FreeNAS 11 and Plex

[matyhaty]

Hi All

Ive installed FreeNAS 11 (dual USB Flash drives) and has the following:

i5 - 3.2GHZ
10GB DDR3 Ram
SSD for jails (aka Plex)
2x 4gb (mirror)
2x3gb (mirror)
Plex plugin installed

I'm constantly seeing high CPU peaks, often from a process called python 3.7
This is when nothin gis happening on the server at all.

The only thing its just for is simple SMB shares (2 users!) and Plex.

Anyone suggest anything, as its killing streaming videos from plex !!

(PS the same machine used to run on windows and plex was great!)

 

[Chris Moore]

You didn't give enough detail about your hardware. What model i5, there are many and they have been making i5 processors for years.
I wonder if you have enough memory, but let's find out what the CPU is.

I don't know, but it is possible that, the Plex software under Windows was using the video card to do some portion of the encoding. Under FreeNAS, all encode is done by the CPU. That means a more robust CPU may be needed, but FreeNAS almost doesn't use the video card at all. The console only displays text after all...

Anything further would be speculation at this point. You might want to read this though:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?forums/forum-guidelines-read-before-posting.26/

 

[matyhaty]

Hi Chris

Thanks for your reply, appreciated

The CPU is

Intel Core i5 650 @ 3.2ghz

Passmark: 3111
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-650+@+3.20GHz

Do you think thats the issue?

(PS the computer has a intel based graphics card, no discrete graphics)

 

[Chris Moore]

That is a LGA1156 socket and there have been quite a bit of architectural improvements since then. If you're on a tight budget and can't get a newer (not brand new) system board, you will probably need to switch to a chip that is quad core.

If you can spend around $250, I can suggest some great used equipment from eBay.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[Chris Moore]

PS. What resolution?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[matyhaty]

Thanks for your reply. To be honest I didn’t realise feeenas added overhead etc

I don’t mind spending a little.

I did see these earlier.
Your experience on whether it’s any good?


https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/272766984259

 

[matyhaty]

Only hd resolution. But would those servers do 4k?

 

[Chris Moore]

Thanks for your reply. To be honest I didn’t realise feeenas added overhead etc

I don’t mind spending a little.

I did see these earlier.
Your experience on whether it’s any good?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/272766984259

Do you have a special reason for looking at a rack mounted server? They are usually loud because of the high speed fans and the HP rack servers especially tend to integrate hardware that is not compatible with FreeNAS. For example, this unit has a "Smart Array P410i / 256Mb" which is a hardware RAID controller and is especially bad for FreeNAS but it is integrated on the board, so there isn't even a way to rip it out.

Would a tower system be acceptable or do you really want something in a rack chassis?

 

[matyhaty]

No reason to have raxkmount.
I do have a rack mount (self made) cabinet for all these things but currently I have a mid atx case on it’s side on a shelf so either solution is fine.

I read up about that server and people’s were saying they weren’t too loud but if not suitable then so be it!!

I welcome any suggestions

Ps I’m in the uk.

 

[toadman]

There are "quiet" rack mount cases available. I have one that I run as an esxi server with passthrough of 12 drives to a FreeNAS vm (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147164). Pretty quiet, but not hot-swap. Certainly not "silent" as some of my other ATX cases that are designed for silence (e.g. Fractal), but a not quieter than a screaming 2U server with 80mm fans. This one has 120mm fans in it.