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Where to start with setting up my own server? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Good news selfhosted crowd! I pitched the idea of setting up a server, and she is down with the idea!

I want to run Linux and host things like Jellyfin, Audiobookshelf, Navidrome, maybe Plex (I currently host it off my Mac desktop but would move it to a dedicated server).

I know you can host Plex et al on something like a Raspberry Pi, but I want a bit more power. I want something that can push at least 2-3 4K streams.

I'm considering targeting 12th gen i5 with 16GB DDR4. Maybe 32GB if I can swing it. Is that overkill? I know you want 8th gen Intel for hardware transcoding of either x265/HEVC or AV1 (probably the former as the latter is newer).

There are other projects I'd like to run. I'd like to be able to host my own LLM/AI but I'm not trying to go performance overkill here. This would be my first server.

I am somewhat comfortable using the command line, and I would be remoting into the server via my Macs (I have a desktop and a MacBook). However, Linux can run Windows games via Proton and that's something I'm interested in for some older titles that aren't on Xbox (like Deus Ex, which came out in 2000 and should run on integrated graphics). I'm not inexperienced with Linux and have been using it off and on (mostly off unfortunately) for over 30 years. My go-to would be Ubuntu, but I've heard great things about KDE lately and I know the Internet is in love with Mint these days. Would the distro really matter all that much as long as I have the required services?

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[-] esperal@pawb.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Hi there ! If your i5 gen10 can only handle one 4k transcode, you might want to double check if your hardware acceleration parameters are correctly set ^^

My home server runs on a small Intel N100, a 4k transcode eats up 30% of the CPU at most. I checked, it can transcode 3 streams without any lag, up to 4 transcodings if nothing else is eating the cpu. I'm not using Plex though, I got Jellyfin. I don't know how Plex handles things.

[-] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

my i5 doesn't have a built in graphics core. it's just a CPU. this means hardware acceleration for video encoding is intensive.

like I said before too, there are other services that are running on the server as well. things like siem, aggregators, containerized desktops, etc.

thanks for the info though! if I ever upgrade the CPU in the future I'll definitely get one with a GPU for hardware acceleration.

[-] esperal@pawb.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Oh OK! This makes sense then :)

this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2026
79 points (96.5% liked)

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