So as I look to build my first dedicated media server, I’m curious about what OS options I have which will check all the boxes. I’m interested in Unraid, and if there’s a Linux distro that works especially well I’d be willing to check that out as well. I just want to make sure that whatever I pick, I can use qbittorrent, Proton, and get the Arr suite working
Depends on your experience, hardware, and other stuff.
You could easily use Debian or Ubuntu server and install Docker if all you want is those listed services installed on unRAIDed drives.
You could try something like Dietpi (which is what Ive used since I started self hosting) which simplifies a few things and gives some helpful scripts on top of a basic Debian installation. It’s a simple setup but still just plain ol’ Debian so easy to set up however you like.
You could use something like CasaOS or ZimaOS which offer Web interfaces and integrate with docker for those with a “no tech” background up to technical users.
ProxMox is an option, but takes a lot of learning proxmox-specific stuff and IMO might be a bit overkill for your first server.
Personally, I’d go for something accessible to your tastes because everything nowadays has some kind of “easy setup” path for Plex/Jelly + Arr. Once it’s set up, use it! Then once you need a big change for better hardware or more bespoke software setups then start digging into more fancy setups.
I actually want to prioritise the data protection of some sort of RAID setup, and support for torrenting and whatnot would be secondary to that. Really what I’m trying to avoid is installing and setting up my system only to find out that the OS I’ve picked is terrible for torrenting afterwards.
I have a workable setup on consumer Windows 11 right now, so I see the next step as having a dedicated Media Server box which can give me plenty of storage, data protection (right now a drive failure would wipe out half my server), and room for future expansion. Once that’s sorted, then I’ll look into the Arr suite and more advanced torrenting stuff. I want to pick something good for that stuff now, though, so I don’t have a ton of headache down the road
I think there’s some deffo better OSes than my suggestions for RAID setups and stuff, bar ProxMox. Maybe it is worth you looking into those options!
That being said, any OS can torrent shit just fine. If it can run Docker or other containers (so 99% of suggestions here) you’re set.
Maybe if you can spare the hardware try setting up a RAID on a couple of different ISOs to test em. That’ll be the harder, or more permanent, aspect of the setup I think.