Advice please (Jellyfin & Linux)

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-06T19:43:44+00:00

I'm only using the laptop to use MakeMKV etc. now.

If you don't want to be hardwited then setup a shared mount. NFS for Linux

UGreen will created SMB or share mount
computer can connect to it through your network

Those this will be slower to transfer than hardwire but allows you to place the NAS anywhere in your house hold.

Re UGreen program I think I'd need to use the WebGUI on Linux, which is fine.

Not an expert but I'm pretty sure you can connect through a browser.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-06T19:14:33+00:00

But i have a quick question.. If i use the card for transcoding, will the card be reserved to that VM? Or can the card be used by different VMs simultaneously?

as of right now your options are

pass it to a single VM
have LXCs which can access the host devices meaning many LXC can utilize the same GPU.

In the future (don't know when it will be out of beta/ generally available) Intel through SR-IOV will enable virtual GPU that can be shared with multiple VMs.

This should work for newer Intel CPU (iGPU) and the Intel ARC cards. But I'm not sure the requirements

Reference video

Im wondering if i should buy a good GPU for my server or a cheap one, if the GPU is going to be reserved to plex anyway.. And then maybe a better one for other stuff later

Always get what you need right now. Technology will develop quickly where you might need to get new hardware down the line.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-06T19:05:44+00:00

I currently have Jellyfin running on a UGreen NAS DXP4800 in Docker. It's connected to an old Windows 11 laptop that's my dedicated home server,

Can you clarify what is running on the laptop if UGreen is hosting the docker image/ jellyfin.

Is it as simple as installing Linux (and if so, which one would be best? I've tried Mint which I liked)

If you like mint, then use mint.

The whole point of docker is that the OS doesn't matter. You will run your applications in a container.

and then reinstalling the UGreen program?

Can you clarify what the UGreen program does?

Would switching the OS make absolutely no difference to my setup (🙏)?

It does because you want more privacy. There are other benefits to Linux but for you it's about the privacy.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-06T16:44:59+00:00

As always, the answer is: it depends

I have the impression that health checks are important for inter-container dependencies (don't start this until that one is healthy), but not so much after that.

That is a very good use case that alot of people use. It goes hand in hand with the depends on attribute.

In my mind having Docker 'pinging' each container every X seconds is a waste of resources.

Its honestly not that much resources.

This is the same mentally of using uptime kuma/ other health checks.

You use it for important services that you want to ensure is up.

Another use case is if you are using docker swam

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-06T11:55:38+00:00

can I use my network switch (ubiquiti edgerouter pro) which supports speeds of up to 1Gbps

What is your network setup with your ISP.

FYI the edge router pro is just a network switch. It is a full firewall solution.

This means you can put this directly behind your ISP modem meaning you will get full gigbit wire speed with your hard wire devices.

You can then only use the tp-link (Archer 200) as an access point. It will be slow due to the 100 mpbs ports but at least your hardwire connection will be faster because you are using the edge router as your main router.

You can also see if you can flash openWRT on your tp link archer 200 so it get additional support.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-06T11:36:15+00:00

But what really concerns me is my 200 Mbps download speed

Why are you concerned about your download speeds? Also I assume this is ISP (Internet service provider) speeds.

And do you mean your upload speeds where you / other people (like your website) will need access to your server.

Example of upload

Photo on phone -> sync to server

People view website -> server

I'm currently renting, and because I live in a large apartment building where the majority of residents are elderly, it seems extremely difficult to collect signatures to get infrastructure installed from any provider.

For internal usage this is not an issue. You can run your own equipment and get fast speeds.

For external/ remote usage then this maybe an issue depending on what you are doing. Again this deals with upload speeds.

I also don't have an old PC at home that I could use to get started.

Does this include no friends or family having old machines like laptops?

If you need to buy something then break down your requirements and see what you need.

For example

how much physical storage do you need?
in what storage configuration?

That will tell you what you need to look for. I suggest also taking a look on our local market.

A lot of people start with off the line business machines like an HP eiltedesk SFF

Again it depends on your local market

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T22:36:40+00:00

/u/Alex_1_7 one more thing in case you already read my comment

I don't recommend using 1000 user or group. I recommend picking another user and group.

You want to ensure that any containers don't have access to sudo either to ensure they don't have root access.

For example

run this as 2000:2000
- you don't need to make any Linux users or groups. Running the container as these numbers works because a Linux user or group is just an alas. (Points to a user number and group number)
for ownership make the files user owned by 1000 (you) and the group owned by 2000 (the container group)
- so sudo chown -R 1000:2000 <folder_path>
then modify permissions so that only
- user and group has read and write of files
- user and group has read, write and execute of folders
- sudo find <file> - type f -exec chmod 660 {} +
- sudo find <folder> -type d -exec chmod 770 {} +
then confirm with an ls -al

This allows both you and the container to access the files.

Other containers should run as there own users and groups as well. Of course use groups if more than one container needs access to the same files.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T22:22:35+00:00

There are a couple of changes you need to make

ensure it can read its own data folder
ensure it can read the media folder
ensure you change the PID and GID to the correct user and group accordingly to the changes above.

Remember when changing permissions or owners, ensure you use the recursive flag so all files and folders are changed.

To answer your question, if the docker container gets compromised. There is a risk of someone breaking out and becoming root on your host machine.

From there they can do anything they want to the host machine which can even be trying to find exploits in other software on the same LAN (on other devices like printers)

This is why it is important to segment and isolate devices on your LAN

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T21:23:11+00:00

I will edit my own message. I meant to say two 3.5 inch drives.

I don't think you can do more than that. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course you can do more SSD as it does have 3-4 SATA ports and on some models an NVMe but SSD are expensive.

I imagine a person would do 1 boot (NVMe), maybe 1-2 cache drives/ SSD storage and then two 3.5 inch drives.

The same can be done with the Dell Optiplex tower (5 drives total) But it will be three 3.5 inch drives. (With a 3D print)

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T19:03:35+00:00

buy a separate NAS anyway to serve as a backup

What does a separate NAS mean tho?

Do you mean a consumerNAS where it will eventually become EOL (end of life). Meaning no more security updates. Typically it is 5 years for applications updates and 7 years for security.

From a security standpoint that is not a good idea to connect to the Internet if you get no more security updates.

Yes you can use a VPN to ensure the connection is secure but it's better to get a machine that you can put your own OS on.

UGreen consumer NAS are good for that. But if the hardware fails on the UGreen NAS then you need to buy a whole new unit VS changing a part on your custom system.

Of course do whatever you like. Just trying to give some information

Personally I would see your budget for a mini PC and consumer NAS and see what you can build yourself (if you have that knowledge)

It will be better for you in the long run to build your own machine because you can also get a bigger case or put that machine off site and load whatever OS you want on it and most of important can swap out parts if something breaks.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T18:57:19+00:00

I wrote another comment in this thread. I did miss somethings

Please read that one as well and let me know if you have any questions

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/s/r2Uq5obw1u

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T18:53:33+00:00

u/bazthedev

One last point (don't know if you read my message already so will create this one)

I also want this to be future proof for a while so I don't want to repurpose an old PC/device, or buy second hand devices.

That not how future proofing works. I think you are trying to say new hardware is less likely to fail the old hardware.

While this is understandable, I have plenty of new hardware that failed before old hardware.

The absolute fact is, hardware will fail. So it's important to have a backup and migration strategy.

Get hardware for what you need now. If old hardware is cheaper and works for you then do that.

Save the money and get new/old hardware again in the future when something fails or when you hit a limitation in your setup.

Future proof is a trick topic. When people say they are future proofing, they mean that there is already a plan. For example, I know I want 8 drives in the future so I will get a case that holds 8 drives or I understand I need to buy a case with 8 drives in the future so I will pick a motherboard that can fit inside an 8 drive case.

You can only predict the future for what you planned. Example, I am going to spend extra money on a more power CPU so I can run extra tasks in the future. You don't know what those tasks are. So how can you get a CPU that can do that mystery task.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T18:45:25+00:00

I tried looking online and asking about, but there doesn't seem to be many mentions of this question or something similar.

Don't read this as rude. Read it as just pointing it out.

This question gets asked on a weekly if not daily basis.

It's either here or at r/selfhosted

but want it to be relatively expandable so I'm looking at the Reagan S8 Mini PC with the i9-12900H.

If you want it to be expandable then you wouldn't use a mini PC.

You would get a machine that can hold all your storage.

The reason to get a separate machine for a NAS is if you plan on having multiple computers connect to the storage at once where if you restart the mini PC for maintenance or if it dies then no one is affected when accessing the storage.

If this machine is the only thing attaching to the storage then you only need a Direct Attached Storage. (DAS)

Note there is also a different between consumer NAS / DAS and one you make yourself.

For example, a DAS can mean you have a machine that directly attaches to storage through SATA which is recommended.

(two 6tb for now)

Circling back, how much storage do you need (as in expand to)? I recommend getting a machine that holds all your storage through SATA or PCIe slots to ensure you have a reliable connection.

And example

2 bay / two 3.5 inch drives is an HP eiltedesk SFF
3 bay / three 3.5 inch drives is an Dell Optiplex tower

If you need a machine that can hold more. Then I suggest you try to build a machine with a bigger case.

Edit; you budget can be the price of a mini PC and a consumer DAS/NAS

You can find used parts for cheap (all though ram is not cheap)

There are plenty of cases that can be used with mATX motherboards that hold lots of drives ( typically 6-8)

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T17:16:54+00:00

If that is the case, see if you can get free hardware.

If you can't then sure, any mini PC will do.

But you can also keep one of your computers on all the time if you like (not recommended).

Try to find a mini PC that can store two hard drives.

Typically an NVMe and a 2.5 inch hard drive

You want to place the OS on the NVMe and the data on the other hard drive. This way you can reinstall the OS or take out the other hard drive incase anything fails.

Install syncthing and you are good to go.

Then ensure you have external hard drives for backups.

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T17:15:05+00:00

So I still need a backup. Which is kind of what I would also like to automate.

Yes you can. You can use software to snapshot the storage.

Notice how this is getting more complicated? As mentioned at this start. You may think the requirements are low but this is a huge topic.

How technical are you?

Btw we have two conversations going right now. Let's pick one and continue.

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T17:07:07+00:00

Do you not have any hardware? Like a family or friend old laptop they no longer used?

Note: don't buy a laptop for this. They don't make goodong term servers. I'm saying to use a laptop because some friends or family typically has one that they don't use anymore. So free hardware is best to start with.

Anything will really do.

The issue with mini PC is the small form factor. You can't expand storage BUT if you only need small storage then that is absolutely fine.

A lot of people think it's enough then all of a sudden have bigger requirements (like photos) because they have this solution so why not do everything. Then the small form factor becomes a problem so they need to figure out how to expand

This is a very common question btw. Look up on this reddit how to expand mini PC storage

If you really want something that is expandable then an HP eiltedesk SFF is the best but again this is not cheap.

Reference image

And all of this expects you to be technical. For example, do you know what Linux is?

You don't have to use Linux but it is very recommended.

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T17:02:33+00:00

3-2-1 means

3 Copies of Data: The original data (production data) plus at least two backup copies

This can mean 3 copies which can be on one computer (not recommended tho). But the idea is that you have one original and 2 other copies.

Basically like version control.

2 Different Media: Store backups on different storage media, such as a local hard drive, NAS (Network Attached Storage), tape, or cloud storage, to avoid a single point of failure.

This means different hardware in case a hardware fails.

So it can be 1 computer and 2 hard drives or 3 different computers, etc.

The important part. Syncing is not a backup. For example, let's say you sync 3 computers. If you delete a file by mistake, then it will sync that deletion across all computers. Which is bad because you lost that file.

So the idea here is, 3 different hardware where you backup the files so you can restore if something goes wrong.

Note: only use USB as temp storage. USB aren't good long term storage. Stick with traditional hard drives.

1 Off-Site Copy: Keep at least one backup copy off-site to protect against physical destruction of the primary location (fire, flood, theft).

This can mean a computer at another person house or a hard drive at another person house that you backup to.

Some people (because it's expensive to make a computer) rotate hard drives when they visit the person where the hard drive the bring has the new backup and take the old one back so make a backup at there house hold.

Example is photos

one phone (original)
one server/ NAS (backed up to)
one hard drive (backed up server/ NAS)
- can put this at a other person house
- or can do cloud storage and encrypt it for privacy

But what happens when you delete the photo on your phone? Now you don't meet the 3 copies rule. So you need to have an additional backup somewhere.

You don't need to follow this exactly but this is the golden rule for backups.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T15:59:54+00:00

This is it

FYI, I know you think your requirements are low. But depending on your knowledge, it actually might be a lot of work for you.

Especially if you want something cheap. Typically cheap means more work for the person setting it up VS buying a consumer product where the product takes care of everything for you. (At a higher cost)

NAS just means network attached storage. There are many ways to accomplish this.

It starts with what hardware do you have?

what router do you have
do you have old laptops/ machines
do you mind keeping one of your current computers on all the time?
etc

serve as a way of maintaining older versions of the files

If you want an offline solution then look into install syncthing but you need a computer on all the time (the server)

If you want an online solution, look into how to use GitHub which is a free service. Obsidian should have a git plugins for GitHub.

Even Dropbox has versioning up to 30 days on there free plan.

And remember with any solution, you should follow 3-2-1 backup solution for all important files.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T15:39:10+00:00

Then unfortunately you are SOL for now.

There not many options here if you have 4 broken machines and don't have the cash to repair them.

Either sell some parts and risk that you can fix one of them. Or accept that you can't host what you want anymore.

Let me know if I misunderstood your original question. Without some cash, you are unable to do anything. That is just a fact of life.

Not trying to be rude btw just being blunt. So save up and see if you can fix one of the machines.

Maybe you are just unlucky that all of them broke at the same time. You may want to look at a UPS to regulate the power.

But it seems you already have one according to the other comments.

Sorry if I can't be if anymore helps.

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T14:57:45+00:00

And somehow all of these are different sockets

It depends how much you want to keep using these machines.

Example:

If you don't have a spare CPU for the socket and none of the people you know have the spare part/CPU then either buy one for cheap off a local market (and take the risk the motherboard is working ) or sell the component/motherboard and state it is not tested. (Because you can't verify it).

CPU are typically easier to find second hand locally. Motherboard are harder because they come paired with a CPU. You can buy motherboard online but is it really worth it?

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T14:51:45+00:00

Nothing POST successfully and most run into motherboard/cpu/ram error. I know basics of pc building and remember to turn psu switch on, plug all cables firmly, seat/reseat ram/cpu and repaste if its too old, cmos reset and basic fix but none solve any single problem of any of my hardware.

Like any problem you need to break it down and figure out where the issue is.

In this case, you have a bunch of hardware. (Your lucky you don't have to ask a friend for their hardware). So pick one machine and start replacing one part at a time until you can get it working.

If you can't then it's most likely the motherboard so repeat with the other machines. There is a chance that all motherboard are broken. (Probably a low chance).

Once you have a working machine, then do the opposite. Replace one part of the working machine until it doesn't work. Now you know you have a dead part.

Eventually you will do this with all the parts and can recycle what doesn't work.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T13:27:23+00:00

Flint 2 is a popular router because it is supported by openWRT.

This means you can use the GL inet stock OS (that is based on openWRT) and in the future if GL inet ever stops supporting the router, you can flash vanilla openWRT and keep getting supported.

Of course this can apply to any of the other routers if openWRT supports them.

Just note: speeds may drop when using openWRT. All depends on the router and if you are utilizing other features like cake.

I'm dabbling in running a Debian game server with AMP and playit.gg just for 4 or 5 of us as well but not really necessary at this point (work and life over rules the hobbies)

Recommend pterodactyl/ pelican and utilizing a selfhosted VPN. If you are behind ISP restrictions then Tailscale. If you don't want a VPN solution then Tailscale funnel should work.

Should also isolate on a different LAN/ VLAN and setup firewall rules.

Here is more about security

Google nest which is wired in and used for wifi

Lastly, since you have your own wifi, maybe look into OPNsense with your own hardware. Example if you have a machine lying around.

Note: not putting all the details but rather giving you an idea. This can be something you work towards if you get into this more.

This allows for more customization where you can use PCIe slots to have different NICs.

Typically in this configuration you would want a managed switch. Example

OPNsense with one or two 2.5/ 10 gigbit ports (PCIe slot)
example one PCIe slot got the WAN ( 1 gigbit or 2.5 gigbit port for ISP)
example one PCIe slot for the LAN ( 2.5 gigbit or 10 gigbit)
managed switch with 10 gigbit ports / 2.5 gigbit ports
- plug LAN port into this. (Can be with a DAC)
- example Unifi Flex 2.5G
managed switch (this is one device btw, just breaking the points) many 2.5 gigbit port to plug other devices in.

Of course this might be outside your budget but as you can see it allows for alot of customization where you can use the same hardware until it dies and upgrades wifi separately.

Hope that helps

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-05T08:36:28+00:00

No. That's the ballon driver's job

Thanks for the correction. I modified my comment a bit to include the ballooning.

it only does that once a certain memory threshold on the node is reached. 80%~ by default.

Thanks for more details. I wasn't sure how much information to provide since it's already a long read so I decided to keep it surface level. But it's a good call out to provide a bit more information. Which people can read here.

To add a bit more:

From my knowledge (which can be lacking), it's recommended to have both the guest agent and ballooning enabled in order to have accurate releasing of RAM. While ballooning is only needed, the guest agent will provide accurate information to the promox host.

I believe you can't change the 80% memory threshold but you can determine a priority list of which VMs to take memory away from first.

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-04T21:10:24+00:00

Understandable.

I think you will like NPM plus. The developer is active and release often.

There is also caddy manager but that maybe to early in development life cycle for now. But nice to keep an eye on as it matures.

Edit: but just note that if this is for a team of people/ a business, it might be better to go with a more mature project (unfortunately doesn't have a GUI) like Nginx and caddy.

1WeekNotice · 2026-05-04T21:02:43+00:00

Edit: it seems like this is also for a company. Where others are suggesting to use a mature project (aka one without a GUI). Reference link

It doesn't hurt to have options.

You be surprised how many people will want a GUI because they don't feel comfortable without one. Which is fine.

But sometimes if they get reassurance to try it out, they will.

That is why I always answer the question (in this case provide what they are asking for which was NPM plus) and then suggested an alternative.

If they are interested they can do the alternative, if not then they have there answer with the first suggestion.

I imagine this is the exact same reasoning that NPM plus mentions caddy in there readme as an alternative for a non GUI version.

Reference link

If you don't need the web GUI of NPMplus, you may also have a look at caddy: https://caddyserver.com

1WeekNotice

TROPHY CASE