Dedicated PLEX media server - Need Plex Gurus

[axipher]

Great to see you making progress and working through the PLex Gotcha's.

 

I definitely think they need to spend some more time on the "auto" settings on clients or give better controls for selecting quality for the average user. Right now they give you options on android and web apps, but casting apps and smart TV's are stuck basically auto adjusting on the fly which can lead to changing quality for the first 5 minutes of a show/movie until it settles on a good setting.

[J7SC_Orion]

 

Thanks! I do keep forgetting to to that (...)

Agree. This is my 2nd build during the pandemic (built a PC for my son also) so it was a good project and something to help keep me busy for a while. Thankfully in this build I didn't go in completely blind, the only component I didn't have experience with was the SAS expander and cachecade 2.0. Turns out it is just plug N play so I didn't even have to configure anything. I've been testing things and it has really gone very smooth for the most part. I ripped a 4K Ultra movie last night and everything is working as expected there. The last issue is the one above, if I am dealing with single core performance then I may need to dive into overclocking sooner than expected.

 

 

...you will find that the Asus X79-E WS is actually a great overclocking board (as long as RAM setting is no higher than 2400 before potential FSB - I run 32GB of TridentZ at 2500+ via FSB). Re. single core performance, I ended up settling on the 4960X 'ES' CPU (6c/12t) because I knew from other mobo combos that it is a crazy clocker...4.8 GHz all-c is not an issue re. vCore or power consumption, with good water-cooling at least, though I settled on 4.74.

 

Depending on your RAM etc, Strap 125 can get you a bit higher clocks at the same vCore - and for some reason, a huge step-up in RAM performance (especially re. 'writes') on this board, a least with my CPU / RAM combo. I also use FSB in addition to multipliers, but with your Plex media server and all those PCIe cards, I would be quite conservative with that. 'Back in the day' of sub-zero, I ran 4x GPUs on this mobo with up to 103.5MHz (Strap 100) or 131.5 (Strap 125). With a Plex media server, I would probably stay below that, LSI cards and all. The Xeon 1680v2 should behave somewhat similar. The only thing to remember (which i am sure you know anyways) is to a.) save your best stable profile in the Bios and b.) have your most important files backed up...with FSB tuning, there comes the point in time when it is one step too far and RAM / drives can't keep up and mess files up. I always like reminding on that so I remember to do it myself...

 

FYI, here is a Cinbench R20 run with my current settings:

 

 

 

 

[Laithan]

Great to see you making progress and working through the PLex Gotcha's.

 

I definitely think they need to spend some more time on the "auto" settings on clients or give better controls for selecting quality for the average user. Right now they give you options on android and web apps, but casting apps and smart TV's are stuck basically auto adjusting on the fly which can lead to changing quality for the first 5 minutes of a show/movie until it settles on a good setting.

 

Ty. Agree, there are definitely some additional controls needed. Just because I have a 4K TV doesn't always mean that I want to view a video in full 4K resolution. I would have thought that these simple controls would exist (or do they and I just need education?).

 

I'm loading the rest of my media today. The server had a taste of thumbnail creation yesterday, tonight it will have a buffet . I noticed that it isn't storing the thumbnails etc in the app folder instead it is using C:\Users\profilename\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server.. I don't really want this. This is the solution: https://support.plex.tv/articles/201...rver-settings/ . You will want to shutdown your plex server first. You can enable hidden settings. In this case I enabled the setting to change the location of what was being stored in AppData to my application folder on another partition. I won't have to worry about filling my O/S drive now. I am attempting to move all the data over now as it lost all my settings when I made the change because Plex was running when I edited the registry (oops). It all came back when I copied the contents of APPDATA over.

 

I am sure you know this but I figured I would share for anyone that did not. I just discovered that when playing on a PC it is better to use Plex Media Player vs using a web browser. The biggest reason is that the Plex Media Player will allow direct play where the browser will transcode.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Laithan

[ENTERPRISE]

That is a handy little trick !

[Laithan]

 

 

...you will find that the Asus X79-E WS is actually a great overclocking board (as long as RAM setting is no higher than 2400 before potential FSB - I run 32GB of TridentZ at 2500+ via FSB). Re. single core performance, I ended up settling on the 4960X 'ES' CPU (6c/12t) because I knew from other mobo combos that it is a crazy clocker...4.8 GHz all-c is not an issue re. vCore or power consumption, with good water-cooling at least, though I settled on 4.74.

 

Depending on your RAM etc, Strap 125 can get you a bit higher clocks at the same vCore - and for some reason, a huge step-up in RAM performance (especially re. 'writes') on this board, a least with my CPU / RAM combo. I also use FSB in addition to multipliers, but with your Plex media server and all those PCIe cards, I would be quite conservative with that. 'Back in the day' of sub-zero, I ran 4x GPUs on this mobo with up to 103.5MHz (Strap 100) or 131.5 (Strap 125). With a Plex media server, I would probably stay below that, LSI cards and all. The Xeon 1680v2 should behave somewhat similar. The only thing to remember (which i am sure you know anyways) is to a.) save your best stable profile in the Bios and b.) have your most important files backed up...with FSB tuning, there comes the point in time when it is one step too far and RAM / drives can't keep up and mess files up. I always like reminding on that so I remember to do it myself...

 

FYI, here is a Cinbench R20 run with my current settings:

 

 

 

 

Awesome info! I have (2) other ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition motherboards (x79 also) and the BIOS is very similar so I am assuming that most techniques translate right over also (like Digi settings). I am assuming the RAM that I am using is not going to overclock well but I hope I can at least run @ 125Mhz strap. Agree about being conservative with the O/C applied in thie config. I shouldn't really need to push FSB because the I/O is already incredibly overkill for the task but the single core speed is something I think I would appreciate. There is the memory write bug that may also affect this motherboard (didn't check yet).

 

You bring up another good point, if this 8-core CPU cannot clock high enough (it most likely will not reach 4.8Ghz) I can always drop down to the E5-1660V2 6c/12t or the 4960X (they are the same thing basically) and likely reach 4.8Ghz so there's an upgrade available by downgrading lol.

 

I have some concerns about the heat inside the case.. Although it isn't overheating, the (2) 80mm delta fans in the back are getting overworked. I ordered some 50mm fans and I think I can stack them side by side x 3. More to come.

[J7SC_Orion]

 

Awesome info! I have (2) other ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition motherboards (x79 also) and the BIOS is very similar so I am assuming that most techniques translate right over also (like Digi settings). I am assuming the RAM that I am using is not going to overclock well but I hope I can at least run @ 125Mhz strap. Agree about being conservative with the O/C applied in thie config. I shouldn't really need to push FSB because the I/O is already incredibly overkill for the task but the single core speed is something I think I would appreciate. There is the memory write bug that may also affect this motherboard (didn't check yet).

 

You bring up another good point, if this 8-core CPU cannot clock high enough (it most likely will not reach 4.8Ghz) I can always drop down to the E5-1660V2 6c/12t or the 4960X (they are the same thing basically) and likely reach 4.8Ghz so there's an upgrade available by downgrading lol.

 

I have some concerns about the heat inside the case.. Although it isn't overheating, the (2) 80mm delta fans in the back are getting overworked. I ordered some 50mm fans and I think I can stack them side by side x 3. More to come.

 

 

Yes, the memory bug is what I was referring to regarding change of the CPU Straps...and at least with my 32GB / 2400MHz (stock before oc) RAM, it was present on the X79-E WS 4960X as well...same as with my Rampage IV Black, as I recall.

 

Changing to Strap 125 fixed that and then some - it went gangbusters on 'writes'. I can't locate the screenie of the Strap 100 Aida benchmark for this setup right now (writes were in the 40gb/s range at Strap 100, but reads were 'ok'), but check the screens below for Strap 125 + extra FSB for 131.5 MHz. All settings are post extensive stability testing. For comps, I also added the 5960X at both Strap 125 and Strap 167, and my TR setup. I've run Handbrake on the TR, and it flies...

 

Re. your observation about your case temps, airflow management with all those components will be challenging no matter what...strategically placing the 50mm fans you ordered should help, though. I would even think about making some little baffles to help direct flow a bit.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2020 by J7SC_Orion

[Laithan]

 

 

Yes, the memory bug is what I was referring to regarding change of the CPU Straps...and at least with my 32GB / 2400MHz (stock before oc) RAM, it was present on the X79-E WS 4960X as well...same as with my Rampage IV Black, as I recall.

 

Changing to Strap 125 fixed that and then some - it went gangbusters on 'writes'. I can't locate the screenie of the Strap 100 Aida benchmark for this setup right now (writes were in the 40gb/s range at Strap 100, but reads were 'ok'), but check the screens below for Strap 125 + extra FSB for 131.5 MHz. All settings are post extensive stability testing. For comps, I also added the 5960X at both Strap 125 and Strap 167, and my TR setup. I've run Handbrake on the TR, and it flies...

 

Re. your observation about your case temps, airflow management with all those components will be challenging no matter what...strategically placing the 50mm fans you ordered should help, though. I would even think about making some little baffles to help direct flow a bit.

 

 

Gotcha... you also reminded me that my main PC was still @ 100 strap. I had forgotten to put it back. 4.5Ghz all cores 8/16, back to 125 bus now .

 

Thanks for those screenshots, that was awesome seeing all of the different generations and how they have progressed. Threadrippers are beasts!

 

Ya my Plex server's airflow is a bit congested right now.. it's not smooth and there's a big pocket of heat build up. The air that does come out of the rear fans is hotter than expected telling me that heat is being concentrated. All of the air comes straight into the front of the server and proceeds to the back of the server where it exits either through the rear fans or the PSU.... but a lot of the air in the PCI-e slot area is getting trapped, which is exactly where a lot more heat is being generated. It is moving around but not exiting the case quickly. I think is getting blocked by the GPU and even if the GPU wasn't blocking the airflow, the air is still being drawn over the GPU to the rear fans.. this is what I think is causing all the heat buildup. I think the air is just circulating in that area despite having VENTS in the back. That's too much heat to hurdle over the GPU to reach the rear exhaust fans.

 

 

 

I ordered a solution that will force a lot more of the air STRAIGHT out of the back where the PCI-e cards are.

 

 

 

At last, this fan controller fills my final PCI-e slot ​ lmao

Edited August 18, 2020 by Laithan

[J7SC_Orion]

 

Gotcha... you also reminded me that my main PC was still @ 100 strap. I had forgotten to put it back. 4.5Ghz all cores 8/16, back to 125 bus now .

 

Thanks for those screenshots, that was awesome seeing all of the different generations and how they have progressed. Threadrippers are beasts!

 

Ya my Plex server's airflow is a bit congested right now.. it's not smooth and there's a big pocket of heat build up. The air that does come out of the rear fans is hotter than expected telling me that heat is being concentrated. All of the air comes straight into the front of the server and proceeds to the back of the server where it exits either through the rear fans or the PSU.... but a lot of the air in the PCI-e slot area is getting trapped, which is exactly where a lot more heat is being generated. It is moving around but not exiting the case quickly. I think is getting blocked by the GPU and even if the GPU wasn't blocking the airflow, the air is still being drawn over the GPU to the rear fans.. this is what I think is causing all the heat buildup. I think the air is just circulating in that area despite having VENTS in the back. That's too much heat to hurdle over the GPU to reach the rear exhaust fans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered a solution that will force a lot more of the air STRAIGHT out of the back where the PCI-e cards are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At last, this fan controller fills my final PCI-e slot ​ lmao

 

 

I really like that fan-controller (looks like w/ manual adjustment? !). What's the name / model number of that ? Also, do they offer one for Molex-connector fans as well ? Tx.

 

I've got 9x SilentTyphoons 3k rpm in a system - while their, ahem, sound is very acceptable for 3k rpm fans, they nevertheless are 3k rpm fans...

 

 

[Laithan]

 

 

I really like that fan-controller (looks like w/ manual adjustment? !). What's the name / model number of that ? Also, do they offer one for Molex-connector fans as well ? Tx.

 

I've got 9x SilentTyphoons 3k rpm in a system - while their, ahem, sound is very acceptable for 3k rpm fans, they nevertheless are 3k rpm fans...

 

 

Sorry for the delay, someone tripped on the power plug again <lol>

 

 

Yes they have both Molex and Sata... they will take a while to arrive. It is what it is... I liked it a lot also because I could control it without opening the case.

 

Those SilentTyphoons are some nice fans also. I have a few noiseblocker fans that I think are similar but overall I tend to turn the fans all the way up and I just block out the fan noise.. it is not even there anymore .

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-Power-....c100008.m2219

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pins-Powe...72.m2749.l2649

Edited August 21, 2020 by Laithan

[Laithan]

I haven't had a real lot of time to play around with the details of Plex I'm still discovering things. My old Plex server was not used much and was more of a test since I built it as a VM and in addition I now have the Plex pass so I have unlocked new features and options. I loaded all of my media, 3.29TB at this point. I am likely going to re-structure a lot of the media from the perspective of how I would want to see it within the Plex app as opposed to how I stored them on my file server. I need to fix a lot of posters and things of that nature but overall I'm really impressed with the details that it provides.

 

As I mentioned in previous posts, although I have plenty of space on the O/S drive I am still glad that I moved the AppData folder to another partition. It is currently at 21.5GB which is strictly the application/AppData files only. If it is roughly 20GB for each 3TB of data (rough estimate) then that means if I filled all of my 34TB of usable storage then I would expect to have a 227GB AppData folder at that point... lol This also means that since the application partition is currently 950GB, the largest array I could currently add would be limited to 142TB (any larger would create an AppData folder larger than 950GB).

 

Plex server selfie

Edited August 21, 2020 by Laithan

[J7SC_Orion]

 

Sorry for the delay, someone tripped on the power plug again <lol>

 

 

Yes they have both Molex and Sata... they will take a while to arrive. It is what it is... I liked it a lot also because I could control it without opening the case.

 

Those SilentTyphoons are some nice fans also. I have a few noiseblocker fans that I think are similar but overall I tend to turn the fans all the way up and I just block out the fan noise.. it is not even there anymore .

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-Power-....c100008.m2219

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pins-Powe...72.m2749.l2649

 

 

Thank you for the ebay links @Laithan ! I know there's a way to solder the PWM onto the GentleTyphoon 3k rpm fans, but I much rather just have the molex fan controller with adjustment knob !

[Laithan]

Come to find out that controller had a flaw in the manufacturing. It would not physically fit into the slot I even tried bending it (the old tricks) and it was simply not manufactured correctly. I had to remove the bracket and mount it inside the case instead... I wasn't happy about it (and now I cannot control it without opening the case) but it does work well.

[ENTERPRISE]

10 hours ago, Laithan said:

Come to find out that controller had a flaw in the manufacturing. It would not physically fit into the slot I even tried bending it (the old tricks) and it was simply not manufactured correctly. I had to remove the bracket and mount it inside the case instead... I wasn't happy about it (and now I cannot control it without opening the case) but it does work well.

Oh man that sucks. I hate it when something uniform should just work, but then someone has to go out of spec..was it the bracket or your case ? Considering you have other devices in the case I will assume it was the fan controller PCI bracket fully at fault. 

[Laithan]

On 9/19/2020 at 6:51 AM, ENTERPRISE said:

Oh man that sucks. I hate it when something uniform should just work, but then someone has to go out of spec..was it the bracket or your case ? Considering you have other devices in the case I will assume it was the fan controller PCI bracket fully at fault. 

 

It was definitely the controller bracket.. Manufacturered slightly too wide.

 

I've got some more pics to upload and some info to update soon.

 

I like the new site! Still looking around but so far so good. Lots of long hours, great work!

[ENTERPRISE]

8 hours ago, Laithan said:

 

It was definitely the controller bracket.. Manufacturered slightly too wide.

 

I've got some more pics to upload and some info to update soon.

 

I like the new site! Still looking around but so far so good. Lots of long hours, great work!

Yeah, manufacturers going out of spec then ! Man that is annoying. Nice, will look forward to seeing what you have been up to. 

 

Awesome glad to hear it, still lots to be done but its a good start. Long hours indeed, and hair pulling!

[Laithan]

Sorry for the delays, been a bit focused on other things.. I took these pics a while back but never got around to posting them. I added the 2 additional fans to the back which at the time it was during summer where I was having some difficulty getting the heat out fast enough. I also added an additional chrome fan guard. It has been rock solid and I have zero complaints. 

 

 

[ENTERPRISE]

Looks ace bud !

[Laithan]

Ty Enterprise

 

---

 

I figured I would give a quick update regarding some of the application and storage choices that I made during the initial install. It has taken a long time to get all of my media converted to a digital format between using AltoMP3 maker and MakeMKV. The optical drive has gotten a serious workout. It will take some time to use all available media space although as the years go on I know that 4K resolution will start to make much larger impacts and eventually 8K+. As it is right now I only bought 20 4K UHD movies so my 4K collection is pretty small. The raw 4K GoPro videos consume a ton of space though. 

 

First, some basic media totals

204 Music videos

274 MMA videos

418 Movies

434 TV Show episodes

476 GoPro videos

1,681 Home videos

26,558 songs

27,904 pictures

Grand total of 8.3TB / 32.7TB

(and nothing was downloaded from the web)

 

The Plex appdata folder (video previes, thumbnails, meta, etc.) has grown quite considerably as I have been adding media to the server. The total size will of course depend if you turn on or off certain application features so YMMV (I currently have most options enabled). I have provided details as to how I moved the appdata folder in a previous post earlier in this thread if needed. I am really glad that I moved the appdata off of the O/S drive as this would have eventually filled the partition. 

 

None of this data below are actual media files. I carved out a dedicated 950GB partition just for appdata and the application itself. This is the main reason of this post, to be aware of the considerable size that your appdata has the potential to grow to. 42GB of just metadata is considerable.

 

I am still using the RAMDISK for the transcoding folder which is saving a ton of wear on the SSD drives. I have not had any issues with it at all. It is still configured as a 16GB disk but I think I could have got away with 8GB or even less TBH. I am using ROG RAMDisk 2.03.00 which has proven very stable (and survives reboots) which is more than I can say for many other ramdisk apps I've used in the past.

 

 

 

[axipher]

13 hours ago, Laithan said:

Ty Enterprise

 

---

 

I figured I would give a quick update regarding some of the application and storage choices that I made during the initial install. It has taken a long time to get all of my media converted to a digital format between using AltoMP3 maker and MakeMKV. The optical drive has gotten a serious workout. It will take some time to use all available media space although as the years go on I know that 4K resolution will start to make much larger impacts and eventually 8K+. As it is right now I only bought 20 4K UHD movies so my 4K collection is pretty small. The raw 4K GoPro videos consume a ton of space though. 

 

First, some basic media totals

204 Music videos

274 MMA videos

418 Movies

434 TV Show episodes

476 GoPro videos

1,681 Home videos

26,558 songs

27,904 pictures

Grand total of 8.3TB / 32.7TB

(and nothing was downloaded from the web)

 

The Plex appdata folder (video previes, thumbnails, meta, etc.) has grown quite considerably as I have been adding media to the server. The total size will of course depend if you turn on or off certain application features so YMMV (I currently have most options enabled). I have provided details as to how I moved the appdata folder in a previous post earlier in this thread if needed. I am really glad that I moved the appdata off of the O/S drive as this would have eventually filled the partition. 

 

None of this data below are actual media files. I carved out a dedicated 950GB partition just for appdata and the application itself. This is the main reason of this post, to be aware of the considerable size that your appdata has the potential to grow to. 42GB of just metadata is considerable.

 

I am still using the RAMDISK for the transcoding folder which is saving a ton of wear on the SSD drives. I have not had any issues with it at all. It is still configured as a 16GB disk but I think I could have got away with 8GB or even less TBH. I am using ROG RAMDisk 2.03.00 which has proven very stable (and survives reboots) which is more than I can say for many other ramdisk apps I've used in the past.

 

 

 

 

I don't have media counts for mine, but I think I am at around:

- 3000 movies going back to DivX era of rips

- 300 TV shows

- 400 Anime shows

- 100 demos (4k, 8k, HDR)

- 10000 songs

 

I use ImDisk myself and had some Batch Files to update an Image file that would get loaded on boot if I needed persistence across boots on Windows.

 

The largest culprit for Appdata growth is the Video Chapter Thumbnails.  There might be a way to specify a specific folder for just that, I didn't get that far since I was stuck to a 512 GB SSD for VM's and Plex Appdata on my UnRaid so I just disabled the thumbnails to save some space.

[ENTERPRISE]

Hey guys 

 

Quick one. Video File Metadata. I am wanting some form of program that will allow me to select all my video folders and go through each of my video files and remove the metadata which you would find in the "Details" section when you view the properties of a video file. 

 

 

Any suggestions, only solutions I have found are some annoying command prompt ways of doing it but for each video file (I have too many to do it file by file), hoping there is a simpler way.

[axipher]

51 minutes ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Hey guys 

 

Quick one. Video File Metadata. I am wanting some form of program that will allow me to select all my video folders and go through each of my video files and remove the metadata which you would find in the "Details" section when you view the properties of a video file. 

 

 

Any suggestions, only solutions I have found are some annoying command prompt ways of doing it but for each video file (I have too many to do it file by file), hoping there is a simpler way.

 

PowerShell should be able to accomplish this for, I found a resource here that talks about all the file properties and their ID's, so you should be able to just parse through a directory and just set those properties to empty.

 

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64597009/use-powershell-to-edit-a-files-metadata-details-tab-of-a-file-in-windows-file

 

If I have some time to play tonight or this weekend, I might give it a go myself.

[Supercrumpet]

1 hour ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Hey guys 

 

Quick one. Video File Metadata. I am wanting some form of program that will allow me to select all my video folders and go through each of my video files and remove the metadata which you would find in the "Details" section when you view the properties of a video file. 

 

 

Any suggestions, only solutions I have found are some annoying command prompt ways of doing it but for each video file (I have too many to do it file by file), hoping there is a simpler way.

 

Look into mp3tag, I think it allows you to change that sort of stuff for multiple files at once. Not sure if it can do multiple folders at once but I know it can do everything in one folder at least. I can't remember many details; I last used it to change album art for a bunch of music that I was shoveling into foobar2000.

[ENTERPRISE]

2 hours ago, axipher said:

 

PowerShell should be able to accomplish this for, I found a resource here that talks about all the file properties and their ID's, so you should be able to just parse through a directory and just set those properties to empty.

 

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64597009/use-powershell-to-edit-a-files-metadata-details-tab-of-a-file-in-windows-file

 

If I have some time to play tonight or this weekend, I might give it a go myself.

 

Interesting, although a little over my head to be honest.

 

1 hour ago, Supercrumpet said:

 

Look into mp3tag, I think it allows you to change that sort of stuff for multiple files at once. Not sure if it can do multiple folders at once but I know it can do everything in one folder at least. I can't remember many details; I last used it to change album art for a bunch of music that I was shoveling into foobar2000.

 

I have heard of mp3tag, would have to check though if it would have an issue with video based files. Furthermore if it cannot view and adjust multiple video files within folders, that would also be a shame as I do not really want to re-sort my entire library as that would take a painful amount of time lol.

[Supercrumpet]

17 minutes ago, ENTERPRISE said:

I have heard of mp3tag, would have to check though if it would have an issue with video based files. Furthermore if it cannot view and adjust multiple video files within folders, that would also be a shame as I do not really want to re-sort my entire library as that would take a painful amount of time lol.

 

Man I didn't even think if it would work for video files considering it's named mp3tag, haha. I'd check and play around with it for you but I've since reinstalled Windows a couple times so it's long gone. Knowing mp3tag exists though makes me think it's entirely possible a similar video file counterpart could exist.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Supercrumpet

[Diffident]

If the files are .mp4 EasyTAG will work.  You can select a directory and just hit remove tags.