Home Media Server

I have been meaning to set-up a home media center for a looong time now. Currently within my family we have been using services such as Netflix and Spotify for our media consumption (since content has become available via streaming). However, there is an issue with this. And that issue is limitation of content. My resolution to this, is to establish my own home media center. And that's what I'm talking about today - how I did it.

Step 1. Installing the Home Media Server software. The first step to take is to set-up the home media software. What this software does is manage your media files and presents them to you. For this I chose to use Jellyfin, as it is an OpenSource (free) software, which behaves very similar to Netflix. Essentially you point Jellyfin to folders on your computer to share, and play content from. Jellyfin will give access to this content to others on your local internet network, or if setup to do so, external networks. In my case, I am using it locally (i.e. on my own computers, mobile phones and tablets at home). Simply go to the Jellyfin website, select your applicable download, and install the software. N.B. Jellyfin is a service program (i.e. it runs 24/7 as soon as your computer turns on). You can access it's settings via localhost:8096, in your browser. I followed joezomby1's tutorial for the setup and I recommend you do to. His video is here: https://youtu.be/ZWfnF_56RUM . For settings, start around the 6 minute mark. Regarding 'pointing to your folders', I mean, using Jellyfin's settings to look for content in your media folders (e.g. /User/Documents/Videos). In my case I have two folder, one for Movies and one for TV. NB. Each movie of tv show has it's own sub-folder within my Movies or TV folders respectively. This allows Jellyfin to properly identify the content. Jellyfin will also download (if allowed) the metadata for the media content (i.e. posters/images, blurbs about the show/episodes, etc).

Step 2. Finding content. N.B. You should only be adding content to your libraries that you already own. For this step I will be using softwares called Sonarr and Radarr to find tv shows and movies respectively. -https://sonarr.tv -https://radarr.video Both Sonarr and Radarr are free to download and use. These are also services (i.e. programs that run on start-up). And they search peer-to-peer networks for content. When they find content, they will pass it to another program to download for you. At time of writing I haven't set these up yet, but intend on following tutorials from Hip-IO Tech Reviews, listed below: -https://youtu.be/zfYthZrDpVU -https://youtu.be/3cp_V0zkk4U Basically how these services work, is that you set up quality control parameters (e.g. I only want to download Full-HD tv or movies), and then you enter a movie or tv show you want to obtain. It then searches the P2P networks for all instances of that movie or show that meet your given parameters, and then pass the location of the content to another program. As an example, one could ask Sonarr to find all instances of Sunrise News Breakfast in 720p quality and seek out content daily. And if 1080p content becomes available, then replace my 720p quality with the 1080p version. Perhaps now you can see the benefit of using these services?

Step 3. Obtaining the content. N.B. Again, this is for information only! Depending on how you are finding your content, will change how you obtain it. e.g. I like to use torrents. Old school but still useful. So, basically, I would find a torrenting software (e.g. Transmission). And you tell Sonarr and Radarr to pass forward the location information for your media content to e.g. Transmission. Your torrent client will then obtain that media, and put it into your media directories. Now, once that media is in that directory, we come full circle - Jellyfin will see that media, and present it to the end user in the Jellyfin library for consumption.

So there you go, a quick summary of how to set up your home media server/center. Currently I have Jellyfin working on my local machines (except Chromecast - I am yet to figure that out). And I intend on utilising the Sonarr and Radarr services to assist in finding content. I hope you found this useful!

Have a great day, Sam.