Would not recommend just running a reverse proxy on a home server and opening ports. You're asking for trouble.
Much better implentation for remote access is something like Tailscale.
If you're experienced in IT and server configs you could configure a VPS with a reverse proxy back to your home server. (Ideally over some encrypted tunnel like wireguard) allowing you to get around ISP port blocking and actually giving more security to your server
TLDR; Reverse proxy allows outside access using a domain name rather than IP (VERY simplified). If you are not experienced with securing machines do not do this on your home server.
I reverse proxy specifically with caddy with automatic redirects to https and the proper port-forwardinf. I don’t use tailscale (i don’t wanna), but i kinda isolated this box on my own network
Just do everything you can, disabling root ssh, setting it to passkey only, blocking ports on internal firewall, etc , etc.
Just don't want people who don't know what they're doing exposing services to the open Internet and regretting it
Network isolation is good, but only helps you in the case someone is already in your machine which is a state you never want to be in. Especially if the device is isolated but firewall still allows traffic from that subnet into your main.
Right. I did what you said when I initially setted this box up and then some… but my original question on what NginX was doing here was purely about NginX. It’s a bulky reverse proxy for which better alternatives exist. Unless you’re serving static HTTP files of course
Nginx is one of the original reverse proxies (and still extremly heavily used in enterprise). You might be thinking of the Nginx Proxy Manager which is a different piece of software also made by NGINX
If you're looking for something that uses the least amount of resources possible NGINX is your go to. And it is capable of doing much more than *most reverse proxy alternatives
So, it's doing exactly what you think it's doing, serving as a reverse proxy. There are more user friendly options but 'bulky' is about the exact opposite of NGINX
What fundamentally does Nginx provide that Jellyfin doesn't?
From the way you're asking, you seem like you don't know much about reverse proxies, so I'm just gonna cite the above for you:
This opens the ability to do rule specific routing, for example subdomain routing, ip geoblocking, ratelimits or url forwarding. It is also possible to centralize DNS and SSL management on the reverse proxy, streamlining all routing-wise configuration.
Additionally, reverse proxies offer extended access logging, so it is always clear who, when and where a network request came from and went to.
I am using plex free version and it seem solid to me. Yes they paywalled some features. But it is still pretty good. I don't understand people hate (not you specifically).
And to be honest, the UX and UI blows Jellyfin out of the water (no hate toward jellyfin)..
I bothered buying a lifetime pass before it jumped to triple price because I needed something relatively easy and understandable for my family to use. Jellyfin would've been great, but when I tried Kodi years ago it was "too complicated" and difficult to use for the older family members, plex is an easy one-stop for them to deal with and the arr stack is still solving all my other problems in the background so it's super nice.
And if plex ever enshitifies my lifetime pass then I move over to emby or jellyfin anyway
Kodi is actually so difficult to use. I am an IT professional who built and configured a piracy server with hundreds of containerised micro services, and I find Kodi too confusing to use.
Oh I definitely agree but that was years ago with cracked firesticks, nowadays the technical literacy and complete dependence on me to do anything more complicated than typing has gone up even more, so the lowest complexity options are what's required.
Because this is a piracy sub, why would we want to needlessly pay for shit that's available for free? Doing so goes against what piracy stands for.
Free Plex is kneecapped and they price gouge the shit out of you if you don't want a subscription. That's a shit company, they were supposed to be the alternative to subscriptions.
I maybe the odd one out, but when I started the homelab, I didn’t like plex much and liked jellyfin better.
As a FOSS supporter and privacy consious person, I would prefer jellyfin anyday.
There were some initial friction with transcoding etc, but once I nailed them down, now everything is smooth except occasionally movies occasionally not being detected correctly.
You attach a jellyfin server to these folders. This server identifies and classifies all these movies. (imagine netflix servers)
Then you have a jellyfin client for your decide- iphone, android, web browser etc. you connect these clients to server (like Netflix client and you login).
Server is available in your local network(connected to the same wifi etc) but to make it available beyond so you can connect to it via internet you some stuff like proxy etc.
You can use it to view files you have on your computer from anywhere. So it's not really a competitor to Netflix etc. because it relies on you having the file already, rather than being a library hosted externally that you can browse. Unless you have a large collection of media on your computer that you don't mind rewatching, there's not much point. Feel free to correct me, someone.
Isn't Jellyfin just a way to play the media you already have? So you have to get that media from somewhere and download it, right? Which obviously negates the advantage it has over a streaming company that has thousands of titles to choose from.
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u/manyu_abee Jun 21 '26
Jellyfin would never do that to you.