New Emby user confirming that I'm getting it ALL in backups

[FatherSaint 7]

I'm very new to Emby after jumping the Plex ship. I bought the lifetime Premiere license, but I don't think that's relevant to this question:

According to the Emby Dashboard, everything is located in my roaming profile. I'm concerned that might not be showing another location due to the significant size difference between Plex and Emby. I lost everything in Plex a few years ago and have since become a six-ways-from-Sunday backer-upper. As such, I just want to confirm what already seems obvious, and yet HOW can it be...

• The current version of Treesize Free reports that EVERYTHING in the Emby-Server folder is: 1.1GB
• The current version of Treesize Free reports my Plex Metadata-only folder is: 8.2GB

I have Emby saving metadata to the media folders, but that seems to be just image files and has minimal impact on the size report.

 

 

[rbjtech 4340]

Cache will have a large impact on the folder size (it will build over time) - but everything is stored under the root emby folder - be it the roaming profile, or if created using a 'portable' version of emby - then under any folder you specify.

It is perfectly possible to ZIP up the entire folder and deploy on another machine for a 100% restore.

Saving metadata to the media folders is a good option to select, as emby specific files such as BIF files (used for seeking thumbnails for example) can then be shared by multiple emby instances should you wish to do that - a test and prod system for example.   The images themselves on the media folders will be cached locally (with a ttl) for speed reasons - thus building the cache over time - the more you browse/view - the bigger the cache will get. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by rbjtech

[FatherSaint 7]

Thank you for such a thorough explanation! It sounds as though I'm accidentally doing more or less the right things!

This is reassuring and just another validation of my decision to call it quits with Plex.

Thanks again for your reply.