What's the "Best" Emby Platform? Windows, Nvidia, etc.?

[wayloncovil 2]

tl;dr: Should I run Emby on Windows or something like an Nvidia Shield?

 

I'm currently running Emby on a refurb PC I found on NewEgg. Seems to do just fine.

I have the server sleeping when not in use. This leads to the kids saying that Emby isn't working when they go to watch their shows and I'd rather just leave the thing on so they don't have to click the wake server button, etc.

 

I'd rather not have a power hungry PC on all the time so this got me thinking about using the Nvidia Shield. I'm probably just going to use the thing to run Emby and maybe a storage share so I can backup to the External Harddrive connected to it. I doubt I'll connect it to an actual TV.

 

So, from a support perspective, is it easier for the Devs to support a Windows install or something like an Nvidia Shield install?

 

And from those with Emby on a Shield, is your experience with supporting the device similar to Windows?

 

Anything else I should be thinking about while I'm going down this train of thought?

 

Thanks!

Edited March 16, 2019 by wayloncovil

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

First: Servers should never sleep. There are many reasons for not allowing a server to sleep and the only one for allowing sleep are power consumption and wear on the server. The first is usually a quite minuscule saving and for the second it has been shown, although there is some debate, that the wear caused by spinning drives up and down is greater than the wear of simply running all the time.Also an Emby server should not have any other regular duties.

 

Second: I think a Windows computer is superior for running and supporting an Emby install. The main reason is that it is more complex to access a file system from the Shield or through it and, if you have a moderately large library and base it on the network then access through the Shield is more complex.

 

I run an Emby server on a Windows computer and have nearly zero issues. I have tested the Android server on my Shield Pro and it had some stability and access issues but those may have been solved in releases since my testing. I prefer the stability and ease of using Emby on my Windows computer.

[clarkss12 304]

I cringe at the thought of using any power hungry devices just for media consumption. That being said, everything should depend upon the client that you are using. They have some very nice low-powered low cost Windows 10 microPCS, that make for good Emby servers. As long as you don't require any transcoding of the audio or video, they work well.

 

Pair that microPC with a low-powered NAS or a low powered external hard drive for your media, and a client that plays all the audio video codecs natively.