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I mean any server is fine if you’re not transcoding. Worst case scenario —> you transcode to 720p on another machine and sync it with your Plex library.
That said, the mini-PC should be more than sufficient for a 720p stream.
This is enough even for transcoding the stream. But as doughouch said, if you are not transcoding on the fly (and I cannot see why a stream has to be transcoded except to provide multiple different bitrates for a live session), any server and vps will be fine. If not transcoding, you can have hundereds of streams on a small dedi or a vps, depending on the bandwidth.
Wouldn't I need to push all media on the vps to use that one as a media center. Wouldn't want that but rather have my media at some mini pc/pc/nas at home where I can access the drives any time.
Or is the vps gonna be an instance in between my media server at home and my enduser device?
Sorry that I'm not following but this is the first time I'm gonna setup&use Plex. I was first gonna set it up on a pc at home with my media drive plugged in and then test it for a while and check if streaming it on my phone or from phone to tv via chromecast works then go ahead and buy either a mini pc to have my media accessible 24/7 (as my main pc doesnt run 24/7) or get a NAS that does the same.
VPS or store at home are two different approaches. Problem with VPS is when you have to transcode. Problem with home is depending on your upload you cannot use it when outside home.
Keep in mind that plex and chromecast doesn't work perfectly. At least if you try to stream a mkv with subtitles, plex will transcode it. Emby on the other hand can direct stream with subtitles to chromecast.
tldr install both, try both - it is what was suggested to me and what I did.
I don't get exactly what do you want. Do you want a server for something like a "middleman" from your media repository at your home (PC/NAS)? Something like a streaming server that pull a video from your home and restream it to your devices? If so, this is just a simple vpn, if I get it correctly.
Or you want to upload your media collection to an online server, setup plex there and access your media from there? This is the simplest approach to create a media service on a vps/dedi.
Another approach would be to setup plex on an internet server (vps/dedi) and use your libary at home as a remote storage (the plex server uses the videos from your home to stream them to other devices). This would be much more complicated and you will need enough bandwith and upload speed on your home internet to work.
Thanks for the thorough reply
What I want is basically a 24/7 running device at home (mini pc or nas) that is acting as a plex media server and has an external drive with my media attached to it making it accessible to all devices in the same network.
I actually set it up for testing purposes on my PC and I could stream via chromecast using my phone flawlessly once the media had been added on my pc. Since I don't want to let my pc run 24/7 I want a mini pc / nas to act as the media server instead. That's it.
@Ympker If you’re only using it to relay content to a Chromecast (no transcoding), you’ll have zero problems with using a mini-PC/NUC. Just make sure that you don’t screw yourself over with a USB 2 mini-PC
Cool thanks! That's more or less what I wanted to know
SRT and ASS subtitles is direct play/stream, never transcoded. PGS subtitles usually got transcoded.
in my case it couldn't handle .srt subtitles for direct play. Audio / video was supported by chromecast, as in turning off the subs, it direct played it. Plex that is.
If you're not transcoding it works great even on RPi2