Plex Media Server is a powerful application that will help you to manage and stream media files stored on your computer to various mobile devices and smart TVs, across a local network or over the Internet.
The application can be downloaded for Chromcast, Roku, Google TV, and a supported Samsung Smart TV, as well as on Synology, Netgear, QNAP, unRAID, Drobo and ASUSTOR NAS (Network-attached storage) devices.
Features at a glance
With Plex Media Server, you can organize your movie, photo, music and TV show collections in order to access them easily and fast from one of the aforementioned devices and platforms.
It can serve content to clients on the same machine or within the local network, and even over the Internet. One of its best features is that it includes its own App Store, from where plug-ins can be installed and extend the default functionality of the software.
In addition to the free version reviewed here, there’s also a PlexPass edition of Plex Media Server, which provides users with a paid service that gives them early access to new versions and premium features.
Getting started with Plex Media Server
On Linux, the application runs as a server/daemon, in the background. It automatically starts when the computer boots and can be administer through a web-based interface using a modern web browser, such as a Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
It supports transcoding of video and audio files, as well as several sources of online content, called Channels. It is simply the best media center application available for an open source operating system.
Availability and supported operating systems
It is distributed for free as binary files, supporting the GNU/Linux, BSD, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X computer operating systems. In addition, it is available on the Android, iOS and Windows Phone mobile platforms.
Bottom line
If you don’t use XBMC already, we strongly recommend to download and install Plex Media Server today. We guarantee you will not find a better media center software!
