noob questions on Streaming / GPU transcoding - opinions gratefully received

[clunesy]

I'm building my first TrueNAS and would like to do low-impact streaming and transcoding on it.

Gigabyte C246M-WU4
Xeon 2174G -
128GB ECC.
Nvidia 1060 3GB

6 x 8TB Seagate Ironwolf RAID-Z2.
Boot mirror Mirror 512GB SSD Samsung 980
WD SN850 L2ARC

So I'm thinking TrueNAS Scale?
I would like to use Jellyfin (or something else free).
I would like GPU transcoding, but will seldom use devices that really need it, and even more rarely more than 1 concurrently.

I'm hoping for easiest setup. So distilled questions are:

1) Scale vs Core?
2) Docker (or jail) vs KVM (or BHYVE) - (which is easier for setting up Jellyfin with Nvidia GPU?)
3) Do I need Nvidia GPU? Is Intel UHD 630 plenty for this job?

The more I learn, the less I'm sure!

thanks in advance

Niels

 

[oncdoc]

Hi there bumping this up because I'm thinking of that same combo

 

[Baenwort]

So as to the amount of GPU needed you'll want to ask your media server provider specifically. I'm betting TrueNAS Scale + Docker.

For Emby only intel iGPU's work for hardware acceleration on TrueNAS Core. dGPUs work on TrueNAS Scale.

As to if you need them, I've found that for 1080p transcodes 4 cores at 3 Ghz+ is enough for a smooth single transcode. You might not even require GPU acceleration if you only plan for 1 or 2 1080p streams to be transcoded.

 

[oncdoc]

So as to the amount of GPU needed you'll want to ask your media server provider specifically. I'm betting TrueNAS Scale + Docker.

For Emby only intel iGPU's work for hardware acceleration on TrueNAS Core. dGPUs work on TrueNAS Scale.

As to if you need them, I've found that for 1080p transcodes 4 cores at 3 Ghz+ is enough for a smooth single transcode. You might not even require GPU acceleration if you only plan for 1 or 2 1080p streams to be transcoded.

Hello Baenwort, I noticed in your sig that you have TS140. Are you still using that. I have one as well that Im thinking of starting up a Truenas server on. It has 32 gb ECC with a Intel® Core™ i3-4130 CPU @ 3.40GHz. Do you think that is enough for an acceptable experience ?

 

[Baenwort]

Hello Baenwort, I noticed in your sig that you have TS140. Are you still using that. I have one as well that Im thinking of starting up a Truenas server on. It has 32 gb ECC with a Intel® Core™ i3-4130 CPU @ 3.40GHz. Do you think that is enough for an acceptable experience ?

I do have the TS140 still and I used to have exactly that CPU and mem amount while running Emby. It could handle a single 1080p transcode no problem. I've upgraded the CPU to the best one that fits in the socket (e3-1286v3) and can now handle 4K HDR HEVC to 1080p SDR h264 transcoding. Before I was having issues with 4K transcoding.

If you are using Emby or Jellyfin you should be fine without bothering with hardware acceleration but you should be able to get both to work with the iGPU built into that CPU and be able to double or triple the number of transcoding streams you can handle at 1080p.

If you want to use the dGPU (and if you already have it why not?) I would go with TrueNAS Scale Bluefin + a docker for either Emby or Jellyfin. I've got it working on TrueNAS Core (I help maintain the Emby plugin) but it seems for many that it is harder to get Hardware acceleration working on TrueNAS Core than TrueNAS Scale (do need to be running latest TrueNAS Scale).

 

[oncdoc]

I do have the TS140 still and I used to have exactly that CPU and mem amount while running Emby. It could handle a single 1080p transcode no problem. I've upgraded the CPU to the best one that fits in the socket (e3-1286v3) and can now handle 4K HDR HEVC to 1080p SDR h264 transcoding. Before I was having issues with 4K transcoding.

If you are using Emby or Jellyfin you should be fine without bothering with hardware acceleration but you should be able to get both to work with the iGPU built into that CPU and be able to double or triple the number of transcoding streams you can handle at 1080p.

If you want to use the dGPU (and if you already have it why not?) I would go with TrueNAS Scale Bluefin + a docker for either Emby or Jellyfin. I've got it working on TrueNAS Core (I help maintain the Emby plugin) but it seems for many that it is harder to get Hardware acceleration working on TrueNAS Core than TrueNAS Scale (do need to be running latest TrueNAS Scale).

Thanks for the information.