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+--- Thread: Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) (/t-low-cost-home-server-setup-for-jellyfin-expandable-4k-direct-play)
Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) - Rexleonum - 2025-05-04
Hi everyone,
I am looking for advice on setting up a home server for Jellyfin with cost as the top priority. I am a student living in a dorm so the cheaper the better. Power consumption does not matter in my case.
Here is what I am hoping to achieve:
Storage:
I want to start with 2 hard drives but I would like the setup to be expandable to at least 6 drives in the future.
Local network usage:
I want to support direct play of 4K remux (up to full UHD Blu ray remuxes) within my local network.
Remote access:
I want my family in a different city to be able to stream remotely. Realistically this would be 1080p remux direct play only (no transcoding).
Maximum usage scenario:
1 stream of 4K remux direct play locally and maybe 1 or 2 streams of 1080p remux direct play remotely at the same time.
No transcoding at all. I am happy to enforce supported codecs and containers to avoid that.
I do not need much raw processing power but I want stable direct play with good bandwidth.
What hardware setups would you recommend on a budget?
Would a used mini PC, a cheap desktop build or an old workstation be worth considering?
Also do you have any advice on cases or enclosures that make expanding drives easy later?
Thank you very much for any tips
RE: Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) - bitmap - 2025-05-04
A few things here: mini PCs with newer-generation Intel processors can be a good option. So can old workstations like Optiplex machines. However, these are not expandable unless you get another device to run your drives. Additionally, I don't know whether your dorm will monitor network traffic, but you're asking a lot to sap 60 Mbps of upload + more locally. That's not likely to work very well. If you don't need transcoding (spoiler alert: it will definitely happen, so be prepared to explain why things don't work) you can skimp a little bit on processor generation. Keep in mind that the more you cheat now, the less future-proof your server is later.
Most recent-ish machines with a decent network card (10/100/1000) should work fine, but again, you're very unlikely to get that sort of upload speed. Even locally, depending on client, streaming 4K (remux) can be problematic due to peak bitrates not matching average (duh). Trying to find something within the last few generations of Intel that supports QuickSync will allow you to utilize that machine for much longer should transcoding be necessary.
My current server uses a Meshify case with like 11 bays for 3.5" HDDs plus two more mounts for 2.5" SSDs. Super easy to expand if you have the hardware to hook it up to.
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/meshify/
RE: Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) - Rexleonum - 2025-05-05
(2025-05-04, 11:56 PM)bitmap Wrote: A few things here: mini PCs with newer-generation Intel processors can be a good option. So can old workstations like Optiplex machines. However, these are not expandable unless you get another device to run your drives. Additionally, I don't know whether your dorm will monitor network traffic, but you're asking a lot to sap 60 Mbps of upload + more locally. That's not likely to work very well. If you don't need transcoding (spoiler alert: it will definitely happen, so be prepared to explain why things don't work) you can skimp a little bit on processor generation. Keep in mind that the more you cheat now, the less future-proof your server is later.
Most recent-ish machines with a decent network card (10/100/1000) should work fine, but again, you're very unlikely to get that sort of upload speed. Even locally, depending on client, streaming 4K (remux) can be problematic due to peak bitrates not matching average (duh). Trying to find something within the last few generations of Intel that supports QuickSync will allow you to utilize that machine for much longer should transcoding be necessary.
My current server uses a Meshify case with like 11 bays for 3.5" HDDs plus two more mounts for 2.5" SSDs. Super easy to expand if you have the hardware to hook it up to.
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/meshify/
I try to avoid mini PCs, since I won't be able to add more hard drives later on easily. I looked into old office PCs in tower form on a german marketplace website called Kleinanzeigen, but I'm not sure what exact "minimum" specs for my needs to look for.
Regarding internet, the traffic here is not monitored and got my own 1Gbit up and down port in my room and a WiFi 7 Huawei router so local traffic shouldn't be any problem and shouldn't require any transcoding the way I understood.
Do you maybe have any specific recommendations what to look out for if I was going for some machine on the used market?
Thanks a lot for your extensive reply!
RE: Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) - pxr5 - 2025-05-05
Check out this wiki page regarding Quicksync and which Intel processors can handle what transcoding. The newer minipcs are Alder Lkae and you can see in the table why they are recommended so much:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video
RE: Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) - conor - 2025-05-05
Almost anything can do what you're asking for. Without transcoding the overhead for Jellyfin is minimal.
I had jellyfin installed on a router and it could do what you're asking for with no issues.
RE: Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) - bitmap - 2025-05-05
(Yesterday, 12:10 AM)Rexleonum Wrote:(2025-05-04, 11:56 PM)bitmap Wrote: A few things here: mini PCs with newer-generation Intel processors can be a good option. So can old workstations like Optiplex machines. However, these are not expandable unless you get another device to run your drives. Additionally, I don't know whether your dorm will monitor network traffic, but you're asking a lot to sap 60 Mbps of upload + more locally. That's not likely to work very well. If you don't need transcoding (spoiler alert: it will definitely happen, so be prepared to explain why things don't work) you can skimp a little bit on processor generation. Keep in mind that the more you cheat now, the less future-proof your server is later.
Most recent-ish machines with a decent network card (10/100/1000) should work fine, but again, you're very unlikely to get that sort of upload speed. Even locally, depending on client, streaming 4K (remux) can be problematic due to peak bitrates not matching average (duh). Trying to find something within the last few generations of Intel that supports QuickSync will allow you to utilize that machine for much longer should transcoding be necessary.
My current server uses a Meshify case with like 11 bays for 3.5" HDDs plus two more mounts for 2.5" SSDs. Super easy to expand if you have the hardware to hook it up to.
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/meshify/
I try to avoid mini PCs, since I won't be able to add more hard drives later on easily. I looked into old office PCs in tower form on a german marketplace website called Kleinanzeigen, but I'm not sure what exact "minimum" specs for my needs to look for.
Regarding internet, the traffic here is not monitored and got my own 1Gbit up and down port in my room and a WiFi 7 Huawei router so local traffic shouldn't be any problem and shouldn't require any transcoding the way I understood.
Do you maybe have any specific recommendations what to look out for if I was going for some machine on the used market?
Thanks a lot for your extensive reply!
The hardware selection page has some good info: https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/administration/hardware-selection/
- Intel is the most cost-effective for *general use cases*
- Generation 11+ Intel with an iGPU allows future flexibility for transcoding
- 100 GB SSD (yes, SSD is recommended) for OS + Jellyfin drive (more if you will use Trickplay stored in the config dir)
- I wouldn't personally go below 16 GB, but system requirements for Jellyfin are only 8 GB + more for Windows 11
- Avoid this stuff: https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/administration/hardware-selection/#potentially-problematic-hardware
Again, you can work with something older or a non-Intel chip if you don't care about transcoding. I started my first media server on a Raspberry Pi, which is a terrible idea, but it's what I had. I would also say that if you're going with a TOWER that has the ability to expand with a dGPU later, you can get a cheap Arc card that will handle any transcoding you *might* need in the future, so processor matters less to some extent.
RE: Low cost home server setup for Jellyfin (expandable, 4K direct play) - Emailluka - 2025-05-06
Just my own opinion, but if you want to add multiple harddrives, maybe keep in mind that you want to connect them - so look for a mainboard with enough ports (probably sata) that you can use.
Those informations will probably not be posted on Kleinanzeigen - and if it is that detailed.. you probably will not get a good deal out of it.
But if the specs are stated, you can go the extra steps and look up which parts are used.