Shield disapoints.

[Gilgamesh_48 942]

I have had to remove my server from my Shield and I do not really intend to ever install it again. I am not asking for help as my Shield just is a failure at serving my large library rather I am just informing folks of what has happened with my Shield as a server.

I have tried to run an Emby server on my Shield several times and it has produced a slowdown and various bugs over time.

As of right now I have tried at least 5 different times over several years and every time my Shield has, over time, gotten slower and access of the server has slowed down to the point where I had to remove the Emby server from my Shield. I tried reboots and even power cycles and nothing seems to clear up the slowdown except for a short time. This time I managed to keep my Shield's server running for almost 18 months. Maybe it is that Emby's server running on the Shield just cannot handle a library as large as mine and accessing the library through the network, that is not using directly connected storage at all. I just do not know for sure but something slowly goes wrong over time with my setup.

Since I have 2 other servers and both are better, faster and more stable than the Shield for the purpose of running a server there is almost zero chance I will set up an Emby server on my Shield ever again.

The Shield was, for me, just a tertiary backup server and I do not really need that level of protection.

Thanks for listening to my basic reasons for abandoning my Shield as an under powered server.

Note: I have the original Shield from when they first introduced the device. People with newer Shields may have different/better experiences.

[Carlo 4330]

The shield just doesn't have the hardware or IO to run larger Emby systems so your post is no surprise to me either.
I've had the same results as well.

Where the Shield TV is great is for smaller systems or what I'd call portable systems.  Copy some content from your main system to an external USB3 drive, plug it in to the Shield TV and take the Shield and drive on vacation with you after you have it up and running.  If using a PRO model you likely have enough storage room to copy content to it without the need for external storage! I've used mine several times like this for RVing or out on the sailboat. It's great for this as it doesn't use much space at all and is low power.

It's also a great solution for those getting started or with light demands.  But a device such as the Shield TV is built to be a great playback device, not a NAS or Server even though it can stand in as such for lighter loads.

It's all about expectations on something like this.  Personally I'm still amazed the Shield TV can function as an Emby server at all, but is great used in the right environment.

[GWTPqZp6b 41]

How many movies and shows? Any understanding why it became slow, was it cpu, memory, network or storage bound?

[Gilgamesh_48 942]

On 4/17/2021 at 10:47 AM, GWTPqZp6b said:

How many movies and shows? Any understanding why it became slow, was it cpu, memory, network or storage bound?

Almost 4000 movies, almost 40,000 TV episodes and a few hundred other videos. I have no idea why it was often slow and/or unresponsive but I suspect it just was under powered for the purpose.

Fortunately I do not need it and it was just a "toy" for experimenting with and I finally decided that there was no real need for a third Emby server in my home. Particularly I did not need one that was basically unstable and required constant tinkering.

The Shield works for playback with no issue. I really prefer my Rokus but it is good to have a couple of extra playback devices that are based on different operating systems. That way if a failure happens that takes some time to fix I can still watch my content.

[Carlo 4330]

13 minutes ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

Almost 4000 movies, almost 40,000 TV episodes and a few hundred other videos.

Poor, poor little Shield TV Server.  LOL
That's a pretty big system media wise IMHO to try and run on a small device like a shield.

[Gilgamesh_48 942]

17 minutes ago, cayars said:

Poor, poor little Shield TV Server.  LOL
That's a pretty big system media wise IMHO to try and run on a small device like a shield.

The amazing thing is that it "sometimes," even pretty often, worked quite well. It just seemed to get "busy" doing crap and then would become mostly unresponsive. But you are right it was pretty clear that I was trying to push the "little" Shield beyond what it really could do. I see similar reports about the Plex server running or the Shield so I suspect the little beast is just not suited for running a server.

But everything I have mentioned is part of the reason I have given up.

[Carlo 4330]

I too found you can push the little device pretty hard but when background services are running (ie file scan) it puts a bit of a hurting on the IO ability of the device.

Same with using it as a client at the same time on higher bitrate media files.

[RanmaCanada 335]

Ha that's a big library.  Honestly you're better off using a NUC or a 8th gen or higher laptop.  Anything with modern quicksync, 16 gigs of ram, and an SSD will handle that.  

[Gilgamesh_48 942]

On 4/20/2021 at 12:41 PM, RanmaCanada said:

Ha that's a big library.  Honestly you're better off using a NUC or a 8th gen or higher laptop.  Anything with modern quicksync, 16 gigs of ram, and an SSD will handle that.  

I said the Shield was a "tertiary backup" and that means that I have two other servers. I do not need or want to use a NUC or laptop for serving. I use a full desktop and all my data drives are external USB drives pooled with StableBit's DrivePool. I have tested and I have found that in a server environment an SSD is totally unnecessary if you have a good hard drive and store all nfos and artwork alongside the video files.

I really do not need advice as to how to "replace" my Shield as I do not need to "replace" it. I was just posting to say why I retired it.

My library is not really very big. There are many many people that are active here with MUCH larger libraries but I do not think I have read of anyone actually having a stable Shield server with a truly large library.

Also your mention of "Quicksync" implies that you think I need transcoding but I do not. My entire library is at least direct streamable and the vast majority of my files direct play.

The Shield just cannot really handle duties as a real world Emby server and that is all that matters to me. My other two servers are just fine and I really do not need or want a third. As I said earlier the Shield as a server was just a toy to play with and that toy is now broken.

"Van Roy's Law: An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys."

[RanmaCanada 335]

My mention of quicksync has nothing to imply that you need transcoding, it is a means of suggesting something with as little overhead as possible, and in a small form factor, which is usually what someone using a Shield wants.  

Someone has Cheeto syndrome.

 

[MaDTaZ 1]

Reading this over I definitely glad you retired your shield.  the poor little thing was probably going to die anyways!   You should try to run Plex on it as a sever as well see how that goes.  The shield is not a server device.  I have 3 in my house and they work great.  You say how can that be.  Well I use a proper media central device to store and server all my files.