Trash Panda Guides

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===== The Foundation =====
Throughout this Plex journey, we moved through several architectures and levels of capability.
Eventually, one goal became clear:

Build a true set‑it‑and‑forget ecosystem that maximizes capability while minimizing hands‑on operation and maintenance.

While the trimming done here was motivated by scaling back the excesses of archive‑first thinking, that trimming was intentional — **prioritizing performance, accessibility, and reliability** over absolute fidelity.

In some ways, the foundation discussed in these guides may appear “fat.” Every component exists for a reason.

This page provides:

  * A brief history of the evolution of the system
   
  * Clear justification for each architectural choice
   
  * An explanation of how each component contributes to the whole
   
The upfront effort is real — but the time saved over the operational life of the system is immeasurable.

===== History =====
==== Phase 1: The General‑Purpose PC ====
The journey started with Plex installed on a general‑use Windows computer with ~2TB of storage. 
Technically, it did work. Though real world use quickly revealed the following issues:

  * Plex competed with daily workloads for resources
   
  * Security risk was high due to direct internet exposure
   
  * VPN usage had to be manually enabled and disabled
   
  * Disk space disappeared quickly in a shared household
   
This setup didn’t scale.


==== Phase 2: The NAS Era ====
The next iteration moved Plex onto a Synology DS920+, upgraded to 20GB of RAM with 16TB raw storage (12TB usable after RAID).
Advantages:

  * Native Plex support
   
  * Intel Celeron J4125 with UHD 600 iGPU
   
  * Hardware transcoding for H.264 / H.265

Again, limitations surfaced quickly. VPN use caused conflicts with direct LAN access resulting in a need to move media acquisition services to a VM on another machine. Sharing Plex with family followed — and so did complaints.
Buffering. Dropped streams. Constant emails and phone calls requesting more content. I couldn't keep up, the Celeron couldn’t keep up. We needed a bigger boat.


==== The Bigger Boat ====
The current environment is robust, scalable, secure, and proven. It performs better in the real world than it did on paper — and it’s the architecture these guides are designed to help you build and configure.

=== Core Components ===
**1. Robust Networking**\\ 
Layer 2/3 managed switches and a quality consumer or SoHo firewall — not ISP‑provided equipment.
      
**2. Virtualization Host**\\ 
A physical machine capable of supporting:\\ 
  * At least 8GB RAM and 6 vCPUs for guests
  
  * Headroom for host OS and collateral workloads
          
  * Three physical network adapters
      
**3. Reverse Proxy Server [Ubuntu VM]**\\ 
Isolates externally exposed services from direct internet access.
  
**4. Automation (ARR Suite) Server [Ubuntu VM]**\\ 
Hosts automation services including Jackett, Prowlarr, Sonarr, Radarr, and a torrent client.
    
**5. Content Request (Overseerr) Server [Ubuntu VM]**\\ 
Self‑service content request Web UI for users.
    
**6. Plex Media Server [Physical Ubuntu]**\\ 
Requires two network adapters and also runs Unmanic optimization services.
    
**7. Network Attached Storage (NAS)\\** 
Any NAS with at least two network adapters. We use a Synology DS920+, but you can use any NAS you like.
    
**8. External USB HDD/SSD**\\ 
Large enough to back up the media library.
    
**9. HDHomeRun OTA Tuner**\\ 
Because at this point, why not cut the cord entirely.
    
**10. Quality Yagi Antenna**\\ 
The HDHomeRun has to get a signal from somewhere. We use the Winegard YA7000C.