Looking to purchase an Epson V600 for scanning glossy photos. Annoyed the Fastfoto FF-680W was scratching em, double annoyed I waited just under a year for it to go on sale and within that time flatbeds seemingly died lol.
It's been almost two years since I updated my post over on the Plex subreddit "A Beginner's Hardware Guide to Plex Media Server" and a lot has changed since then. Back when I first authored it, 32GB of DDR5 RAM was $50, a 2TB M.2 SSD $90 if you caught a sale. Just recently, Plex announced their second lifetime Plex Pass price increase since 2025. Nobody should pay $750 or even a subscription for accessing your own content. With the attention Jellyfin is receiving and how expensive hardware has got, I thought "What better time to rework, update, and gear my beginner's hardware guide to new Jellyfin users?"
This guide will walk you through the questions you need to ask yourself when determining your hardware, what hardware you should go with depending on your budget, as well as explaining why you may wish to go with each piece of hardware. Let's begin.
#Determining your use-case:
Determining your use-case is an essential part in building out a dedicated Jellyfin Server, here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
Who will be using this Jellyfin Server?
Will you be the only one using this Jellyfin Server? Or will your grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, sister be using this Jellyfin server? Do these people live with you or are they going to be remotely connecting to this server?
What will you be storing on the Jellyfin Server?
Do you intend to throw your entire 4k Blu-Ray collection onto this Jellyfin Server, or will you be sticking to the DVDs your dad gave you? Maybe some family photos and videos? This will be a key factor in how much storage you need, as well as what kind.
#Budgeting:
Budgeting is going to be the biggest issue you'll face in today's market. Anything storage related is priced through the roof. I personally recommend to buy used parts as much as possible. For this guide, I will be sticking to the USD and US market for hardware availability and prices and getting you a Jellyfin Server as cheap as possible that fits your needs. Baseline, if wish to buy all new parts or used parts, factor in a minimum of $200 for used parts, $300 for new parts. This is excluding the cost for high capacity hard drives and can only go up from there.
#Hardware: Now for the fun part, hardware. Determining your hardware is heavily dependent on a variety of factors, any hardware you have laying around to use, your internet speeds, electricity prices, whether or not you're letting Grandma take your 4k movies and transcode (convert video/audio files based on client needs) them because her internet is too poor, and the biggest factor being YOUR BUDGET. I'll lay out here a couple of configurations that are popular around here and their pros & cons.
Just your existing laptop or computer
You are more than welcome to use your existing daily driver laptop or computer to setup a Jellyfin Server. This is perfect if you are the only person using Jellyfin Server and do not care about it being up 24/7 or having lots of files ready to go. You may not wish to do this if you intend on keeping your media, or keeping your machine up 24/7.
A spare laptop or desktop lying around or used
I'm all about keeping hardware OUT of the landfills and in-use for as long as possible. I highly recommend repurposing your dad's Dell Optiplex from 2015 or so to make into a Jellyfin Server. It's free, and allows your budget to be spent on storage. Of course, new is better than used from a reliability and warranty standpoint. If that matters to you, this setup may not be for you.
NAS (Network Attached Storage)
Products marketed as a NAS are usually small, efficient boxes with 1-8 HDD bays available. I've turned around regarding my opinions on these devices since my last post, UGREEN entered the market as Synology shot themselves in the feet and tore up. Manufacturers have access to order hardware at much higher volume counts, thus getting better deals on components than consumers. I recently saw a 2-bay UGREEN NASync DXP2800 at Walmart for $260, alongside high capacity HDDs on clearance. That offers a low-power Intel Core N100, 4 core processor with iGPU (important for transcoding), 8GB DDR5, install your own storage. Great deal if you wish for new equipment that's efficient, compact, and if you do not plan on scaling your operations as high or can use them for other applications (buddy backup) as you outgrow your HDD capacity.
Mini-PC and a DAS (Direct Attached Storage)
A mini-PC and a direct attached storage combo is a great setup if you are the type of person that isn't comfortable building your own PC, prefer having the warranty and manufacturer assistance on your side. It can also be incredibly power efficient and small, as most mini-PC's use laptop processors. The DAS simply plugs in via USB to your mini-PC and acts as an external drive would. The DAS market is nowhere near as big as the NAS market, and you may find this scenario to be a bit janky at times. This is hosting all your data in essentially an enclosure that only holds, powers your HDDs and sends your data to your mini-PC over USB. These can be bought bare-bones (without RAM or SSD) or with RAM and SSD. Be warned that if you experience frequent power outages, DAS' have no Power Back-On functionality. You will have to manually turn it back on after power loss. Resolve this with a UPS.
Building your own PC
Building your own PC may be something you wish to do if you already have an old case laying around that has lots of HDD bays, spare parts, or just want to specifically configure your parts to your needs. This is the method I chose. I had a case I previously intended for a living room gaming PC laying around (Node 804) and saw it would be perfect for a Jellyfin Server. This can be a bit more expensive if you choose to buy new parts, or just don't have any older parts laying around. It will also not be as power efficient as using a mini-PC.
#Hardware Specifications:
Similar to the Hardware section, this will go in more depth to my recommended processors, hard drives, cases, even motherboards and more. A great resource to understand what parts go with what is PCPARTPICKER, a site that will assist you through building your PC or even your mini-PC and DAS/NAS setup, making sure no parts are incompatible. I will discuss transcoding a lot in this section, please feel free to learn more about it here.
CPU
If you wish to share your media to the outside world and transcode it, or just wish to buy your Jellyfin Server, make sure it has an Intel CPU with an iGPU. Intel CPU's with integrated graphics have QuickSync Video, a dedicated encoding and decoding hardware core that's incredibly power efficient and cost friendly way to ensure you can transcode your files if the situation arises. Different generations of Intel CPU's can transcode different files, ensure you are buying an Intel CPU at least 7th gen, and that it does not say F (i5 10400F) after the model, as it WILL NOT contain an iGPU. In today's market, I don't recommend buying a new CPU for building a Jellyfin server. When buying used, go for newer rather than older but don't be hesitant to get a good deal. Just make sure it's at least 7th gen. Here's a good link that goes into detail about what generation decodes/encodes what file type.
RAM
I used to stay bog standard, 16GB of RAM cause it was cheap. I miss those days... For now, start with 8-16GB of RAM. You can always buy more when it's cheaper. Depending on your setup, you may wish to use 2-8GB of RAM as a RAMDISK (making a portion of your RAM usable space like a HDD/SSD) to set Jellyfin to use as a transcoding path. Only do this if you're comfortable with it and are using Linux, as you can still use your M.2 drive for it.
Motherboard
If buying a motherboard for building a PC, make sure it has enough SATA slots for how many drives you wish to use, an Intel 2.5gb LAN (as I've personally had many issues with Realtek's), and is compatible with the CPU, case and RAM you have/are purchasing. An interesting option that's incredibly cost efficient and energy efficient is a motherboard with an Intel N100 built in. This is a mini-ITX motherboard with a 6W TDP processor that's 4 cores 4 threads and includes an integrated iGPU with QuickSync. Similar to the UGREEN NAS. These can be found on Aliexpress, specifically Topton's. If you're a bit unsure of building a PC but wish to take a dive, this option is great as the processor is baked onto the board. Putting the CPU in the socket is easily the most nerve racking part of building a PC and this resolves.
SSD
This is incredibly dependent on your build, whether you can use an M.2 drive, or only SATA. If you wish and your build allows, you can purchase a second M.2 drive to use as temporary files, similar to the RAMDISK I spoke of, for Jellyfin. If doing that with an M.2, ensure you do not put anything critical on that temporary files SSD, as it will wear down. Don't spend a lot of money on it. For a boot M.2/SATA, I recommend anything from Samsung or WD that fits into your budget. No need to go overkill. For the M.2 for temp files, find something that has high R/W speeds but is cheap. I have a Teamgroup MP33 256GB drive.
Power Supply
If buying a power supply for building a PC, ensure it's at least 500W, 80+ Gold and semi-modular/fully modular. If you wish to ensure your unit is TOP of the line, consult this guide
Case
This is personal preference, I insist you look on your own regarding, but I really enjoy my Node 804 from Fractal Design. It is Micro-ATX, but can hold 8-10 drives. If you wish for a smaller one, the Node 304 or Jonsbo's N line are great as well. If you're looking for something bigger and quiet, the Fractal Design Define series will suit your needs. Two factors to consider is that it has enough HDD bays for your need and that your case can fit your motherboard. Do not buy an ATX case with a Mini-ITX motherboard or vice versa unless you're buying a super cheap cpu-board combo like the N100 motherboard I mentioned before. You can always buy a PCIE SATA card to expand that motherboards included 6 SATA ports if your case has more than 6 HDD slots.
HDD
The most important part of your build, your hard drives. Fit most of your budget to buying a high capacity hard drive, 8TB or more, as your storage demands grow, you will quickly find your 3.5" bays to hold your hard drives filling up. You will need all the space you can get depending on your media, especially if you decide to throw your 4k Blu-Rays on here. Go for enterprise or NAS specific drives, such as WD Reds, Seagate IronWolf Pro, Seagate Exos, etc. These are drives specifically meant to be constantly on and deal with the vibrations of nearby HDDs. A major factor to consider is new vs re-certified drives. Only buy recertified drives if you do not care about replacing the contents of your drive. If you wish to buy re-certified drives, serverpartdeals has treated me well. You can also shuck (remove external enclosure) certain external hard drives as many major retailers carry and discount them quite often. Always make sure to scan your drives for errors as soon as you get them, new or used.
Mini-PC
If you're looking for a mini-pc, I recommend offerings from Beelink and GMKTek. Make sure it's running an Intel processor and has at least 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. If you're balling, the Mac Mini is a decent option as well. Just can't upgrade the RAM or storage (easily).
DAS
I would recommend TERRAMASTER, QNAP or Sabrent's offerings for a DAS. I personally bought the Mediasonic PROBOX HF2-SU3S3 which is working great. Remember though, no power-back.
#Operating System
Please don't run Windows on your dedicated Jellyfin server. It was bad enough back in 2023 when I originally made the post, and it has only got worse. Take the time to learn Linux, it is not as difficult as you may think. I personally run Linux Mint on my server, as it provides a Windows like desktop environment right out of the box. If you wish to ensure you squeeze the most out of your hardware or don't care for a desktop environment, running Ubuntu Server or Debian headless (command-line interface only) are great options. As always, remember to buy a USB to install your installation media if you do not have one and get started following the Jellyfin Documentation. #Conclusion
Please do let me know if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or a request for me to include in this guide.
It's been almost two years since I updated my post over on the Plex subreddit "A Beginner's Hardware Guide to Plex Media Server" and a lot has changed since then. Back when I first authored it, 32GB of DDR5 RAM was $50, a 2TB M.2 SSD $90 if you caught a sale. Just recently, Plex announced their second lifetime Plex Pass price increase since 2025. Nobody should pay $750 or even a subscription for accessing your own content. With the attention Jellyfin is receiving and how expensive hardware has got, I thought "What better time to rework, update, and gear my beginner's hardware guide to new Jellyfin users?"
This guide will walk you through the questions you need to ask yourself when determining your hardware, what hardware you should go with depending on your budget, as well as explaining why you may wish to go with each piece of hardware. Let's begin.
#Determining your use-case:
Determining your use-case is an essential part in building out a dedicated Jellyfin Server, here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
Who will be using this Jellyfin Server?
Will you be the only one using this Jellyfin Server? Or will your grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, sister be using this Jellyfin server? Do these people live with you or are they going to be remotely connecting to this server?
What will you be storing on the Jellyfin Server?
Do you intend to throw your entire 4k Blu-Ray collection onto this Jellyfin Server, or will you be sticking to the DVDs your dad gave you? Maybe some family photos and videos? This will be a key factor in how much storage you need, as well as what kind.
#Budgeting:
Budgeting is going to be the biggest issue you'll face in today's market. Anything storage related is priced through the roof. I personally recommend to buy used parts as much as possible. For this guide, I will be sticking to the USD and US market for hardware availability and prices and getting you a Jellyfin Server as cheap as possible that fits your needs. Baseline, if wish to buy all new parts or used parts, factor in a minimum of $200 for used parts, $300 for new parts. This is excluding the cost for high capacity hard drives and can only go up from there.
#Hardware: Now for the fun part, hardware. Determining your hardware is heavily dependent on a variety of factors, any hardware you have laying around to use, your internet speeds, electricity prices, whether or not you're letting Grandma take your 4k movies and transcode (convert video/audio files based on client needs) them because her internet is too poor, and the biggest factor being YOUR BUDGET. I'll lay out here a couple of configurations that are popular around here and their pros & cons.
Just your existing laptop or computer
You are more than welcome to use your existing daily driver laptop or computer to setup a Jellyfin Server. This is perfect if you are the only person using Jellyfin Server and do not care about it being up 24/7 or having lots of files ready to go. You may not wish to do this if you intend on keeping your media, or keeping your machine up 24/7.
A spare laptop or desktop lying around or used
I'm all about keeping hardware OUT of the landfills and in-use for as long as possible. I highly recommend repurposing your dad's Dell Optiplex from 2015 or so to make into a Jellyfin Server. It's free, and allows your budget to be spent on storage. Of course, new is better than used from a reliability and warranty standpoint. If that matters to you, this setup may not be for you.
NAS (Network Attached Storage)
Products marketed as a NAS are usually small, efficient boxes with 1-8 HDD bays available. I've turned around regarding my opinions on these devices since my last post, UGREEN entered the market as Synology shot themselves in the feet and tore up. Manufacturers have access to order hardware at much higher volume counts, thus getting better deals on components than consumers. I recently saw a 2-bay UGREEN NASync DXP2800 at Walmart for $260, alongside high capacity HDDs on clearance. That offers a low-power Intel Core N100, 4 core processor with iGPU (important for transcoding), 8GB DDR5, install your own storage. Great deal if you wish for new equipment that's efficient, compact, and if you do not plan on scaling your operations as high or can use them for other applications (buddy backup) as you outgrow your HDD capacity.
Mini-PC and a DAS (Direct Attached Storage)
A mini-PC and a direct attached storage combo is a great setup if you are the type of person that isn't comfortable building your own PC, prefer having the warranty and manufacturer assistance on your side. It can also be incredibly power efficient and small, as most mini-PC's use laptop processors. The DAS simply plugs in via USB to your mini-PC and acts as an external drive would. The DAS market is nowhere near as big as the NAS market, and you may find this scenario to be a bit janky at times. This is hosting all your data in essentially an enclosure that only holds, powers your HDDs and sends your data to your mini-PC over USB. These can be bought bare-bones (without RAM or SSD) or with RAM and SSD. Be warned that if you experience frequent power outages, DAS' have no Power Back-On functionality. You will have to manually turn it back on after power loss. Resolve this with a UPS.
Building your own PC
Building your own PC may be something you wish to do if you already have an old case laying around that has lots of HDD bays, spare parts, or just want to specifically configure your parts to your needs. This is the method I chose. I had a case I previously intended for a living room gaming PC laying around (Node 804) and saw it would be perfect for a Jellyfin Server. This can be a bit more expensive if you choose to buy new parts, or just don't have any older parts laying around. It will also not be as power efficient as using a mini-PC.
#Hardware Specifications:
Similar to the Hardware section, this will go in more depth to my recommended processors, hard drives, cases, even motherboards and more. A great resource to understand what parts go with what is PCPARTPICKER, a site that will assist you through building your PC or even your mini-PC and DAS/NAS setup, making sure no parts are incompatible. I will discuss transcoding a lot in this section, please feel free to learn more about it here.
CPU
If you wish to share your media to the outside world and transcode it, or just wish to buy your Jellyfin Server, make sure it has an Intel CPU with an iGPU. Intel CPU's with integrated graphics have QuickSync Video, a dedicated encoding and decoding hardware core that's incredibly power efficient and cost friendly way to ensure you can transcode your files if the situation arises. Different generations of Intel CPU's can transcode different files, ensure you are buying an Intel CPU at least 7th gen, and that it does not say F (i5 10400F) after the model, as it WILL NOT contain an iGPU. In today's market, I don't recommend buying a new CPU for building a Jellyfin server. When buying used, go for newer rather than older but don't be hesitant to get a good deal. Just make sure it's at least 7th gen. Here's a good link that goes into detail about what generation decodes/encodes what file type.
RAM
I used to stay bog standard, 16GB of RAM cause it was cheap. I miss those days... For now, start with 8-16GB of RAM. You can always buy more when it's cheaper. Depending on your setup, you may wish to use 2-8GB of RAM as a RAMDISK (making a portion of your RAM usable space like a HDD/SSD) to set Jellyfin to use as a transcoding path. Only do this if you're comfortable with it and are using Linux, as you can still use your M.2 drive for it.
Motherboard
If buying a motherboard for building a PC, make sure it has enough SATA slots for how many drives you wish to use, an Intel 2.5gb LAN (as I've personally had many issues with Realtek's), and is compatible with the CPU, case and RAM you have/are purchasing. An interesting option that's incredibly cost efficient and energy efficient is a motherboard with an Intel N100 built in. This is a mini-ITX motherboard with a 6W TDP processor that's 4 cores 4 threads and includes an integrated iGPU with QuickSync. Similar to the UGREEN NAS. These can be found on Aliexpress, specifically Topton's. If you're a bit unsure of building a PC but wish to take a dive, this option is great as the processor is baked onto the board. Putting the CPU in the socket is easily the most nerve racking part of building a PC and this resolves.
SSD
This is incredibly dependent on your build, whether you can use an M.2 drive, or only SATA. If you wish and your build allows, you can purchase a second M.2 drive to use as temporary files, similar to the RAMDISK I spoke of, for Jellyfin. If doing that with an M.2, ensure you do not put anything critical on that temporary files SSD, as it will wear down. Don't spend a lot of money on it. For a boot M.2/SATA, I recommend anything from Samsung or WD that fits into your budget. No need to go overkill. For the M.2 for temp files, find something that has high R/W speeds but is cheap. I have a Teamgroup MP33 256GB drive.
Power Supply
If buying a power supply for building a PC, ensure it's at least 500W, 80+ Gold and semi-modular/fully modular. If you wish to ensure your unit is TOP of the line, consult this guide
Case
This is personal preference, I insist you look on your own regarding, but I really enjoy my Node 804 from Fractal Design. It is Micro-ATX, but can hold 8-10 drives. If you wish for a smaller one, the Node 304 or Jonsbo's N line are great as well. If you're looking for something bigger and quiet, the Fractal Design Define series will suit your needs. Two factors to consider is that it has enough HDD bays for your need and that your case can fit your motherboard. Do not buy an ATX case with a Mini-ITX motherboard or vice versa unless you're buying a super cheap cpu-board combo like the N100 motherboard I mentioned before. You can always buy a PCIE SATA card to expand that motherboards included 6 SATA ports if your case has more than 6 HDD slots.
HDD
The most important part of your build, your hard drives. Fit most of your budget to buying a high capacity hard drive, 8TB or more, as your storage demands grow, you will quickly find your 3.5" bays to hold your hard drives filling up. You will need all the space you can get depending on your media, especially if you decide to throw your 4k Blu-Rays on here. Go for enterprise or NAS specific drives, such as WD Reds, Seagate IronWolf Pro, Seagate Exos, etc. These are drives specifically meant to be constantly on and deal with the vibrations of nearby HDDs. A major factor to consider is new vs re-certified drives. Only buy recertified drives if you do not care about replacing the contents of your drive. If you wish to buy re-certified drives, serverpartdeals has treated me well. You can also shuck (remove external enclosure) certain external hard drives as many major retailers carry and discount them quite often. Always make sure to scan your drives for errors as soon as you get them, new or used.
Mini-PC
If you're looking for a mini-pc, I recommend offerings from Beelink and GMKTek. Make sure it's running an Intel processor and has at least 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. If you're balling, the Mac Mini is a decent option as well. Just can't upgrade the RAM or storage (easily).
DAS
I would recommend TERRAMASTER, QNAP or Sabrent's offerings for a DAS. I personally bought the Mediasonic PROBOX HF2-SU3S3 which is working great. Remember though, no power-back.
#Operating System
Please don't run Windows on your dedicated Jellyfin server. It was bad enough back in 2023 when I originally made the post, and it has only got worse. Take the time to learn Linux, it is not as difficult as you may think. I personally run Linux Mint on my server, as it provides a Windows like desktop environment right out of the box. If you wish to ensure you squeeze the most out of your hardware or don't care for a desktop environment, running Ubuntu Server or Debian headless (command-line interface only) are great options. As always, remember to buy a USB to install your installation media if you do not have one and get started following the Jellyfin Documentation. #Conclusion
Please do let me know if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or a request for me to include in this guide.