Set up a homelab. Doesn’t need to be big - a NAS with dual 18TB disks + OS disk will do. Try to stay away from off the shelf NASes (Synology, QNAP, etc. - though the recent Ugreen NASes are quite okay!).
Then simply install the “Arr stack” (if you Google it like that, you’ll find all the relevant info):
the download client of your choice (for torrent I recommend qBittorrent: low memory footprint with reliable clients, sane defaults, nice web UI)
Prowlarr for having more trackers and other media sources supported, with advanced filtering (e.g. you can limit a specific tracker for manual searches only, or for specific media types, and so on. I have it set up so auto searches only hit my main tracker that has known good media, while all the other trackers are on manual search for stuff I look up manually, this way quality is ensured)
Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Readarr (although the official Readarr is EOL, there’s a bunch of projects taking up the staff to continue it) - these are the “brains” for handling media. You set them up: connect to Prowlarr and the download client, set the folders in which you store the specific media, set up the media profiles you want, and add what movies, TV shows, music, books, etc. you need, and it will just do its job
Seerr - this app finally connects all the previous Arr stacks into a single interface, with multiple user support (through Plex or Jellyfin), and allow anyone you grant access to it, to request any media they want. You can even set up user roles so for some people requests go through automatically, and for some, you need to manually approve.
Jellyfin, Plex - these are your media frontends. Think of the rest as the Netflix servers, well, these will replace the Netflix app. You log in and all the media you have downloaded is made available via these apps. It’s that simple! You can set up limited access here (e.g. if you have a nice big porn collection, you obviously don’t want your kids to have access to that… Or if you invite friends to access your server, you don’t want them browsing the family photo album).
There’s a bunch of online guides that are super useful and aren’t too technically involved, and most of the setup is going to be visual anyway.
Honestly, Synology is great for an “it just works” platform. They also have the ability to run containers by default and built in backup mechanisms. It actually makes running the Arr stack pretty easy.
Set up a homelab. Doesn’t need to be big - a NAS with dual 18TB disks + OS disk will do. Try to stay away from off the shelf NASes (Synology, QNAP, etc. - though the recent Ugreen NASes are quite okay!).
Then simply install the “Arr stack” (if you Google it like that, you’ll find all the relevant info):
There’s a bunch of online guides that are super useful and aren’t too technically involved, and most of the setup is going to be visual anyway.
Honestly, Synology is great for an “it just works” platform. They also have the ability to run containers by default and built in backup mechanisms. It actually makes running the Arr stack pretty easy.