WHERE DO WE START with the problems of streaming services? Aside from the fact that they’ve proliferated in recent years as content increasingly gets siloed behind another expensive paywall, there’s no guarantee that the show you’re watching today will be available to stream tomorrow, never mind in the months ahead as complicated license rights shift from one platform to another.
The solution—as it always is—lies in owning your own content. Thanks to media servers like Plex and Jellyfin, you can make your own media library as accessible and easy to stream as any subscription-based streamer, with your content on tap 24-7 wherever you happen to be, and on whatever device you have to hand.
On the surface, setting up your media server is quite simple, but there are some considerations you need to make about where you host your server, plus how you package your content so it’s easily playable. In this feature, we’ll not only show you how to quickly set up and populate your own Plex server, we’ll reveal the tips and tricks you need to ensure your content streams on any device without bringing your server grinding to a halt. Turn the page to find out how.
LET’S START with a quick examination of the hardware you’re planning to use for your media server. While your main PC can effortlessly handle its relatively modest requirements, it’s far more efficient to offload it to a low-powered device—one that can run 24-7 without racking up huge electricity bills. Once again, we point you towards our mini-NAS build from the September 2022 issue, but you could also use an old laptop that has been gathering dust somewhere.
In terms of hardware requirements, your media server must handle the organization of your library, plus distribute media streams to whichever devices require it. If you live in a big household or share your library with others, you might find it having to handle as many as 4-5 streams simultaneously on occasion.
How much effort each stream requires depends on the media file,
