I’ve been using Plex for well over a decade now, long before any sponsorships entered the picture, and it remains the backbone of how I manage and watch my media at home and on the road. As a point of disclosure, this video and the transcript it’s based on are part of a paid sponsorship with Plex, but they did not review or approve the content beforehand.
My current Plex server runs on Unraid, which has proven to be a flexible choice that makes installing the Docker version of Plex super easy. Right now, the server itself is a small Beelink ME Mini NAS/PC paired with a USB-connected multi-bay SATA enclosure. It’s not a particularly elegant setup in terms of cabling, but it’s been reliable.
One of the reasons I’ve stuck with Unraid is how easy it is to migrate from one machine to another. Moving from an earlier NAS box with thermal issues to the current setup was simply a matter of transferring the Unraid external boot drive and disk array. The system came back online without any any configuration drama, which makes incremental upgrades far less painful.
The processor in this server is a low-power Intel N150, and in practice it has been more than sufficient. It handles multiple Plex transcodes at once and still leaves enough headroom for other Docker containers I run alongside it. That experience has reinforced my view that you don’t need particularly powerful hardware for a small, well-tuned home server so long as your processor supports hardware transcoding. The Intel N100 and N150 chips are available in many affordable mini PCs and entry-level NAS devices.
I also maintain a second Plex server offsite at a family member’s house, running on a Synology NAS. That system serves double duty as a test bed and as an offsite backup destination, giving me control over where my data lives. To connect everything together securely, I rely on Tailscale. It allows me to access my servers remotely without exposing them directly to the internet, and I can limit access to specific people and devices. That balance between convenience and security has worked well for my use case.
Most of my serious viewing happens at home, particularly higher-bitrate Blu-ray rips that I watch in my home theater. That setup centers around an older LG OLED television paired with an Nvidia Shield from the 2019 generation. Despite its age, the TV still delivers excellent image quality, and the Shield handles Dolby Vision playback from both streaming services and locally ripped discs.
With proper audio passthrough enabled, lossless Dolby Atmos tracks make it from the server to the sound system untouched, which is exactly what I want for that kind of content. I also enable refresh-rate switching so films play back at their native 24 frames per second, avoiding unnecessary judder.
Over time, I’ve built up a sizable library, and lately I’ve found myself revisiting older television series. Plex’s ability to shuffle episodes has become a surprisingly useful feature, especially for shows I know well and don’t feel the need to watch in order. It turns familiar series into something closer to background comfort viewing, without much thought required.
Live TV is another part of my setup, using an HDHomeRun tuner integrated into Plex. I can mix over-the-air channels with streaming channels in a single guide, and when I’m traveling, I can even watch my local channels remotely. Plex doesn’t currently support ATSC 3.0 broadcasts due to encryption and audio codec limitations, so recordings are limited to ATSC 1.0. I also handle actual recording through the HDHomeRun app, with Plex pointed at the directory where those recordings are stored so both systems can access them.
One of the more recent additions to my workflow is Plex’s watch list feature. When I hear about a show or movie that sounds interesting, I add it to the list from my phone. Later, when I sit down to watch something, Plex shows me not just the title but where it’s available, whether that’s on my own server, a friend’s server, or a streaming service. It’s a practical way to reduce the time spent deciding what to watch, especially when free time is limited. The same interface also surfaces trailers and upcoming episode release dates, which acts as a lightweight reminder system.
Music is handled through Plex as well. I’ve been slowly ripping decades’ worth of CDs into lossless files, which now live alongside my video library. Most listening happens through the Plexamp app on my phone, both at home and remotely. For travel, I’ll download albums or playlists directly to the device. While wireless headphones limit some of the benefits of lossless audio, using wired headphones makes a noticeable difference, especially on long flights.
Speaking of travel, the download feature has also been useful for loading TV episodes onto a tablet before trips using the Plex mobile client, letting me watch without relying on in-flight connectivity.
Looking back, Plex has stayed in my workflow because it’s made managing and accessing my media more straightforward. It brings together local files, live TV, and streaming discovery in a way that reduces friction rather than adding to it. For me, that efficiency is the real value, and it’s why the system I set up years ago continues to evolve rather than being replaced.