There’s lots of solutions.

Cheap:

But a full tower PC case with room for 10+ HDDs. Lot of options like those from Fractal, CoolerMaster, etc.

Enterprise (expensive):

Buy a JBOD with a backplane that you plug all your discs into then plug that into a server.

You would be better off being paid by Google, Nielsen, or other ad tracking companies.

It was paid $45 a month for years by Google to track my internet. They gave me a custom router to do it. It was all my own traffic, so I didn’t worry about shady outside traffic. Figured Google already tracked me anyways so I might as well be paid for it.

I would not use NTFS.

Do the reverse. Use ZFS, Ext4, or Btrfs. Those are native Linux file systems.

Then you share the Linux folder with Windows over SMB, which is a Windows file sharing protocol that both Linux and Windows understand well. Voila, copy and paste between both machines without worrying about corruption.

It’s for editorial integrity.

A lot of redditors only read the title and it’s what a lot of discussion is around. Allowing titles to be edited after the fact would really change what information is presented and how the conversation is contextualized.

No, you want Ethernet not fiber.

Your downstairs router, computers, and your new upstairs switch / Wi-Fi access point are all guaranteed going to be RJ45 Ethernet.

The only part that is fiber is the part running to the outside.

You can put both a fiber and CAT5E/6 Ethernet in, but just a fiber connection will not accomplish what you want. You need the Ethernet connection in order for each floor to have its own wired connection and/or wifi access. That’s what the consumer equipment will use. Otherwise, you will need more enterprise-level equipment and that will add unnecessary complication.

Serve The Home forums and YouTube is dedicated to these devices.

Protectli, CWWK, Topton are the manufacturers. Protectli is actually a rebrander of the Chinese products for western audiences. CWWK designs the actual motherboards. You can order from whichever vender you like, although Topton seems the least reliable as far as English support and firmware.

If you have a Managed Switch with VLAN capabilities, then your new proposed idea and layout make sense.

Your current setup kind of looks like it’s double NAT. Which is not great. You want the Protectli router to be the first device after the Arris Surfboard modem. Have the modem be in only modem/bridge mode. We do not want to use the Arris as a router.

The TrueNAS gods say to leave HDDs plugged in and spinning.

The current way to store digital data is as “living data” with backups. Data only exists if it’s constantly verified to exist. You can’t verify an unplugged HDD. Of course, you need a 3-2-1 backup system, and have to continually verify those backups as part of the living system.

The magnetic platters in a HDD are actually decently reliable. Sure a cosmic ray or error may flip a bit, but that’s why we have backups and redundancy elsewhere in the system. That flipped bit won’t actually damage the hardware.

The real concern with HDDs is that they mechanically wear out and break. They stop spinning. The motors malfunction, the lubricants dry up, the metal bearings wear down, etc.

TrueNAS says the most dangerous time in a HDDs life is when it is spinning up or slowing down from a stop. This gives the most mechanical stress on the HDD. They says it’s better to leave them powered and spinning 24/7 than to unplug them or despin them.

H.264 and x264 are the same thing. H.264 is the name of the math standard. x264 is the name of an open source software that implemented that math.

Mikrotik CSS610-8P-2S+IN - $200
8x Gigabit PoE-out ports and 2x 10 Gigabit SFP+ ports.

Miktrotik CRS328-24P-4S+RM - $500
24 port Gigabit PoE with 4x 10Gbps SFP+ ports.

The most important part of a Frigate NVR is the Coral Edge TPU. As long as you can secure one, you’ll be set. The USB version is easiest to use, since it doesn’t require installing drivers and most PCs will have a USB 3 port.

All the processors are good enough for a small NAS and NVR.

I wouldn’t buy a PC without SATA ports or an expansion slot. If you go the mini-pc route, where would your store your HDDs? An expansion slot would let you one day add an HBA card for more SATA connections. By default, it looks like all those motherboards have limited SATA connections. The 7080 Tower says it has 4 SATA connections, but only 1 of them looks like its the full speed SATA3.

You probably want to run all of that on bare metal in containers with Docker or Kubernetes.

Containers let you easily share resources between them, because they all share the same kernel. VMs are harder to share hardware resources with, as you’re finding out.

I was not sure if I should run a LXC container for each docker, or have a single LXC with everything (exception xrdp / XFCE). I don’t know what would be good practices…

LXC is a container. I don’t think you would want to run Docker inside LXC. That’s running a container inside a container. I’m a noob though.

Normally, you run one app per container, or one set of apps per container if they are closely related. You could run all the Plex suite apps inside a single LXC container and Windows alongside it in Proxmox. Or you could run each app inside their own LXC container.

Alternatively, you could run them all in individual Docker containers on bare metal Ubuntu, but not have the ability to install Windows or other OSes.

I use TrueNAS (ZFS) over Unraid because I wanted maximum data reliability. I needed a system with high integrity that I could deploy on multiple computers for backups. Unraid takes less planning and is more forgiving on hardware selection though.

TrueNAS, Unraid, and Synology DSM are all software RAID solutions.

OpnSense is the way to go. It has a good web UI. It’s robust, featureful, and has wide and growing deployment.

Pfsense is mired in controversy, they attacked their peers, and the owners are not honest. The open source Opnsense project had to appeal to the WIPO to force Pfsense to give them their named domain after Pfsense squatted on it and posted inflammatory messages. They aren’t great stewards.

Windows is okay to start. There’s nothing wrong with putting Plex on there, sharing some folders, and having a little server.

You can get more performance and more features for running Linux though. It’s more reliable and you can get more help, because that’s the tool people use. There is a learning curve though.

For a storage server, Linux works well as a NAS (Network Attached Storage). It supports SMB, which is the protocol Windows uses to share files. A Linux server will be able to share files with a Windows PC.

Also if I switch to an open port through my router and send the containerized plex port through it, would that be any risk for my home network?

Not when done properly. Billions of servers open ports. There are 16 million Plex users.

Think about this, have you ever considered the possibility your router by Linksys, NETGEAR and D-Link is easy to hack and has been hacked?

There is a risk involved with any software and network. Plex is a popular app with lots of resources and development behind it though. A VPN like Tailscale can add another layer of security, but its not a requirement to run a secure server.

If they’re Cat5/6 cables, in the U.S., they’re low voltage and don’t need a licensed electrician.

You’re supposed to support the cables by attaching them to the surface. You’re not supposed to leave them dangling or lying. They don’t require a conduit though. If you get quality outdoor Cat6 cables, they’re probably well protected in a dry covered chimney.

Using a VPN just means I don’t get personalized ads, just random ones.

You can ask Google for non-personalized ads too, its in the settings. They will track you either way.

I pay for a YouTube premium family plan and because Google actively incentivizes it, 4 of my friends get it for free as well.

That’s not possible. Your friends have to pay or watch ads themselves.

If it were possible for some people to pay and others not to pay, then YouTube would have survived for over a decade, including periods of profitability, even though some people blocked ads. Oh wait…

It’s definitely not because YouTube has 2 billion viewers and expanded to all regions of the world, and there only real way to increase revenue is to squeeze the existing customers.

Its more than enough computer performance for those tasks. If it comes with a case, memory, storage, etc. It’s not a bad price. It has an Intel integrated GPU with QuickSync Video which is good for Jellyfin hardware accelerated transcoding.