After 14 years with Plex, I finally moved my video library to Jellyfin. Why rising costs, feature restrictions and digital ownership pushed me towards FOSS.
Yeah, via an Emby Connect account through their server infrastructure for the initial connection.
Does This Mean My Streaming is Passing Through the Cloud?
No, all connections are direct from your devices to your Emby Server. The sole purpose of the Emby Connect feature is to help your devices locate your Emby Server so that you don’t have to set it up yourself.
I used it in the past, but moved off when I started self-hosting more than Emby. I now have a cheap VPS at Digital Ocean and a Pangolin droplet to handle any web apps that I need to share a remote connection for (like Emby and Jellyseerr), without having to bother with VPN setup. Works like a Cloudflare Tunnel, but without the cloudflare crap.
So basically if I slap emby on an open port, and point my domain to my IP, it’ll work just the same. Connect is just for people without static IP addresses?
I ask because most people say you can’t put JF on an open port and call it good. Not safe.
But… I mean… that’s not the right thing to do for proper security. You would be 100% reliant on user passwords and the devs fixing any security issues like remote code execution or privilege escalation in a timely manner, and you updating after that release comes. Now if Emby is running in a container like docker, or on a dedicated system, you have backups, etc. then even if someone got in there’s not much they could realistically do other than watch your media.
But realistically, you won’t have issues doing it that way in the real world unless you’re already being targeted for some reason.
Emby is based on jf from years ago.
That’s backwards… Jellyfin was forked from Emby in 2018. Both have been developed separately since then, and are still very similar.
I only personally have experience with jellyfin, but the docs of Emby look to support the same remote access as Plex (without the TURN server).
So essentially you can use a login instead of a server IP, but it does require port forwarding or upnp on your router - which you may already have enabled.
Plenty of frothing about how jellyfin is a non starter because all 47 of my grandparents can’t stream Snakes On A Plane from my server without needing to know how to spell internet.
Like I’m all for choices you know. But I want people to make informed choices. If I’d tried to pitch Jellyfin to my group of gamer friends for sharing media then it would have gone nowhere because it requires more technical knowledge than they possess or that I want to support. They were all able to set up free, relatively secure Plex instances with essentially no assistance.
But also benefits of both, reduced cost with easier remote setup, while simultaneously not being plex
Wait, does emby do remote access similar to Plex? And without VPN like JF? That’s literally the only thing keeping me on Plex.
Yeah, via an Emby Connect account through their server infrastructure for the initial connection.
I used it in the past, but moved off when I started self-hosting more than Emby. I now have a cheap VPS at Digital Ocean and a Pangolin droplet to handle any web apps that I need to share a remote connection for (like Emby and Jellyseerr), without having to bother with VPN setup. Works like a Cloudflare Tunnel, but without the cloudflare crap.
So basically if I slap emby on an open port, and point my domain to my IP, it’ll work just the same. Connect is just for people without static IP addresses?
I ask because most people say you can’t put JF on an open port and call it good. Not safe.
Emby is based on jf from years ago. Is it safe?
Pretty much.
But… I mean… that’s not the right thing to do for proper security. You would be 100% reliant on user passwords and the devs fixing any security issues like remote code execution or privilege escalation in a timely manner, and you updating after that release comes. Now if Emby is running in a container like docker, or on a dedicated system, you have backups, etc. then even if someone got in there’s not much they could realistically do other than watch your media.
But realistically, you won’t have issues doing it that way in the real world unless you’re already being targeted for some reason.
That’s backwards… Jellyfin was forked from Emby in 2018. Both have been developed separately since then, and are still very similar.
I only personally have experience with jellyfin, but the docs of Emby look to support the same remote access as Plex (without the TURN server).
So essentially you can use a login instead of a server IP, but it does require port forwarding or upnp on your router - which you may already have enabled.
Also you dont have to be lumped in with the frothing at the mouth Jellyfin users.
Beats frothing for a company, if I gotta froth
It’s only frothing if you insist that installing tailscale on your grandma’s DSL modem is the best way to share home movies
Plenty of frothing about how jellyfin is a non starter because all 47 of my grandparents can’t stream Snakes On A Plane from my server without needing to know how to spell internet.
Like I’m all for choices you know. But I want people to make informed choices. If I’d tried to pitch Jellyfin to my group of gamer friends for sharing media then it would have gone nowhere because it requires more technical knowledge than they possess or that I want to support. They were all able to set up free, relatively secure Plex instances with essentially no assistance.
Funny enough I’m in the “open it to the wan just practise basic web access hygiene” camp, I hope that makes me at least a little frothy
not a frothyboi sorry. unless you’re encouraging other people to just open it to the internet with no security in place… that’d be a bit frothy.