This really is the definitive guide to Quicksync transcoding. Great writeup with full in depth explanations and examples. I forward friends and users to this guide whenever hardware transcoding comes up!
That being said preference for Package 1 for a nice pfsense/quicksync box.
I am away from home right now but when I get back in a couple of months I’m going to make a new NAS/Plex server build following the OTiS guide
My current NAS/Plex is a Frankenstein build with super old parts (Phenom II x4 processor, DDR2 RAM, IDE 40GB OS drive). It badly needs an update.
I learned on #non-tech-deals-chat that Jaywire is a god of questionable photography.
Jokes aside, I learned a lot. Especially on #builds:unraid-gaming from @Riggi and @JDM_WAAAT that helped guide me to getting the right stuff for my server build, which is my first computer build ever. It feels like there’s such little meaningful content out there on simplifying server builds for useful applications for the everyman. And there’s just not a comparison when it comes to the responsiveness, accuracy, and enthusiasm in this community.
I’ve been out of the forum for a while, but I always enjoyed looking through the builds. It looks like I’ll be looking through the Plex Transcoding Builds because my current setup isn’t running as it should. On the discord I’ll ask questions about hardware and have gotten great responses in the #technology:hardware channel.
If I get a preference I’d prefer Package 2
Thanks JDM for this amazing giveaway and all of the great content.
While I was building my replacement NAS/Plex server, I learned a fair bit of good information from the #builds:anniversary-nsfw forums along with the associated Discord channels.
The guides on the site (particularly the SNAFU guide) provided a lot of good information all in a single place and really introduced me to the serverbuilds.net community. Now it’s one of my goto Discord servers.
JDM’s thorough guide inspired me to quickly grab one of these eBay U-NAS cases while available. Over the holiday I built the system (forum thread soon!) and I couldn’t be happier! JDM did an amazing job explaining the build and how to avoid pitfalls before they happen.
Thanks to this thread and shuccable deals on discord I’ve picked up way more drives than I thought I could ever use haha. I lurk the discord a lot and really appreciate all the effort you guys put into the builds and helping others out. Awesome community. Happy New Year to everyone!
While the HP 290 thread caught a lot of my attention, I reference this thread the most. [Official] Master List of Guides and Resources
The Unraid Gaming guide really opened my eyes to options for putting a gaming rig [back] together. Rather than building out a full separate system that would only see part time use, thanks to the guide, I dipped my toes into Parsec/Moonlight this year and never looked back.
Merry New Year, all!
Hands down, the most useful post from this community this year for me was the NAS Killer 4.0 based on the LGA1155 socket. I had a Node 304 case from a previous mini-itx build and thought it would be perfect for converting into a low powered NAS. As I got into it, and with great feedback from the users in that thread I ultimately switched to a Node 202 case with a custom 3D printed bracket to hold the HDD’s in the GPU bay.
Huge shout out also to the BST channels/posts for allowing me to get my hands on the mobo, cpu and RAM required for this sleek little build. I’m still fussing around with getting it all set up, but hope to share it with the community in the new year. Maybe it will even inspire others the way this community has inspired me. Stay healthy!
This is one of the forum post that changed my idea of what I could do with spare parts. It made what seemed to be out of reach possible for a decent price. It also gave me a dam eBay addiction.
I’ve added a quick sync to my 4.0 for Plex and I’m as happy as I could be. I could not thank the people that run this site enough for putting this info out there.
for me it is all of the original NSFWallet forum. That forum has continued to be an invaluable resource as I continue to work on mine. This forum/group just continues to improve over time.
This was probably the most helpful of the Serverbuilds guides I’ve read so far. Made things very understandable for someone like me who isn’t all that tech oriented. Keep up the good work!
[Guide] NAS Killer 4.0 - fast, quiet, power efficient, and flexible - starting at $125
Can’t thank the ServerBuilds forum and discord community enough for all the help on building my UnRAID server. Been up and running for about a year now without any issues. Currently using it as my Plex server as well as general file storage. Happy new year to all!
This is what all started it for me, so this has a special place in my heart.
I’d been using an HP Mediasmart Server for years, and I outgrew it’s four drive bays, proprietary parts, and the subtraction of the drive pool feature from Home Server 2011. Enter Unraid, Plex, and the reintroduction of the digital lifestyle for me!
Thanks all!
I love plex alot. I bought their lifetime pass some time ago. I know they are getting hate now-a-days…but they still do pretty well. They constantly are updating or fixing stuff. I share a ton of stuff with friends and family, and enjoy being able to watch stuff wherever I am. I hope everyone has a happy new year! Here’s to hopefully at least a 6 (ish) month COVID free (or severally diminished) year.
Preference Package #2
I really liked how you showed the many different designs companies have made for their 1U boxes. I had a lot of fun scrolling through and looking at how cool and colorful they look compared to the regular boring silver color. I hope that I will be able to customize or buy a nice looking chassis for one of my projects sometime soon.
Also, I would prefer Pack 1. Thank you!
This one forced me to reconsider my motivations for building a server. I ended up using Proxmox anyway, but it informed the rest of the process and led to some much better planning. The result is still in progress, thanks you your youtube video on formatting 520b drives to 512b.
Have to say, I stumbled upon this form via the killer NAS 4.1 post. I was just looking to build a cheap server to run Plex and a few other helpful apps for myself and some friends. It was here I was introduced to UNRAID and just how cheap some used server hardware can be. Absolute game changers for my home builds. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and building such a great community. If I happen to win, I would love an HP 290. But I hope you first gift to those who might need it most. Anyways, back to lurking on the discord.
https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-4-1-supplemental-deals/2187?u=fo0
I had a simple 8tb synology nas to get my feet wet. I had it running plex and some media managers. After I decided I really liked the setup I started looking to upgrade and found the NAS killer guide. I built out my own system and have been upgrading the last few months. Currently have a 20 TB media library running on a 36 TB unraid server with 2 parity drives. I started with the above forum post but have learned a ton from this forum community and have a little server rack / home lab setup going now and plan to expand over time.