Welcome to the *ultimate 2025 Jellyfin guide—* a complete walkthrough of the free, open-source media server that's redefining home entertainment. Whether you're considering migrating from Plex, Kodi, or Emby—or just starting out—this 45-minute deep dive shows you everything you need to know to set up, organize, and optimize Jellyfin for your media collection.
We also explore the history of media servers, the rise of Jellyfin, and why self-hosted and privacy-first platforms matter more than ever.
*What You'll Learn in This Video:*
-Why Jellyfin is the spiritual successor to Plex and Kodi
-How to install and configure Jellyfin on a personal server (we use Unraid!)
-Best practices for media organization, transcoding, and plugins
-Tips for remote access, user control, and watching with friends via Sync Play
*⏱️ Chapters*
00:00 – The Rise of Jellyfin and the History of Home Media Software
07:01 – Server Setup & Media Organization Walkthrough
23:00 – Transcoding Deep Dive with NVIDIA, Intel and AMD
35:01 – Hardware Acceleration, CPU transcoding + other power features
39:10 – Tailscale Remote Access & Final Thoughts
What will you build with Unraid?
Get Started with Unraid in 15 minutes or less:
https://unraid.net/getting-started
🎙️ This walkthrough is based on a Jellyfin server running on Unraid, but the ideas and concepts apply to any setup—whether you're using Docker, a Raspberry Pi, bare metal hardware, etc. No matter your platform, this guide will help you build a powerful, private media server that works for you.
#Jellyfin #MediaServer #HomeMedia #SelfHosting #Unraid #OpenSource #Transcoding #Kodi #Emby