Arch Linux

wrkerr

Member

Registered: 2015-04-02

Posts: 18

Plex and OwnCloud Setup

I've never set up or maintained a server on any of my systems previously, so I apologize if some of my questions here are basic.

My main system is a desktop running Arch Linux. It's not the newest or most powerful system, but it does have an Intel Core 2 Quad processor, and has some room for upgrades, if needed at some point.

I currently rely heavily on Google's cloud storage services (Drive for storage, and Play for media consumption). I'd like to make a move toward self hosting, and need some suggestions.

My first thought was that I wanted to implement a media server, so I could rip all my movies and music onto my desktop and access them from any mobile device on my network. The client end of the setup would need to be very easy to use (for non-technical users), have good Android support, and be able to "cast" to my Chromecast.  With these requirements in mind Plex seemed to be the best option, though I think I could also use Rygel on the desktop to share the media via DLNA. If I went with Rygel, I think I would need to find a good Android app to be the client side for DLNA, and it would need Chromecast support. I'm not sure what the technical advantages would be either way.

Another thought I had would be setting up OwnCloud on the desktop. This would eliminate the need for Google Drive altogether. Plus, I'd like to start using a good password manager (KeePassX?), but I would want to keep my password database file stored on my own system, but shared or easily accessible to any of my mobile devices. I suspect OwnCloud would be a good candidate for that.

So here are my questions...
1. For accessing media over  my network, Plex or Rygel?
2. Is OwnCloud a good fit for securely sharing files (specifically a password database file), to several Android devices, and a couple computers (one Arch, one Windows).
3. Can Plex and OwnCloud coexist on the same computer, at the same time, and be used in parallel (usage will be relatively light)?

Awebb

Member

Registered: 2010-05-06

Posts: 6,688

Re: Plex and OwnCloud Setup

1. I use Kodi (former XBMC) and Yatse on Android, but you can use any DLNA client. I personally dislike Plex, anything that handles my own data but does not present itself as a transparent opensource project, is out of the question. I have no experience with Rygel, but it sounds reasonable.

2. From a security standpoint, OwnCloud is as secure as your expertise goes regarding web servers. It seems to be low on disturbing news about security holes, that don't go back on one of the other technologies it uses. However, you don't want to simply share password files for reasons beyond security: If you change the file on machine A, share it with machine B, make changes on B, lose network on B, make changes on A, sync them again, you have no clue about the state of your password database.

3. I suggest you read the wiki article on both. There are no compatibility issues beyond what you can find there.

wrkerr

Member

Registered: 2015-04-02

Posts: 18

Re: Plex and OwnCloud Setup

Thanks for the feedback, Awebb. I too share your concern over a closed source media server like Plex Media Server, and would much prefer a fully open source solution. I would love to use Rygel, but I would still need to find a DLNA controller on Android for connecting my Chromecast to the stream from my PC, and I don't see any that are open source. The best I can find is BubbleUPnP/DLNA, but it's interface, cataloging, and metadata handling seems significantly inferior to Plex for Android.

I would love to use Kodi, but if I understand correctly it's just for HTPC and set-top boxes where you can actually install Kodi on the system that displays media, not for simple streaming devices like Chromecasts.

Thanks for the warning on using a shared password database file. I'll have to do some more research and see if there's a better way.

Awebb

Member

Registered: 2010-05-06

Posts: 6,688

Re: Plex and OwnCloud Setup

Your info about Kodi is incorrect. As we speak, I am watching a show on my android tablet, streamed from my NAS running a headless Kodi.

JASN

Member

Registered: 2009-04-17

Posts: 18

Re: Plex and OwnCloud Setup

Regarding DLNA streaming to the Chromecast: the combination of a DLNA server of your choice, the BubbleUPNP server (available in AUR) and the BubbleUPNP app (need the paid app really use the server) is a very nice setup. The Chromecast has a severely limited set of supported audio and video codecs, so anything not supported might not play natively. The BubbleUPNP server takes car of that with Chromecast-specific transcoding. I have a setup similar to this, works like a charm.

wrkerr

Member

Registered: 2015-04-02

Posts: 18

Re: Plex and OwnCloud Setup

Thanks for the recommendation on BubbleUPNP. From the looks of it though, the BubbleUPNP server is closed source as well, so I don't see it having much advantage over Plex, unless I'm missing something.

Looks to me like I could install Kodi as a media server on my desktop, then browse the database with Yatse on Android and cast to the Chromecast from there, as Awebb described. This would have the advantage of an open source media server on the desktop, but unfortunately "Kore," the official and open source remote for Kodi doesn't seem to have Chromecast support, so I would have to use the proprietary third party Yatse. Does Kodi then still handle the appropriate transcoding on the desktop, to get my media in the right format for my Chromecast?

Another option I just found would be Emby. It too is an open source media server I could install on my Arch desktop, with an official Android app with Chromecast support. It seems to be a newer project though, with a much smaller community than Kodi.