Creating a Plex Server as a Service using Azure Media Service
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I want to create a Plex Media Server as a Service.

The idea is so I can be able to create a Media Server, upload my media content and stream to my Media Center (in my case I tried apple tv with plex connect, iphone plex app and plex web app) using Plex Media Center.

My first try was creating a Virtual Machine on Azure, put some content on it and run a Plex Server.

This worked beautifully for 480p content, which needed no transcoding. Instant start time plus 10 simultaneous clients in a 2 core Virtual Machine. When I used a 1080p that needed transcoding, CPU usage went to the roof. It barely supported 3 simultaneos clients without stuttering. Also start time was very bad. In a 8 core Virtual Machine.

This almost put me in an state where I were going to drop the idea...

But just in time, I read about Azure Media Service, which looks promising for the task. Thing is, how can I use Azure Media Service and make Plex aware of that content ?

I will need to use autoscale capabilities of Azure so a new instance will be served by demand.

Lastly, ideally I will want to have different client access different OR shared media, to reduce storage and processing time.

TL;DR

I want to get rid of my own on-premise Plex Server, put it in the cloud, let my friends access my content and also upload theirs so we can share without depending on a single server to handle the request, with the ability to autoscale and share storage.

Nadia answered 5/7, 2014 at 3:53 Comment(2)
I'm not aware of how Plex works. Can you elaborate a bit about the need for transcoding and how that works in Plex?Kobi
@Kobi Plex is a solution for streaming media to all kind of different devices. There are lot of situations where plex transcodes. When the device does not support some specific códec, plex transocode it for a supported one. When a device has a lower resolution than original (eg mobile phones) it also transcodes to reduce bandwith usage. I'm not sure if that answer your question.Nadia

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