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[rldoose]

Hello all,
I have been using JRiver for many years and love it!  Recently I turned a very capable but retired desktop into a FreeNAS server.  That is up and running very well.  In addition to the built in capabilities, I have been able to install several Linux programs in FreeNAS "Jails".  I can pretty much install anything in a Jail, including complete other OS instances.

My current quandary is do I go to the trouble of installing a JRiver compatible OS in a jail and install JRiver server on top of that, or do I go with something easier like Plex?  Plex I already have installed (took about 20 min), but I have not yet tried using it as the back end for my JR front end.   Getting JR to run on my FreeNAS box, thought certainly doable, is a much bigger undertaking.  But all this is a hobby of sorts so I don't mind investing the time if there are truly benefits.  

I'm presently running MC21 Server on my home PC which is a Surface Pro 1 (using my NAS as the file repository), but finding the performance poor using JRemote on my iPhone, or MC as a client on my work PC (Surface Pro 3).  I get lots of drop outs, and very pregnant pauses between tracks, starting MC as a client, performing library functions, etc.  I'm pretty sure the NAS is not the issue as it is connected to the Surface via Gigabit ethernet, and file access and transfers are very fast.  And the Surface 1 is no slouch, or should not be for these purposes.  i5, 8Gb Ram, and running unloaded when I'm accessing it remotely.

But, I'm hoping that running MC server on the much more powerful NAS would provide a performance boost, as well as plenty of room for all my media, the security of the ZFS filesystem, remote access to everything, etc.

As I'm new to using MC Server, I welcome any feedback or suggestions to make my MC life better.  But my real question is what functionality would I loose using the Plex DLNS as opposed to MC Server?  Since MC Server IS a DLNS server, do I loose anything?  I have spent a couple of hours scouring the forum and plenty of discussion on this or that problem (and some trashing of DLNS which makes me nervous....), but I have yet to find any clear understanding of the pros and cons of MC Server vs a generic DLNS Server be it Plex or another.  

If there is a good post out there, please just point me to it.  I'm happy to do my own reading, but have been unable to find such a resource.

Many thanks in advance!
rldoose

[JimH]

MC's Library Server will always be a better solution than a DLNA Server (even MC's).

But your problem is probably not related to that.

Try simplifying what you're doing, and making changes in order to isolate what is causing the delays. 

Move a few files to the Surface Pro and play them there.

Try other types of files.  You didn't say what they are.

Conversion settings on the server.

Antivirus programs can cause problems.

[AndrewFG]

Jims advice is good.

However if you don't want to put MC on the second PC you will be better off having the MC instance on the first PC access the files on the second PC by means of a network file share, rather than trying to access them via a third party DLNA media server.

[rldoose]

I did figure out my performance problems, and it WAS the NAS.  I had power management set to miserly, i.e. letting the disks spin down.  Set for max performance and whala!  Still interested in having it on the NAS for security, file integrity, uptime, etc., but I'm still learning FreeNAS and Linux and my configuration is not stable.  Might bite that off at a later time, but I'm good for now.  

Thanks guys!