Advice on RPi4 Jellyfin Setup

[evilsmirker]

Hello folks,

My set-up currently features the following components:
1. Raspberry Pi 4
2. Seagate IronWolf 4 TB in an enclosure, separately powered and connected to Rpi4 via usb3 SATA cable (Still NTFS, not yet ext4)
3. Crucial 120GB SSD acting as the boot drive, connected to Rpi4 via usb3 SATA cable
4, Ethernet via a cheap network switch (our network speed is 50 mbps so no network throttle)

These are currently powered through a power strip not connected to the invertor at home.

The Rpi4 is currently running OMV 7 over the recommended Pi lite OS. I've only got Jellyfin and Tailscale running on it currently- I run *arr apps on my windows laptop and transfer files via Samba for now. I plan to slowly scale things up over time, with hopefully PiHole and Immich as my next attempts. The issue I'm currently facing is that since I've only been able to place this setup yesterday in a relatively public area in the house, the power strip is often switched off. This prompted my fears of having the Rpi4 and more importantly the Ironwolf crashing. I've begged family members to be careful for now, but with short power cuts being common enough in the area, that fear is still there.


Concerns:
1. Would anyone know of any budget UPS systems (below 4-5K) I could connect my setup to? OMV seems to have a plugin which allows for the setup to detect low power if connected to a compatible UPS and shutdown cleanly- would this shutdown also safely shutdown the Ironwolf?
2. Should I just buy a back-up for the hard drive? There are several mini-UPS for routers which could maybe suffice as backups for the Ironwolf, but I'm not sure how the drive would shutdown when the Pi4 disconnects due to the loss in power.
3. Would it make sense to add PiHole to this setup? My family isn't tech savvy and there isn't anyone interested enough to figure things out in the event something goes wrong with the setup.
4. I know this setup is meant to be always-on, but with the summer coming in and temps rising (the Ironwolf goes upto 45 degrees already, I'm doubting whether its the best idea. Is it safe to keep this always on, and does switching the setup off (say, at night) cause the Ironwolf to degrade over time faster? I've tried reading up on drives spinning up and down, but I'm not sure.
5. What's the easiest way to scale up from using Tailscale? I've been reading stuff about reverse-proxy, but would like to hear your opinions on it as well.
6. Any general advice on how to run/improve and scale this setup?

Thanks!

 

[Rayman]

I can answer a couple of questions since I am running a similar setup and planning to migrate to a more stable system.

1) Budget UPS within the price range may be difficult for that feature. But I haven't researched UPSs fully yet.
2) Backup is a generally a must but if you data is mostly movies and such, is it worth the cost would be the qn. Hard drives are expensive especially nas related like ironwolf.
3) You can add pihole but you would need redundancy in case power goes out or your pihole running server dies.
Alternative suggestion - If you have access to router settings, try changing to quad9 dns or other privacy based one to feel things out first
4) Ironwolf can get hot. Many internal drives are meant for internal usage due to higher rpm and energy consumption. Ideally they should be in a case with proper airflow. The temp you mentioned is fine but its better to try bringing it down
5) I would stick with tailscale personally. Getting involved with RPM needs open ports and I am not a big fan of that because of internet spamware. Wireguard setup also works but again needs some technical support from network side. Tailscale is as easy as it gets. If you don't trust it then yes you should migrate.
6) Hmm not much. If it works it works. If you have the itch to keep upgrading when it doesn't benefit you, then kill the itch right away. Its a deep rabbithole and can get expensive very soon
RPI with OS on SSD is fine (as opposed to SD card) but its not sustainable long term. Try investing in a mini pc or a sff one if you need small factor.

 

[ibose]

Would anyone know of any budget UPS systems (below 4-5K) I could connect my setup to? OMV seems to have a plugin which allows for the setup to detect low power if connected to a compatible UPS and shutdown cleanly- would this shutdown also safely shutdown the Ironwolf?

If you have space for a normal UPS, then get that instead of a Router UPS. For a low power consuming 24x7 set up like this, you will not need to worry about power outages at all. In fact I would suggest consolidating this with your networking equipment so that all plug in to one single UPS.

Would it make sense to add PiHole to this setup? My family isn't tech savvy and there isn't anyone interested enough to figure things out in the event something goes wrong with the setup.

No, I would not recommend PiHole if you or someone tech savvy isn't around to debug issues especially if someone in your family complains some app or site is not working. You can however take a device specific approach where instead of setting it up as the dns network wide at the router, you set it up as the dns on specific devices, which only you use.

 

[badwhitevision]

1. Would anyone know of any budget UPS systems (below 4-5K) I could connect my setup to? OMV seems to have a plugin which allows for the setup to detect low power if connected to a compatible UPS and shutdown cleanly- would this shutdown also safely shutdown the Ironwolf?

Any cheap UPS, (read Zebronics) should do the trick. Your only concern needs to be to ensure that the UPS has low power mode feature (some may call it mobile phone charging feature) this is because the Pi sips power and we don't want the UPS to think there is no device connected and switch off the power.

2. Should I just buy a back-up for the hard drive? There are several mini-UPS for routers which could maybe suffice as backups for the Ironwolf, but I'm not sure how the drive would shutdown when the Pi4 disconnects due to the loss in power.

First off the router UPS' won't work. I wrote a post nearly a year ago explaining how and why I built a custom UPS for my 12v HDD enclosures. Secondly if you built/found a compatiable UPS, either of 2 things will happen - 1. Drive will continue spinning until charge runs out and will eventually perform an emergency shutdown. Or 2. Due to lack of 5V power via USB from Pi, immediately perform an emergency shutdown.

Emergency shutdown here refers to where the HDD retracts the head with a screech instead of gently powering down. Doing this repeatedly is not good for the head or the platter. Best option would be to run the Pi and the HDD enclosure on the UPS and shutdown the Pi when the charge is at around 10%.

3. Would it make sense to add PiHole to this setup? My family isn't tech savvy and there isn't anyone interested enough to figure things out in the event something goes wrong with the setup.

You most definitely can. You have to tinker the initial setup for block lists and once that's done, you no longer need to bother with it. If you have a router UPS that allows you to access internet even with no power, you most definitely will have to add a UPS to the Pi or if your router accepts multiple DNS providers you can give PiHole as one and the other as quad9/cloudflare/google.

However, fair warning, using this method means there is no assurity pihole will work as expected. Queries maybe directed to both primary and secondary and you might not get 100% effective ad removal.

4. I know this setup is meant to be always-on, but with the summer coming in and temps rising (the Ironwolf goes upto 45 degrees already, I'm doubting whether its the best idea. Is it safe to keep this always on, and does switching the setup off (say, at night) cause the Ironwolf to degrade over time faster? I've tried reading up on drives spinning up and down, but I'm not sure.

Used to second guess myself about the spinning up and down of drives, saw a YT video which quoted an article that said drives failed after spinning up and down every 20 minutes of every day for 20 years before they failed. Obviously YMMV but it isn't as big a deal it is as we think it to be. There is also a post here about the same spinning rust.

As for the cooling, Seagate drives are known to run hot. (I should know, I have an Exos) I might suggest some active cooling with a 12V case fan or 5V fans too if you can hack something together. Will really help bring temps down or else place them in a space where there's a lot of ventilation. Drives are okay at running continuously upto 60°C. But they're more comfortable running in the mid 30s and 40s.
 

5. What's the easiest way to scale up from using Tailscale? I've been reading stuff about reverse-proxy, but would like to hear your opinions on it as well.

Tailscale is the easiest to access your entire PC. For reverse proxy, you're going to need to have access to a public IP. Then you'll need to forward ports. You can forget this if you have CGNAT IP. You'll have to pay for a static IP. This also brings with it, it's own problems of securing your system from the nasty parts of the internet. It's definitely doable, but you most definitely need to read up a lot.

Another option to reverse proxy is to get a cheap VPS and then use tailscale to connect the Pi and the VPS and then use the VPS public address to access jellyfin. This works if you're sharing with multiple people and can't really install/maintain tailscale on their systems. This will work for as long as the services you use are http/https based. For example you won't be able to reverse proxy a SMB server or SSH into your system.

6. Any general advice on how to run/improve and scale this setup?

Ditch the Pi, get a cheap mini PC with an intel chip released after 2016 (6th gen). Will consume almost the same power (+5 or 10W), have a lot more options with regards to transcoding, computing power, upgradability, cooling etc.

More powerful system in general and you can throw out the janky USB connections.

I started off with a Pi and now have a full blown mid tower PC. Had the Pi not been there, I most definitely would not have got into the hobby, but then one does grow out of shoes as one progresses.

 

[ibose]

if your router accepts multiple DNS providers you can give PiHole as one and the other as quad9/cloudflare/google.

It makes no sense to set up a PiHole DNS like that. It needs to be set as both the Primary and Secondary for it to be effective. One would be better off saving all the hassle and just go with one of the DNS service providers.

 

[badwhitevision]

It makes no sense to set up a PiHole DNS like that. It needs to be set as both the Primary and Secondary for it to be effective. One would be better off saving all the hassle and just go with one of the DNS service providers.

I believe the paragraph immediately below the quoted one contains a fair warning.

I have used this on my TP Link router with some success. It queries the primary DNS provider and if unavailable skips to the secondary. Since pihole provides a response, ad rejection was quite good in my setup.

I understand this is anecdotal and that is why I specifically mentioned the warning.

 

[ibose]

It queries the primary DNS provider and if unavailable skips to the secondary.

That is not the standard behavior of a primary and secondary DNS and will not work for everyone.

 

[intruderfps]

I have a cheap cyberpower ups specifically for this setup which provides enough power to keep my server running during power outages. IIRC, I bought it for ~2k sometime last year during sale.

I'm running my setup on a lenovo tiny (p330 bought here) with 2 exos HDD's powered via tiny itself. Primary HDD is always on and backup HDD is always on standby and wakes up automatically via script during daily backups and goes to sleep after.
Whole setup with router runs on UPS. You should run everything server related with power backup as there are unforseen issues with any one thing going down.

You mentioned to host immich as well and further scaling in future and I'd highly recommend going for a mini pc and have multiple backup options. I also use immich and I run ZFS with 2 copies on photos dataset and also multiple backups on multiple hard drives.

Seagates run hot is what i've seen. During my initial tests some time ago during summer, i've seen temps of 53C running hdd in idle_a power mode without active cooling in a closed room. A usb 5v 80x80x10 fan kept the temps ~39C during high load in summers. Enterprise hard drives should be no concern for within 50C. Don't take my word for it though.

PS. I also used to use rpi but having a dedicated mini pc is miles better if you are planning to run a lot of services in future.

 

[Navier]

2 exos HDD's powered via tiny itself

how?, 3.5 inch hdd require 12v, are you getting 12v from mobo itself, or is there any custom solution. pls explain.

 

[intruderfps]

how?, 3.5 inch hdd require 12v, are you getting 12v from mobo itself, or is there any custom solution. pls explain.

Yes from motherboard itself. I have not seen any issue running 2 3.5" HDD's. I have read someone ran 4 3.5" hdd's.

Yes from motherboard itself. I have not seen any issue running 2 3.5" HDD's. I have read someone ran 4 3.5" hdd's.

One more important thing I forgot to mention, do not use 5v from inbuilt sata connection. I don't trust it so I soldered all 4 wires, 5v, gnd, 12v, gnd to motherboard.

 

[evilsmirker]

Thanks for the useful advice, everyone!

I've moved the setup to another room, connecting it to a power strip backed by the inverter. The wires are all over the places cuz its next to the router, modem, printer, etc - but it's running a little cooler and my heart doesn't skip a beat thinking of the 12K Ironwolf screeching to a halt every time there's small power cut.

5) I would stick with tailscale personally. Getting involved with RPM needs open ports and I am not a big fan of that because of internet spamware. Wireguard setup also works but again needs some technical support from network side. Tailscale is as easy as it gets. If you don't trust it then yes you should migrate.

I was thinking of RPM more for the speed perspective, but I think I'll have to read up the documentation several times before I touch it at all like @badwhitevision said- it seems a far cry from the simplicity of running tailscale, with added costs.

No, I would not recommend PiHole if you or someone tech savvy isn't around to debug issues especially if someone in your family complains some app or site is not working. You can however take a device specific approach where instead of setting it up as the dns network wide at the router, you set it up as the dns on specific devices, which only you use.

I've got pihole running on my laptop, but you're right. My family doesn't seem as keen on the idea either and are pretty indifferent to ads, as opposed to my rising distaste for them.

I think I'll hold off any grand plans of scaling until I can upgrade to a mini-pc or an SFF config, as suggested. Something which can handle a little light transcoding for Jellyfin, perhaps.
As of now, I think I'll look at smaller projects like hosting oblivion, calibre and wallabag on it- maybe using it as an immich backup as well, after using my personal laptop to do any CPU heavy stuff required for the initial stuff.

 

[smartech]

You can find budget UPS options under ₹4K–₹5K like the APC Back-UPS 600VA or Microtek 650VA, both often compatible with OMV's NUT plugin. When properly configured, the plugin can detect power loss and trigger a safe system shutdown, including connected drives like the Seagate Ironwolf as long as they're powered through the UPS too. Just ensure both the Pi and the Ironwolf are on the same UPS for a coordinated shutdown.

 

[Jee]

Have you tried NextDNS or similar dns providers? If you are not too paranoid and cant run pihole, you can setup filter lists there and use the provided dns settings.

 

[evilsmirker]

Have you tried NextDNS or similar dns providers? If you are not too paranoid and cant run pihole, you can setup filter lists there and use the provided dns settings.

Not yet, but I'll look them up. Currently running pi-hole locally on my windows device, will upgrade to a network wide setup when I've got a redundancy to back it up.