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+--- Thread: Jellyfin NAS Perfmance (/t-jellyfin-nas-perfmance)
Jellyfin NAS Perfmance - Kiekan - 2024-08-15
Hello all,
I have been using Jellyfin on my main Windows device for several months now and have been loving it.
I am planning on migrating my media library (which primarily consists of 1080p HEVC files) to an budget-ish external storage solution in the coming weeks and wanted get some feedback on which solution would provide better performance for Jellyfin specifically, as this will be the main usage of this device. I am new to NAS configuration and still learning. I am planning on having mostly in-house streaming with a small group of friends connecting remotely (using Tailscale).
My first solution is just to keep it simple and use a Terramaster F4-424 NAS.
The F4-424 comes with an Intel Alder Lake N95 processor and I would be upgrading it to 16 GBs of RAM. I would be populating this with 4x 8TB storage drives in RAID.
Alternatively, I was considering using a mini PC (specifically Minisforum UN100D). This device has pretty comparable specs, using an Intel Alder Lake N100 CPU, 16 GBs of RAM. I would be connecting this to a QNAP TR-004 DAS, with a similar 4x 8tb HDD solution. The reason for including the DAS would be to have hardware RAID.
I haven't been able to find much information on how these devices would perform with Jellyfin specifically, but as I understand it, they should be capable of offering basic encoding/transcoding via Intel Quicksync without issue. Is there a dramatic difference between the N95 and N100? Will either solution offer any set backs or for this type of usage (i.e. is the DAS going to hinder the experience, since its an external solution unlike the Terramaster NAS, which is all contained in one unit)? I am also open to better solutions if anyone has suggestions.
Appreciate any information that can be provided.
RE: Jellyfin NAS Perfmance - TheDreadPirate - 2024-08-15
100% get a mini PC. That way you are not tied down by the OS provided by the NAS manufacturer. Prime example: HDR tone mapping hasn't worked on Synology NASes for the last several Jellyfin releases. Not because the hardware doesn't support it. But because Intel's OpenCL driver deprecated support for Linux kernel 4.4.x, which we bundle with our docker image. You know what NAS OS still uses Linux kernel 4.4.x, first released in 2016? Synology DSM.
The Intel N100 is surprisingly capable considering their tiny power usage. I highly recommend getting a mini PC with the N100. Let the NAS just be a NAS.
RE: Jellyfin NAS Perfmance - Kiekan - 2024-08-16
Great advice! Thanks for the feedback. I was unaware of the driver issues with some OSs and OpenCL.
Do you have any recommendations of on which OS functions best with Jellyfin in this type of scenario (I'm sure there isn't a singular answer to this question). I'm pretty familiar with building and configuring Windows machines. But looking to branch out and since I'm still learning to configure these types of devices in a network share scenario, I was planning on just installing Debian and then CasaOS on top. Is this sufficient?
RE: Jellyfin NAS Perfmance - TheDreadPirate - 2024-08-16
Any Debian distro is what I'd recommend. Which includes Ubuntu (my preference).
I'd skip CasaOS or OMV or other UIs that sit on top of Linux. It locks you into their way of doing things and obfuscates what is actually going on.
If your goal is to learn, the command line is the "right" way, IMO. You have much more control and nothing is obfuscated by what the UI developer decides to show you or what functions to expose.