barnaclebill

I'm planning a NAS/media server build for general centralized storage + Jellyfin to stream my media library, which consists of a mix of AVC, HEVC, and AV1 encoded videos. I'll be watching on various devices, primarily on the living room TV w/ a Chromecast. The Chromecast is capable of playing AV1 videos (I know this b/c it says "direct playing" in the Jellyfin media info panel on my current setup).

Given that my Chromecast is capable of direct playing AV1 encodes, when I source the parts for my new server build, does my new server also need to be capable of AV1 transcoding or does this capability only matter if the client device doesn't support AV1 video? I ask because I'll possibly source my build from used parts, and the answer to this question may impact which generation Intel processors I focus on. I'm currently focusing on 12th gen i5-12400 b/c it has QSV capabilities and supports AV1, but if AV1 support isn't needed for my server, then I may look for older gens to save a few bucks. Thank you!

Background: I'd like to turn an old personal laptop into a Jellyfin server so that I can stream media to my living room TV. I want to be able to expand what I use this server for over time. I'm leaning toward Proxmox as the OS so that I can spin up new containers for various services instead of installing a bunch of services on a base Debian install. I also want full disk encryption so that any data on the OS drive is less likely to be compromised by theft or Craigslist.

Question #1: I gather the general accepted approach for this is to first install Debian as a base w/ full disk encryption enabled and then install Proxmox on top because there is no option for full disk encryption in the native installer for Proxmox. Is this still the case?

Excerpt from this tutorial from November 2023 on the Proxmox Forum:

This tutorial deals with encryption of an existing installation. If you are starting fresh, my recommendation would be to install Debian with full disk encryption and then add Proxmox to it.

Excerpt from this post from February 2019 on the Level1Techs Forum:

The easiest way to do an encrypted Proxmox setup is to start with a minimal, vanilla Debian install. Set up the encrypted partition using the installer like you would with any other Debian system. Once installed, reboot. Then follow the guide for installing Proxmox on Debian.

Question #2: I don't mind entering the key manually whenever I reboot the server, but will I be able to unlock the server remotely? For example, suppose I'm tinkering in the web admin panel or an SSH session and I want/need to reboot—will I have to physically go over to the laptop and enter the key every time?

Also, I appreciate any other tips from the community to help me think about this in the right way. Thanks!