How viable is it to host a Jellyfin server on your main PC?

[Fiddler]

Hey! I've been thinking about setting up a Jellyfin server for the shared flat I'll be moving into. Now, I do have a pretty beefy PC and using it to host the server seems like the easiest way to go. But I do have a couple questions.

1. How does streaming impact performance? I imagine not too much, especially when direct playing.
   
2. Is there a way to preserve power when the PC is not in use. I normally just shut it down completely, which obviously won't be an option anymore. I know I could activate "wake on lan" but I'm not sure yet if having a Lan connection will be viable.
   
3. Is there anything else I'm missing? Most people seem to be building their own NASs.
   

The other option I woul have available is using a Raspberry Pi tho it looks like performance might become a problem?
Thanks in advance!

[Venson]

Hey @Fiddler

1. When direct streaming, your underlying storage medium aswell as your network might be loaded. Esp. your network might be an issue (for you) if you play videogames or alike if more then 1-2 persons _direct stream_. When you enable transcoding its another story alltogether, as JF tries to transcode as much as possible in the shortest time so you will experience (when throttle transcodes) bursts of heavy GPU/CPU or prolonged heavy hardware usage depending on the file and configuration.
2. Your PC will go into a power saving state if not used but normal desktop PCs are prone to have all sorts of background programs running so depending on how "cluttered" your pc is with other software, expect an idle PC to draw around 100-160W. This also comes down to your desktop grade CPU, they are not really used for efficency but high power usage. That is the reason why low power CPUs exist :-D
3. That is exactly the point. A Dedicated nas has
a. Hardware that supports 24/7 runtime with a minimum of power draw and long lasting components
b. Does not use any high power device that you might use for other purposes
c. Does have the corresponding software to support the whole ecosystem (NFS, SMB, Docker, RAID, etc)

_some_ use a Rpi4 with relative success but we dont generally recommend it, unless you already know what you are up for. the rpi "does" support hardware accelerated transcoding *but* its extremally limited and hard to setup in my opinion. With rpi transcoding is pretty much off the table.

If you want to setup your home streaming service, i would recommend a good NAS. If you want to tinker with it, build it yourself and use TrueNasScale/Unraid or if you want to go the "easy" route, get something like a SynologyDS920+

[Fiddler]

Hey @Venson!

Thanks for the helpful answers! Hope you don't mind me asking some follow up questions.

So, I know my way around PCs and could build one myself but it's just additional effort I'd like to avoid at the moment. Would you say there are any mature downsides to going the "easy" way? Any things I need to look out for when buying a NAS for Jellyfin specifically, any recommended specs? Or would you really only recommend it if I automatically combust at the mere thought of building my own?

Again thank you for your time and have a nice day!

[TheDreadPirate]

Hey @Venson!

Thanks for the helpful answers! Hope you don't mind me asking some follow up questions.

So, I know my way around PCs and could build one myself but it's just additional effort I'd like to avoid at the moment. Would you say there are any mature downsides to going the "easy" way? Any things I need to look out for when buying a NAS for Jellyfin specifically, any recommended specs? Or would you really only recommend it if I automatically combust at the mere thought of building my own?

Again thank you for your time and have a nice day!

One of the major things you should look for is a NAS with an Intel CPU, NOT an ARM CPU.  Otherwise you will not have any HW accelerated transcoding support.  They are typically some variety of Atom class Intel CPU (usually call Pentiums these days).  You should look for one with an Apollo Lake family, or newer, Intel CPU.