Here is my media setup. I also realize this looks like a lot at once, I’ve personally been screwing around with these sort of setups for like 8 years now so on my end this is a lot of accumulated knowledge, though I will note that I am absolutely not an expert here. You’ll need to independently do some research on all of the bullet points below and figure out what will work best for you. 

 Sorry about typos; its a Saturday morning and I’m trying to give up coffee.

I will continuously update this document as I make changes to my server.

• Update, March 2022: I migrated my site away from free basic Blogger and over to WordPress + hosting. I think I got them all, but if there are any weird Blogger links, sorry.
• Update, February 2023: Added a note about your TV media player and how much I hate “Android Boxes.”
• Update, August 2024: I recently made a few upgrades, broke broke some things, then completely reconfigured my media setup based on Dr. Frankenstein’s website – while in hindsight I would change a few things in his guides for the sake of my own organization preferences, these are probably the most beginner friendly guides available.

Subscriptions:

1. Usenet provider. Access to usenet. I use UsenetServer.
   • UsenetServer also provides a VPN. I literally never use it, but if that’s important to you, it’s included.
2. Usenet indexer. Basically access to search for the files you want. You can use as many as you want, I bought a lifetime subscription to NZBGeek and just ran out my subscription on NZB.su.
3. Torrent site. I rarely use torrents, but do still find them useful sometimes, especially to fill in gaps. Ideally, you should use a private site that will require you to maintain an a specific download:upload ratio. Keep in mind that many of these are invite-only.
   • I’ve been using TorrentDay for years. It’s sometimes not considered the most professionally-managed of the available private trackers, but I’ve never really had any issues.
   • I recently decided to get a second private torrent tracker. I settled on TorrentLeech, as while it’s invite-only and I didn’t have an invite, TL will provide you with access if you sign up for a seedbox account with wither partner, SeedIt4Me. A seedbox is basically a torrent program on a server somewhere (The Netherlands in this case, I believe) that you rent. The benefit here is that none of the files are on your computer or network, and you can also seed files like crazy to increase your down:up ratio. I bought one of their cheapest plans for 1 month at about $17 CAD, granting me access to TorrentLeech. I then used the seedbox to crank up my ratio on TorrentLeech and TorrentDay as much as possible for 1 month. I no longer use it.

I’ll also note that the subscription costs are about the same as a yearly Netflix subscription.

Download Software

1. Usenet client or downloader, the program that downloads your files, connects to your usenet provider and to your preferred media automation programs (see below). I use NZBGet.
   • I have since switched so SABnzbd, it’s more modern-looking looking and handles some files better. NZBGet also seems to be deprecated, but appears to have been picked back up as a new project.
2. Torrent client, the program that downloads your torrents. Connects to your torrent site, and to your preferred media automation programs. I use qBittorrent. I don’t think it matters much which one you use (as long as it’s reputable). For the amount of torrenting I do, I don’t really care much.
3. Sonarr, tv show manager. Enter the shows you want to track, set preferred quality, then Sonarr will search your usenet indexer or torrent sites to find the episodes you want as the files become available (including shows as they air). Sonarr can be set will rename files and folders properly, which is super important for your library program. Sonarr is linked to your hard drive where your media lives, so it can a) move downloaded files there and b) scan your drive for shows and fill in any gaps. It’s linked to your indexer or torrent site to find content, as well as your downloader programs. Link.
4. Radarr, same thing as Sonarr but for movies. Link.
5. Other programs. Depending on your setup and what you want, there are a bunch of other programs you may consider. Here’s a list, there’s programs for things like subtitles, music, books, porn, whatever. On this list I think I just use Jackett to connect Sonarr to my torrent site, which is not natively supported (some torrent sites will not need this).
   • As per Dr. Frankenstein’s guides, I’ve bailed on Jackett and switched over to Prowlarr. Prowlarr consolidates your torrent and usenet sources into one location, when can then be easily adder to any of your arr programs. It basically just saves you from adding the same sources several times to several different services.
   • I’m also using Notifiarr, which is basically a notification system that sends information to my private Discord server, so I get alerts for downloads, issues, updates, etc.
     • One of the big bonus here is Notifiarr’s integration with TRASH’s Guide Sync, which automatically syncs up a bunch of recommended download quality settings. It cost a $10 donation, and was well worth it to mitigate the headache of reconfiguration.
6. Mobile Software.
   • Plex, my media library, discussed in detail below. I have Plex installed on basically anything I own with or connected to a screen.
   • LunaSea. I use an android app called LunaSea to access and manage Sonarr and Radarr while away from my PC.
7. Non-Media programs. It’s super easy to run a bunch of other programs on a NAS, whatever they’re for media, file storage, network utility, game servers, etc. I’m currently running:
   • Speedtest Tracker, running twice a day to map my internet speeds.
   • Uptime Kuma, which can monitor whether various services are online. I was having intermittent internet issues and set this up to make a call to Google every minute to graph when my internet was down.
   • UpSnap, which lets me wake up my PC from my NAS. I don’t ever really use this, but it’s been useful when trying to stream games from my PC from within my house, when I’m too lazy to walk downstairs.
   • Tailscale. Tailscale is super cool, it’s like a private VPN service that connects your devices, so when away from home I can access my NAS or PC or Steam Deck as though I was connected to my own network. For example, if someone recommends a show to me while I’m out, I can fire up Sonarr and add it.
   • Obsidian. Obsidian is a self-hosted, offline note taking service. On my PC, I’ve set it up to a dedicated folder on my NAS where everything is stored. Using the Synology sync app on my phone, I sync the Obsidian folder on my phone and connect to Obsidian from there. I also use my NAS’s backup features to backup my Obsidian database to Box.net. I may write a dedicated post about this.

Library Software

1. There are several programs that will basically look at the hard drive where you store your media, scan the contents and build a user-friendly interface in which to browse and view it. Two programs are needed: the server, and the client. The server is on your media computer doing all the library management and sends the media to the client. The clients play the content – on your phone, other PCs, your Xbox, whatever. You stream your the content over your internal internet within your home, so imagine it like Netflix but the content lives on a computer in your house.
   1. The most popular media server is Plex. Plex runs on basically anything and is super user-friendly. Sharing your Plex server with friends/family is also generally pretty simple. Other options are the Emby or Jellyfin, Jellyfin is particularly interesting, and I think a decent number of Plex users are waiting for Jellyfin to mature a bit.
      • I have an instance of Jellyfin running as a backup. I never really use it, but it’s there is I have an issue with Plex for some reason.
   2. Kodi (formerly XBMC). Kodi is often synonymous with free pirated content and crappy pre-loaded Android boxes from Craigslist, which is incorrect. Kodi is a media library platform first and foremost, but due to the plugin options that it allows, Kodi is often just connected to various free TV sites online. I’ve listed Kodi separately since it’s not a media server like the programs listed above – it’s more of an all-in-one option that as far as I’m immediately aware doesn’t offer any options to stream. Kodi is more of a self-contained system. As a library I think it’s just as good as Plex, but it’s less convenient if you want to watch on several devices. Kodi will run pretty well on a potato, and there are basically Linux-based operating systems that only run Kodi, like LibreELEC. Let’s say you have a spare PC, maybe a mini-pc like a Zotac box (which I used to use) or a Raspberry Pi or something – you install LibreELEC like you would any operating system and it literally just runs Kodi. I used to use Kodi for everything before moving to a media server.
      • Kodi can connect to a Plex library through a plugin, or to a network share with your media.
   3. There are libraries available for other media as well. I’m less familiar here, but Ubooquity or Calibre are both ebook library managers.
2. Client. If you have a Plex server, you can download the Plex player apps on whatever other devices you own. same for Emby or Jellyfin, though I believe the app offerings are more limited but they can also be accessed in-browser on your other devices. You may not actually need a media player if you have devices that can see files on your network via different connections types (eg. your smart TV might be able to see the shared network files on your PC), but it’ll be a million times easier to use a client. 

Hardware

You can spend as much or as little money as you want here. You can cobble this together with an old PC or go all out with a giant rack of servers. Whatever your needs or budget, there is probably a solution that will work.

1. You can run all of the above on basically anything. Most of the above software is pretty lightweight. The media servers will probably struggle on super low-powered machines,  but you could probably make due.
   • PC or Mac. There are probably versions of everything above that will run. I assume Linux as well.
     1. I find it helpful to assign a static IP Address to the NAS and a few other network-connected items, like my security camera. If the IP is reset, all of the various connections are broken and will need to be reconfigured. This is especially a pain in the ass with my camera, because the NAS can then no longer find it despite the camera still technically being active.
   • NAS, or Network Attached Storage. A NAS is basically a hard drive with an operating system attached to your router, giving your network access to the files on the hard drive. You can log into your NAS from a web browser and use it similarly to any other OS.
     • You can cobble together a NAS out of just about any old PC. Like LibreELEC above, there are dedicated NAS operating systems that you can install and use to build a DIY NAS our of just about anything. I don’t know anything about these, but you can look into solutions like TrueNAS or Unraid.
     • I use a Synology DS920+. It has 4 bays (I’m currently only using 2, waiting for a sale on HDDs) and works like a dream. There is a bunch of first and third-party software available for media, networking, productivity, home security, whatever, but most importantly to me (my last NAS did not do this), is that is supports Docker. 
       • I added additional RAM, which is useful when running all of the various services I have active on my server. The stock RAM is more than adequate for smaller setups.
2. Docker. Docker is software, but I want to lump it in here as opposed to above. Docker is a container platform. Docker allows you to essentially create little virtual machine-type environments where you can run a single program. What this means is that pretty much every program above can be independently installed and fired up in a Docker container, separate from your operating system or any of it’s limitations. Can’t find a version of Sonarr that will run on your NAS? Install it via Docker. Want to automate your smart home? Home Assistant isn’t available for Synology but it is for Docker. In-house password manager? Bitwarden RS. Block ads? Pihole. VPNs, library monitoring, user download requests, IPTV, etc. 
3. Media Player. You need to get your media from your Plex library to your TV somehow.
   • I use a Chromecast with Google TV 4k. It’s a Chromecast with a TV-focused operating system + a decent remote, available for $40 (HD only) or $70 (4k) and frequently go on sale. The Amazon Firestick is essentially the same thing with (IMO) a worse layout and more ads. Just download the Plex app on either. Do I find the Chromecast doesn’t handle Plex subtitled very well.
   • I also recently picked up a used 2017 NVIDIA Shield at an estate auction for about $1.50 (it was buried in a pile of random cables and thankfully nobody else noticed it). The Shield line is arguably the best media device. It’s super powerful, has great software support, and comes from one of the largest PC hardware manufactures in the world. Mine is missing a remote, but works well with keyboard (I’m using a Logitech K400). I’ll buy a replacemnt remote at some point, then will hook up the Shield to our main TV, and move the Chromecast to our smaller TV.
   • Do not ask me about Android Boxes. I think they are garbage. They run a mobile OS on your TV and require constant babying and updating with zero support from the sellers, not to mention navigating and selecting your media is a massive pain in the ass in the godawful UI. If you’re going this route, don’t bother with anything other than an NVIDIA Shield or at the very least a Xiaomi Mi Box. The Onn TV box is apparently a solid contender as well.
   • Your smart TV probably has access to a Plex app as well. But smart TVs also tend to have terrible UI, bad privacy practices and some hit you with annoying ads in their system. There is no reason to hook your TV up to your wifi, given the performance compared to literally any other option.
   • If you’re running your setup off of something like a laptop, just plug it into the TV and have at it. Maybe grab a wireless keyboard, the Logitech K400/K600s are really great, compact keyboards for TV-connected computers.
4. UPS, uninterrupted power supply. Power outs can wreck your NAS or your data, in fact, I lost a drive on my last NAS due to this. I get fairly frequent super brief power outs in my area, so I bought an Eaton 5S700LCD. The majority of the time it acts as a power bar – I have my NAS, PC and router connected to the main outlets, it as well as a couple of smaller random chargers, all getting power like they were plugged into the wall. If I get a quick power out, the NAS, PC and router will remain on (my monitors will not, which isn’t a problem is the power flickers back on quickly, but if it’s a lengthy outage the next part is important to me). The router is needed to allow everything to talk to each other during a power out. The NAS is connected to the UPC with a USB cable, allowing them to talk to each other. If the power is off for X amount of time, the NAS will safely power set itself to a hibernate kind of state, then send a signal via the router to my PC, telling it to safely turn itself off. I’ve used the safe power down functionality once since I’ve bought the UPC, but have had several intermittent power outages and the UPS allows my to pick right back up where I left off. I didn’t set this up initially but will whenever I get around to reorganizing my desk: one of my PC monitors plugged into the UPS. When everything shuts off, the PC remains on but the monitor does not. Not that I need it for work or whatever, but I’d like the option to manually power down the PC or NAS is I lose power.

Remember I’m absolutely not an expert here, but have been tinkering with this stuff for like 10 years now. Hopefully this is helpful to someone.  

Here are some resources that I have found incredibly helpful, particularly with the Synology NAS and Docker.

• Dr. Frankenstein’s Tech Stuff
• TRaSH Guides
• Marius Hosting
• Smart Home Beginner