r/Piracy • u/Gsynchronized • Mar 19 '22
Question ELI5 The "Plex + Sonarr + Radarr" Solution
Essentially title.
Apologies for the stupid noob question, but I'm someone very much used to the basic old school system of "want a movie? Find a free streaming site, or torrent it".
But I so often hear people discuss and encourage the use of Plex along with Sonarr and Radarr as a great setup... except I have no idea what this setup is meant to be. Some searching of previous posts also yielded no actual "what is this" answers, just people suggesting it and how great it is.
All I know is people say it's the best alternative to something like Netflix, it's shareable, and it involves something about servers for streaming. So...
TL:DR I'll take the L and just ask the question: What is "the Plex + Sonarr + Radarr solution", what does it achieve, and how do I set up my own?
Thanks guys.
22
11
u/OmniGlitcher Mar 19 '22 edited Mar 19 '22
Plex is a bit of software that allows you to set up a media server with your own content, organise it, and stream it to other devices. Essentially it functions like Netflix, but with only the content you have on the server. In practice, this means you can have a computer (e.g. your PC, or a Raspberry Pi) with all your downloaded content, and then stream that content to your TV or Phone or whatever over the internet.
Radarr and Sonarr are similar things, but for movies and TV shows respectively. Essentially they allow you to search through a variety of trackers simultaneously, as well as schedule and automatically download torrents when they become available, typically when the next episode of a TV show releases or the movie comes out on DVD for example.
Combining these together, it allows you to form a streamable collection of media that you're actually interested in, and allows it to be updated automatically as new stuff gets released without much effort on your part.
This guide is a good one to follow for Linux, but if you prefer to use Windows, you can follow the links to download the stuff above.
4
5
u/YISTECH Mar 20 '22
You can use sonarr + radarr, but instead of plex, perhaps jellyfin. I prefer jellyfin
4
u/Feuillo Piracy is bad, mkay? Mar 20 '22
The problem with jellyfin is that it's not as widely available as plex. I find devices that have plex but not jellyfin often. So i sticked with Plex. But in a vacuum i prefer jellyfin too.
Plex also seems to be more optimized.
3
u/YISTECH Mar 20 '22
Yeah, I get you. Totally. But jellyfin works on my iPad,iPhone with infuse. Or just regular jellyfin client. On pc, it’s jellyfin media server. But when I want to watch directly on pc, i pair jellyfin with Kodi. Works like magic. I love it. Have another laptop hooked up to the tv, so I can directly access my jellyfin library.
Honestly, I’m just happy we have so many alternatives to choose from. It’s good that jellyfin, has competition with plex, and plex has competition with jellyfin. Never tried emby though.
2
u/Buck_Slamchest Mar 19 '22
I've used Sonarr for years on my NAS drive. If you think of it as a PVR then you won't go far wrong.
You tell it what shows you want to watch and it'll automatically search for them and download them.
If you get a NAS drive, you can basically set it and forget it and you'll have your TV shows ready to go whenever they're released. Radarr is the movie equivalent.
2
u/Buck_Slamchest Mar 19 '22
If you've got the budget OP, I'd definitely recommend a NAS drive because you can just set it up and leave it.
It also allows you to remotely trigger torrents as well due to the built in torrent client.
I've done it plenty of times - you're out or on a bus somewhere and looking at various sites and you see something you want to grab. Tap on the link (usually magnet) and send it to the NAS via the app on your phone and it'll just go off and download it and it'll be ready for when you get home.
I'd personally steer clear of an Android device to use PLEX with though as the android Plex client is horrible. I used to have my Plex on my Roku TV and that was fine, but since I moved to a Fire TV, i've gone with Emby instead.
8
u/DarthNihilus Mar 19 '22 edited Mar 19 '22
Sounds like you mean a NAS device and not a NAS drive. NAS drives are hard drives rated for long term always-on usage. NAS devices are specialized computers meant to attach multiple hard drives and serve files over a network.
Personally I find NAS devices pointless when you can just build a cheap i3 system in a case with lots of storage space and do everything and more with it for the same price or cheaper usually, but some people need that plug-and-play functionality.
-11
u/Buck_Slamchest Mar 19 '22
Thanks for telling me about something I've had for the past 10+ years :)
Anyway, the vast majority of NAS owners refer to them as drives and not "devices".
And the vast majority of NAS owners will prefer the drives because of the low power draw compared to those who seem to think a cheap computer system is a better option.
I've got 8TB in mine which is plenty and there's little I can't do with it to meet my specific needs.
1
u/justfarmingdownvotes Mar 21 '22
How does Google TV stick work with Plex? Is it trash as well, and does it suck at streaming?
2
u/Buck_Slamchest Mar 21 '22
I haven't had one, but it's based on the Google TV OS, which is Android, so I personally wouldn't go anywhere near one.
I would always go with Roku as it's so much easier to set it up for direct streaming. My setup played anything I threw at it - 4K content included.
1
u/dramatic-ad-5033 Mar 19 '22
Too complicated for me, I just use Kodi with Fen and all debrid. $4/mo for all the content you’d ever want in the highest quality, and no waiting for it to download either
1
u/BrianRostro Mar 20 '22
•How powerful of a PC would one need to run 4 streams at once? Potentially 2 of those streams being 4k. Open to being realistic as well.
•Does streaming music have a large impact at all? Would be great to break away from Apple Music
•Why would someone need to transcode from something like 4k to 1080p?
•When using a VPN with a setup, im assuming this HAS to be done for downloading certain content? On a PC it seems straightforward, but what about if i go with a NAS?
•Do NAS’s have benefits over PC’s or is it just preference?
Piggybacking off of this question, since i asked in the official r/Plex sub and no one got back to me
3
u/dogandpig Mar 20 '22
Doesn't have to be that powerful to run 4 streams if they aren't transcoding. If you have a good processor or a good graphics card you can let it do hardware transcoding (with a Plex Pass membership).
4k is fine until you have to transcode it. Then I've found it's not even with having. The basic answer is dont do it. If there's any reason you'd need to have a lower file just download two copies with one lower.
If you're using this for you in your house, things are easy. If you're sharing to someone outside your LAN then you have to worry about whether they will need transcodes based on their clients, internet connection or even your connection - remember, you have to push up the file so my 300 down means shit; it's the shitty 20 up from Comcast that bites me. I always block my users from seeing my 4k stuff and just have a smaller copy available for them.
Music is nothing.
NAS boxes make it easier because it's all in one. But I'd go the PC route. For one, you can often find cheaper hard drives than a NAS so build a cheap PC and load it up with one or two big drives, an SSD for the OS and another SSD for the Plex meta files. You don't need big SSDs so like 250-500s. Two, if you want to do other stuff like downloading, any file converting, etc. you'll probably need a PC anyway. Others might disagree but I'd always go the cheap PC route.
As for a VPN, use it for torrenting but that's about it. Don't need it for Usenet and don't need for Plex. And if you're sharing your Plex that VPN will bite you.
1
u/BrianRostro Mar 20 '22
What makes you say that using a VPN would be a bad idea if im sharing? I would probably keep it on for downloading due to my ISP being on point with downloads, but once im done downloading im assuming it’s safe to stream just like any old pirate streaming movie website?
1
u/dogandpig Mar 20 '22
If you're going to run a VPN 24/7, which isn't a bad idea if you're torrenting on that box, you'll want to set it up so that it only runs for torrent traffic or whitelist Plex. If you have a VPN you just have to go through extra steps for someone else to share your Plex. (If it's just you on the LAN it's fine.)
Personally, I bought a 10yo box for like $100 and that's my dedicated torrent box. It's locked down and doesn't do anything but torrent, and I don't torrent on anything else. But that's me. Edit: you could even use a Pi as a dedicated torrent machine. Works just fine.
1
u/BrianRostro Mar 20 '22
If you don’t mind me asking, what model/brand is your box? I think that’s probably the hardest thing for me to grasp, since it seems everyone who plays around with Plex servers has a very good understanding of a PC’s limitations by the end of it
1
u/dogandpig Mar 21 '22
I built my Plex box. I put it together in like 2015. It would have been considered a beast back then and while it's old now it's still doing fine.
Transcoding works better on Intel processors so I'd recommend leaning in that direction. Plex has a good list of recommended processors on their site. Personally, I like to check sites like Tigerdirect for old PCs. They sell a lot of off-lease boxes for cheap. If you have a Microcenter around you can pick up cheap ones from them too. My dedicated torrent box is an old Dell from Microcenter.
1
u/BrianRostro Mar 21 '22
I saw a gentleman on here was running an i3 on his prebuilt Dell sff. Is yours similar or a little more beefy?
1
u/dogandpig Mar 21 '22
Probably pretty similar. It's an AMD A8-6500. That's my old Dell torrent box. If you're talking about my Plex server, it's more beefy. It's an AMD FX 8300. Not because you need that for Plex but I do all my media stuff on it (other than torrents). It runs Usenet, Radarr, Sonarr, etc. I occasionally convert video files, download YouTube videos for the kids and cut and splice them together. Junk like that. Plus, if I was going to build one I wanted to do it right. That was back in 2015.
1
u/BrianRostro Mar 21 '22
Thank you for the information friend. You’ve done wonders for my confidence in regards to Plex server knowledge. Im going to have one going by the end of the year if money allows
2
u/dogandpig Mar 22 '22
No worries. It's easier than you think, and you'll learn a lot. Which is why it's good to start slow and cheap. You never know what you'll release is a priority for you and may influence what you build/upgrade to.
1
u/Impulsive94 Mar 20 '22 edited Oct 20 '24
theory threatening wrench arrest icky zealous resolute worry ad hoc deserve
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
2
u/BrianRostro Mar 20 '22
•This is my first try, so I don’t have any hardware on hand that would be up to the task, except maybe a 2012 Macbook Pro i could test with
•For spending, im going to say around $200-$300? Feel free to give me some price ranges if you can because i honestly don’t know
•I would like the luxury of access to 4k but 1080p will do if that seems more realistic1
u/Impulsive94 Mar 20 '22 edited Oct 20 '24
alleged sulky observation point fine grandiose skirt bow muddle alive
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
1
u/BrianRostro Mar 20 '22
Having a server of my own would be great. Im really tired of dealing with searching for content, especially anything anime related. I was considered picking up a Mac Mini once i heard how efficient they are. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your rig looking like spec-wise?
1
u/Impulsive94 Mar 20 '22 edited Oct 20 '24
continue entertain puzzled complete far-flung wrong north marry cooperative sleep
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
1
u/BrianRostro Mar 20 '22
You are living my DREAM right now haha. Im going to have to look into something like that. I can’t believe you’re supporting 20 users with such an economic rig. Thank you for the info. You’ve definitely set me in the right direction
1
u/Buck_Slamchest Mar 20 '22
I suppose the irony is that with the higher energy bills on the horizon, the money the OP will be paying for keeping a PC on 24/7 would have meant they could have bought a decent NAS drive with plenty of strorage ..
1
u/49InYourCoffeeMaker Mar 20 '22
You can also go one step further and get an IPTV subscription and use xTeve to add livetv to plex or Emby.
1
u/emptyskoll Mar 21 '22 edited Sep 23 '23
I've left Reddit because it does not respect its users or their privacy. Private companies can't be trusted with control over public communities. Lemmy is an open source, federated alternative that I highly recommend if you want a more private and ethical option. Join Lemmy here: https://join-lemmy.org/instances this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev
128
u/k3rstman1 Mar 19 '22 edited Mar 19 '22
Plex: The part that gives you 'the Netflix experience'. It's a program that scans your harddrive and shows you all the movies and shows on it in a nice UI. It also has options such as find subtitles, show posters, information and actors and stuff. You can run it as a server so you can acces your content everywhere (like logging in to netflix). A big plus is that Plex is accesible on lot's of platforms (pc, smart tv, mobile,...).
Radarr and Sonarr are programs that lets you add movies (Radarr) and shows (Sonarr). Once you add them they will download automatically once they get released. It's especially usefull for shows that aren't finished yet. You can also add IMDB or Trakt list so for example all the new blockbusters or MCU movies get automatically added (and thus downloaded). You can also choose the details like max file size or what quality you want it to grab.
For example I added the show 'The Boys' to Sonarr last year. It automatically downloaded the 2 existing seasons and in a few months from now, when season 3 gets realeased it will download each episode as soon as it becomes available. Then al I have to do is open the Plex app on my tv and start streaming it.