However, this conversion causes a necessary evil – it requires some processing power. You can also tell Plex that you would like a slightly lower quality streaming movie, for example, to make the phone’s 3G network load less (i.e., useless surfing). This happens in real-time while you are viewing the file! This introduces us to the second method Plex uses to send files: Conversion / Re-encoding.ĭepending on the device you are using, Plex Media Server detects that you are on that particular device and then encrypts the file to match the hardware and software you are using. Also, due to the size, it is not very convenient to stream, for example, a Blu-ray movie over a 3G connection to the phone. This is, of course, desirable, but as you know, not all devices can read all file formats. The first is to send it exactly as it is, i.e., it will not be re-encoded or resized.

The file can be sent to the selected device in two ways. It can also be installed directly on many pre-built NAS solutions from Netgear, Qnap, Unraid, Drobo, and Synology (see /downloads for a complete list).Īccording to these instructions, Plex Media Server acts as a server, collecting all of your media and sending it to the desired device.

Plex can be installed and run on a standard computer running Windows, OS X, Linux or the free Freebsd operating system. The first thing you need to decide is what hardware you want to use for your installation. Plex Media Server works like any other program and can run on a variety of platforms. Read on, and we will explain more and describe the advantages of this solution! Determining the Plex Media Server Hardware However, depending on the model, it’s not certain that your NAS can send all of the material to all devices. If you already have your own NAS, you can install Plex directly on it. Regardless of brand, model or geographic location. We will then use the free Plex Media Server software to distribute our entire media library so that it can be accessed from any of our network devices. In other words, a storage computer is connected to the network.

We want to store all our video, music, and image files on network-attached storage in this manual.

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