Is my setup flawed? Using Shield for Channels server + Plex server

#1

I have a 2017 Shield with a 2 TB USB 3.0 external hard drive connected to it. I was able to partition the external hard drive so I use about 500 GB as "internal storage" to the shield and the other partition is just expandable storage for DVR recordings, ROMs, video files, etc. Setting up the HDD partitions this way took some researching and isn't officially supported by the shield.

I am using my shield as a Plex server, a Channels DVR server, and I also have emulators setup and some large app-based games (like the Jackbox games).

This setup has been working well for about 6 months now, but over the past few weeks the shield sometimes won't wake up. I've had to unplug it, plug it in, and then it got held up trying to read the external hard drive (stuck either on black screen or reading contents of drive). Eventually, after 30 minutes, it recognized it and booted normally.

I'm wondering if my setup is a little clunky with the external hard drive or if I'm overloading it trying to run two different servers 24/7 (Plex + ChannelsDVR).

I'm considering the following to try to reduce these issues:

  • Buy an external SSD drive and make that sole internal storage
  • Get a Raspberry Pi and run the Channels DVR server on that, so I'm not running 2 servers on the same Shield

Any other ideas or advice? Do you think either option above with help alleviate?

#2

I have seen general Shield posts not related to Channels with people having similar issues. My advice would be use a cheap laptop or desktop for the servers, or troubleshoot the Shield until you figure out if you have a software (reset Shield) or a hardware issue (The Shield or Hard Drive).

#3

That is too much for the Shield to handle over time it will degrade ... unless you do constant reboots.

#4

Do you think that move the Channels DVR server to a Raspberry Pi and leaving the Plex server on the shield would make a difference? Or are you saying the shield shouldn't/can't really handle being a server period?

#5

It can handle being a server ... but When you run Plex , Channels DVR and also use it as a Client you are taxing it .... Don't forget that you are probably also running Comskip. Moving Channels DVR to a PI and keeping the Shield as a Plex server/Client makes sense.

The Shield is a great Plex server / Client

#6

Makes sense - I appreciate your replies and insight