
This is very sunot.ebait that's guaranteed a zillion replies but just in case it isn't; windows is bad as a server, and plex is bad as a media delivery service. Don't pay for your own data like that.
Truenas and jellyfin has worked just fine for what you're looking for.

>>109313445
Yes and you don't have to pay for it.

>>109319465
OPpic is M720q, which should be 8000 and 9000 series Coffee Lake CPUs, M70q with 10k series is a different platform, yes. If you actually got M720q version with a Comet Lake CPU that would be pretty weird. On Comet Lake lenovo partitioned PCI-e to upper end M90q, just like P330 is souped up m720q that gets second nvme slot on the underside.

For anyone interested in using those boxes for homeservers there's a very useful compilation of specs and general 1-liter PC knowledge here: https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/tiny-mini-micro-pc-experiences.30230/

>plex
Do you have such a hard on for not owning things that you are willing to run a server you have no control on your own machine?

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>>109313036
>HP
lol. lmao even.

>>109312872
no. running your media server from the desktop you already daily drive is the most cost effective way to do this.

>>109319589
thanks this is useful

I wonder how many people seething about windows here have actually used proper windows server.
It's expected to run on little NAS shitboxes so it actually eat less resources than desktop windows.

>>109321815
I run it inside a VM because I host a few things that work better on windows

Can someone explain to me why you might want a home media server instead of just running HDMI from your PC to your TV? What is the advantage to having a second PC running 24/7 instead of a HDD/SSD full of movies etc?

>>109312872
it costs like $50 on its own. the hdd probably cost more than the machine. but if you plan on doing transcoding with plex or similar you will need something better than a celeron so the total might end up costing $200 considering the machine itself, the hdd and the cpu upgrade

>>109312872
>Windows and Plex
OpenMediaVault and Jellyfin

>media server
use case?
why not just have a file server and let the devices play the files?

>>109312872
>Thinkcenter mini PC
Good choice.
>Plex
Okay, you wanna have all your TV and cinema all on one local device...
>Windows
Why? Debian is pretty easy to use for this purpose, though I'd insist on using Cinnamon/KDE Plasma over GNOME.
>>109322048
There's a case to be made for having a dedicated storage for all the media you wanna keep and watch whenever just in case your main PC takes a major shit on you or something.

>>109322236
why the fuck would you install an entire ass de on a server
literally more questionable than using windows server

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>>109322248
Anyone who's savvy enough to not require a DE on a server probably wouldn't be asking for advice on what hardware to use for a home server running Plex, no less using *Windows*.
That and my ass has a similar setup (it's a Dell micro optiplex though lmao) and I got a Cinnamon Debian install for basically the exact purpose OP asked about.

>>109322248
linux with just cli is based, don't even need dogshit plex or whatever to play media just mpv with drm output to whatever physical port. ssh in with your phone or something to pick a movie. couldn't be simpler.

Yes mini pics are fine I bought a bunch of older used mini pics with 32gb of ram last year for like $200 each for a work project last year, no idea if you can still get them at that price

For home servers I prefer old laptops for the energy efficiency and the built in battery is a free ups

>>109322048
My home server doesn't JUST handle media steaming. It's also a torrent/download box, handles my home automation, is home to a couple of VMs, etc. Having all that stuff centralized and accessible from any device I own is nice. I can also access it from anywhere whether I'm home or not, and it sips power because it's not some huge desktop with a discrete GPU and a bunch of other useless crap. The CPU in my gaming build draws as much power at idle as my server does under moderate load.

It's not something that's 100% necessary for everybody, but it's nice to have what is essentially your own private cloud infrastructure and not have to rely on any Jewish third party subscription service.