u/NoWerewolf7191

Recently worked up a crude method predictive caching of Plex library content (e.g., originally on a USB-connected HDD) onto an SSD or NVMe. Plex still opens the same library paths as before, but the bytes for the shows and movies people are likely to hit next often live on the fast disk instead of a single busy USB hard drive. That cuts down on the drive jumping around (disk thrashing) when several people stream while Sonarr/Radarr, Tdarr, and other work are also touching the disk. The cache could potentially stream to many more people without flinching compared to the HDD. More relevant to those who have their libraries on a single usb HDD (arrays diffuse pressure, experience much less disk thrashing with RAID setups).

How it works:

Most of what people watch next is predictable, so a script regularly copies those files onto the SSD/NVMe. On the slow disk it renames the real file in place by appending a suffix (example: Show.mkv becomes Show.mkv.cache-origin), then puts a symlink at the original name (Show.mkv) that points to the copy on the SSD. When you evict from the cache, you remove the symlink and rename the suffixed file back. Plex still sees the same path for playback, so metadata and watch state stay put. Shortcoming is that it is not a live cache: whatever Plex already opened keeps reading from the disk it started on. The benefit is the next play and other predicted plays.

In brief, this is how caching is automated:

1. Copy the file from the library location on the slow disk to a path on the fast disk.
2. Rename the original file in place so it keeps a reserved suffix.
3. Put a symlink at the original path that points to the copy on the fast disk.
4. Cached copy 'eviction' deletes the symlink and the SSD copy and restores the normal filename on the corresponding HDD file.

If you want to see the actual code, or you want to turn the idea into something cleaned up and genuinely shareable, tell me and I will hand over the rough vibe-coded scripts I have.

Deeper details, hardware specs, and the post/project that inspired me are in my comment below.

Just thought I'd cross-post my comment for better visibility, in case anyone finds it useful.

Just a note: The creator of Houndarr did say that they used AI in development, but that they have something like 5 years of coding experience and are confident in Houndarr's architecture:

"About me: I have a B.S. in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from a top-65 nationally ranked university (U.S. News 2026), and I've been writing code for four or five years. I've always been into building things, and this project came out of wanting something that actually fit how I run my stack. I vibe coded it heavily, but I understand what I ship. This is my first real public project, so bug reports, feedback, and criticism are all welcome. GitHub issues and/or GitHub discussions are the best place."

- Reddit post with the creator's 'disclaimerr'

- https://github.com/av1155/houndarr

Hello!

Was just curious if anyone has experience hosting with ~100 Mbps upload when your users are in a distant country (but they have ~1 GB/s upload)?

Is there direct playback smooth? Wifi vs ethernet?

If i have 2 users direct playing (no transcoding) from distant countries, they usually experience terrible buffering despite it only taking up ~21 Mbps each (I understand this is VBR, but it probably would never even reach 80 Mbps total if there are just 2 users)...
When i limited my remote bitrate to 8 Mbps (on the fly transcoding), there are no problems.

They and I are both using Wifi for our devices, but I'm going to test ethernet later today. But, since I have great Wifi connection, I doubt things to change very much.

Sorry, I am a little confused on how to set Bazarr to only operate within a daily time window.

I want it to work between 08:00 and 14:00. I can't seem to restrict its operations to this window in its settings, though?

Could someone help point me toward something i might be missing?

Or perhaps there is a crude way to do this if there are no native knobs? E.g., setting a chron job for Bazarr to launch via docker at 08:00 and stop its container at 14:00?

Thanks!

So, for context: Plex on Mac mini (16 GB), media on a single Seagate Expansion USB HDD, Plex metadata + incomplete downloads + Tdarr temp on a separate SSD.

My issue is that when I have 2+ remote viewers, they get buffering, even with plenty of bandwidth and little or no transcoding. My theory is the single spinning drive (one head) can’t serve Plex reads + SAB/qBit imports + Tdarr probes + thumbnail work in parallel without seek-thrashing.

For anyone who made the jump:

1. Did moving from a single USB HDD → multi-bay DAS (or NAS) actually eliminate multi-stream buffering for you?
2. Considering OWC ThunderBay 4 + 4× Seagate IronWolf Pro 16 TB in RAID 5. Overkill for a home Plex box, or just the normal “lesson learned” upgrade?
3. Anything cheaper that worked? e.g. two drives split by library, JBOD, or just adding a second USB HDD?

Trying to confirm the diagnosis before spending the money. Thanks.