It’s time to upgrade the aged core of my media setup, which has done me good service but has reached "sell by".

I'm currently running Plex Media Server on an Asustor NAS that has reasonable storage (8x6TB in RAID6 for 36TB usable), but only a dual core atom processor and 1GB of RAM. As my library has grown it’s really struggling to cope; and the spinny circle, sluggish scrolling through libraries and time-outs are starting to bug me. Phase 1 is fixing the immediate issues. Phase 2 will be adding a second NAS for storage, likely after Christmas – I’m planning on a 12-Bay NAS starting with 3x18TB in RAID6, and adding around an extra drive every 12-18 months or so to enable growth. Phase 3 is tentatively planned to be moving away from external USB hard drives for backup to something more robust, probably a refurbished LTO6 tape drive system if I can find an affordable drive, but that’s far enough in the future that it’s not actively being considered at the moment.

It’s phase 1 I’m focussed on at the moment, which is to keep the NAS for storage but put in a separate Server for better performance. To do so I am repurposing an older desktop that I have retired from its previous job (i5-4590 with a 5630 passmark, 8GB of RAM, 240GB SSD hard drive, Windows 10 Home), to which I am adding a 1TB SSD that I have surplus from another project to store metadata (Crucial BX500 which isn’t brilliant but, hey, I already have it). I plan to run it headless and (mostly) administer it remotely. Not a brilliant machine, but it should easily outperform an Atom with 1GB of RAM that stores metadata on spinning rust. I will add a graphics card if it’s needed for transcoding later. Plan to complete the build in about a week, then start the software install any metadata migration and re-scraping etc. Clients are already sorted, and they are capable (Roku Ultra, Chromecast Ultra, and the new Google TV Chromecast), and all streaming will be within the house over wired connections, so I don’t expect to have to transcode much. I may also add a TV tuner, but not until at least next year.

The core decisions I now have to make are around software. While I still like Plex, I have fallen a bit out of love with it over the last 18 months. The interface has got worse (multiple just added lines for the same library time, loss of ability to select server) and it doesn’t have local authentication. Plus Plex Inc seems to be putting its resources into moving in directions that don’t interest me (Plex arcade, ad-supported content provision etc).

So I will shortly have to decide whether I stay with Plex and migrate my existing metadata; or move to a different server. After weighing up Kodi, Emby, Jriver and Jellyfin I have narrowed it to a straight choice between Plex and Jellyfin. I also have to decide on software for remote administration (I’m thinking VNC) which is new territory for me. Also need to decide on whether any other server side software might make things better – e.g. subsonic for music. Whatever I put in also has to include DLNA -  for streaming music to my collection of Allplay speakers. Google/Alexa voice integration would be a “nice to have”, but not remotely essential.

Sorry for the long post. I’m interested in thoughts and comments. Particularly (for those who have tried both) on whether the move from Plex to Jellyfin is likely to make things better, or create more annoyances than it solves. Bearing in mind that I’m not the only user (wife and child acceptance factors matter, houseguests also sometimes get access).