this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2025
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(Linux) Media Server recommendations? (sopuli.xyz)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Hi all!

I was running Kodi (and some *arr services) on an old laptop, but that one seemingly now decided it was time to die.
It was a bit underpowered for the task anyway and more meant as a test platform, to see if the setup works and if it's also comfortable enough to be used by my wife.

So I'm having this laptop connected with HDMI to the TV, with a HDMI-CEC adapter to let me use my TV remote and a reasonable large (12TB) external USB HDD for mass storage - which is a bit of a bitch, because it tends to go to sleep and not wake up properly or doesn't show with e.g. lsblk anymore (but that could also be a wonky usb socket in the beaten up laptop)

Any recommendations for something that could play some media well enough, handle multiple download connections and isn't eating much power, when not actually in use?

I looked at some Intel NUCs and some Chinese small form factor thingies.
But I'm not entirely sure, what would be sufficient and the best choice here.

Thanks for any input!

Edit: thanks for all the recommendations! I went with a BeeLink S13 (N150/16GB/512GB) and I think, it will exactly fit the the requirements.

If I'm having trouble or see any shortcomings, I'll inform the community here :⁠-⁠)

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Look at Intel N100 mini PC's. They are amazing for this. I (and many others here) run a full arr stack with no issues. And it's super cheap, under $200

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I got a Topton Mini PC doing this, and its doing a good enough job. I tried an older SZBox for this, and it didn't quite cut it, but it makes a good Pihole now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thanks!
Intel NUCs were my first thought as well
But all the different variations and the naming conventions... I'm still trying to gather some real data to compare between all the fucking advertisement buzzwords

Really hard to see nowadays what would fit my bill.
And some of the NUCs are really expensive. But I'm afraid that buying a cheaper one would leave me with buying double, when the cheap one doesn't cut it.

Do you also run a media server on it?

I've looked at some NUCs (around 300€), and I'm not sure if 2 cores are enough to handle multiple download connections (over Usenet, which seems to eat quite some power - relatively speaking) and still being able to video transcode and fluid UI handling.

But overpowered stuff would just eat into my electricity bill, when this stuff is idling for 80-90% of the time anyway...

I'm also playing with the thought of disassembling the external USB HDD, to just directly link it up through SATA or whatever.
Because having it on the external device has the disadvantage of having it sleeping from time to time, and as mentioned, sometimes I'm losing the mount - although it could really be a connection problem, because that shouldn't happen

But thanks for the input, I'm growing more confident to go with a NUC

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The key point is the N100's support Intel quicksync which makes them able to transcode video very well. This is the main reason why people use them for this. You can easily run all of the arrs + qbittorrent + Plex or Jellyfin (I actually use both simultaneously on an N100) all running in Docker containers, flawlessly. Unless you are going to have a bunch of people streaming 4k at the same time or something any 16gb N100 should be sufficient to run what you are trying to do. They are amazing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Thank you very much!

I just ordered a Beelink Mini S13 Mini PC, Intel N150 (16GB/512GB)
So, I think, that should be a pretty fine system for that use case and actually got a 60€ discount, so it was only about 200€ :⁠-⁠)

Thank you very much for your inputs!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I was in a similar situation and started with a Beelink Mini PC, which works well as long as it's processor has Quick Sync available for transcoding video. The only problem here for me was redundant and upgradeable storage, so after a few months I build my own NAS in the Jonsbo N3 case. NASCompares on Youtube has great comparison and build videos for different cases and combinations.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Thank you!
Wasn't aware of Beelink Mini PCs and will look into it

I'm currently crawling through the jungle of NUC naming and specifications.

I really miss the time, when all the data wasn't hidden behind a load of bullshit wall of buzzwords...

Edit: oh, those Beelinks surely look sweet!
Something with a Ryzen 7 sounds more than attractive - although it's probably a bit of an overkill for the application, but... More POWER!! ;⁠-⁠)
Will need to do some benchmark comparisons for the purposed task(s) though

Edit 2: ok, but it seems, that the Intel N150 could be the better platform for my use case than the Ryzen 7 xxxxU variants in the same price range

But those Beelink look pretty cool :⁠-⁠)