How much storage do I need for my own Plex or Jellyfin library on a rented server?

How do I work out the storage for my library?

Multiply each file's bitrate by its length, or use the shortcut: GB per hour = Mbit/s × 0.45. Then add up the groups in your library.

Take 500 hours of 1080p home video at 8 Mbit/s and 200 hours of 4K at 45 Mbit/s. That is 1,800 GB plus 4,050 GB: 5.85 TB, before free space for what you add next. Both Plex and Jellyfin show each file's bitrate in its media info, and ffprobe prints it too.

Count hours and bitrates, not files: one hour of 4K takes as much room as five and a half hours of 1080p.

ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=bit_rate -of default=nw=1 holiday-2025.mkv
# bit_rate=8034512  ->  about 8 Mbit/s  ->  about 3.6 GB per hour

How many hours of video fit on each hold?

Parity takes part of the raw disk, so count usable space. The table uses a mirror on Hold 24 and RAIDZ2 on the larger holds, which survives two failed drives.

Can a rented storage server transcode video?

Plan for direct play instead. No hold includes a graphics card, and Basalthold promises no hardware transcoding: no Quick Sync, NVENC or VAAPI. Jellyfin's hardware guide says running without a GPU is not recommended for transcoding, because video transcoding on the CPU is very demanding. HDR-to-SDR tone-mapping on the CPU is heavier still.

So store formats your players decode natively, and pick client apps that play them as they are. If a device needs another format, convert the file once at home and upload that version.

On a storage server, the cheapest transcode is the one that never happens.

Is the server's network fast enough to stream?

Yes, for a personal library. Every hold has a 1 Gbit/s port, and one 85 Mbit/s 4K HDR stream uses 8.5% of it, by calculation. Traffic is counted per 30 days: Hold 24 includes 40 TB per 30 days. That is about 1,975 hours of 45 Mbit/s video, far more than one person watches.

Your own connection is the limit that matters. Jellyfin's guide asks for at least 20 Mbit/s of upload to stream from a home server. A hold's port lifts that limit, so your download speed sets the pace.

What may I keep and stream from the server?

This page is about your own library, for yourself: home videos, footage you shot, recordings you made, and files you hold the rights to. Reach it through a VPN such as WireGuard, or a reverse proxy with a login, rather than an open port.

Our acceptable use policy sets the limits. Not allowed: spam or bulk email, phishing, malware or botnet control, DDoS or other attacks, scanning or brute-forcing systems that are not yours, booter or stresser services, carding or fraud, child sexual abuse material, cryptocurrency mining (Chia and other proof-of-space included), seedboxes, IPTV, public distribution of films, series, music, games or software you hold no rights to, and any service to sanctioned people or companies.

Where should the library and the media server's own files go?

Put the video files on the hard-drive pool and the media server's database and metadata on the system SSD. Jellyfin's guide says any drive whose sequential speed beats the media's bitrate is fine for media. Its own files see a lot of random access, so it recommends SSDs for them. It also warns against SMR hard drives. Why the split works is on HDD or SSD for a rented storage server.

Home videos have no other copy. A storage server is not a backup of itself: we keep no copy of your data anywhere else, so a second copy in another place stays your job.