The ULTIMATE Budget Jellyfin Server

Hardware Haven2 minutes read

Jellyfin requires affordable hardware with decent storage, redundancy, and transcoding capability, such as the EliteDesk 800 G3 small form factor, which supports 7th gen Kaby Lake CPUs. Despite minor differences, the ProDesk 600 G3 is also suitable for this purpose, offering cost-effective hardware for setting up Jellyfin.

Insights

  • Finding affordable hardware for Jellyfin can be challenging, but the EliteDesk 800 G3 small form factor, specifically supporting 7th gen Kaby Lake CPUs like the Pentium G4560, offers a cost-effective solution with the necessary capabilities for transcoding high-quality 10-bit 4K HEVC content efficiently.
  • Software setup for Jellyfin involves utilizing Proxmox, setting up mirrored ZFS storage for redundancy, and installing Jellyfin within a Debian LXC container. Hardware-accelerated transcoding challenges like tone mapping and frame rates can be resolved by installing Jellyfin directly in the LXC container and adding OpenCL drivers, ensuring a smooth operation.

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Recent questions

  • What are the key criteria for selecting hardware for Jellyfin?

    Storage capacity, transcoding capability, cost-effectiveness.

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Summary

00:00

Affordable Hardware Setup for Jellyfin Server

  • Jellyfin is a valuable service for home labs, but finding affordable hardware for it can be challenging.
  • The ideal setup for Jellyfin should have decent storage, redundancy, and the ability to transcode high-quality 10-bit 4K HEVC while being power-efficient and affordable.
  • The focus was on finding hardware for Jellyfin, not on software setup, with links provided for software setup guidance.
  • Three main criteria for hardware selection were storage capacity, transcoding capability, and cost-effectiveness.
  • The EliteDesk 800 G3 small form factor was chosen for its support of 7th gen Kaby Lake CPUs, like the Pentium G4560, which can handle 10-bit HEVC transcoding.
  • Despite accidentally purchasing a ProDesk 600 G3, it was still suitable for the intended purpose with minor differences.
  • The ProDesk was refurbished and upgraded with a 256GB NVMe SSD for booting and a dual 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch adapter for two hard drives.
  • Software setup involved using Proxmox, setting up a mirrored ZFS pool for storage redundancy, and installing Jellyfin within a Debian LXC container.
  • Hardware-accelerated transcoding initially had issues with tone mapping and frame rates but was eventually resolved by installing Jellyfin directly in the LXC container and adding OpenCL drivers.
  • The total cost of the system without drives was around $60, but with two hard drives, it would be approximately $180, highlighting the cost-effectiveness of the setup.

14:07

"Affordable HP EliteDesk 800 G3 Server"

  • The text discusses the possibility of using a Pentium G4560 processor in an HP EliteDesk 800, highlighting the components needed for this setup. It mentions finding a Bare Bones kit, an 8GB stick of DDR4 RAM, a used Pentium G4560, a Lexar 128GB boot drive, two 4TB hard drives, and necessary screws, totaling around $150 to $160. It compares this setup to buying a pre-built system with an i5 7500, suggesting waiting for a good deal on an 800 G3 with an i5 processor instead.
  • The text recommends the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 small form factor as an affordable and capable server for Jellyfin or Plex, suggesting it as a better option than other alternatives. It encourages viewers to share their ideas in the comments, promotes support for the channel through likes, subscriptions, and memberships, and offers early access to videos and behind-the-scenes content for patrons and YouTube members.
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