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Using Silo, Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin

Is ZenDRIVE S3 Access a Silo, Plex, or Emby appbox?

No. ZenDRIVE S3 Access gives you read-only access to the ZenDRIVE library through your own dedicated CDN node and S3 endpoint. It is not a hosted Silo, Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin server, and it is not a general-purpose appbox that you SSH into.

The usual media-server setup is:

  1. Run Silo, Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin on your own server, VPS, or appbox.
  2. Mount ZenDRIVE on that server with an S3 client such as rclone.
  3. Point your media-server libraries at the mounted paths.
  4. Use ZenLocalPoller if you want new content to appear in the mount and media server automatically.

Your dedicated CDN node is fully managed and only delivers S3 access. You cannot install Silo, Plex, Emby, request bots, or other software on the CDN node itself. See Dedicated CDN Node.

For customers who want to run their own open-source media server, we recommend Silo. It is a self-hosted media streaming server with a Go backend, React web UI, Docker deployment, direct play, remuxing, hardware-accelerated transcoding, and Jellyfin-compatible APIs.

Silo fits ZenDRIVE well because it expects you to bring a media path. In a ZenDRIVE setup, that path is your read-only rclone mount:

  1. Mount ZenDRIVE on the host, for example at /mnt/zendrive.
  2. Install Silo with Docker Compose.
  3. Set Silo's MEDIA_ROOT to the ZenDRIVE mount path.
  4. Add libraries, users, metadata providers, and playback settings from Silo's admin UI.
  5. Put Silo behind your own reverse proxy or firewall for remote users.

The default Silo Docker stack bundles PostgreSQL, Redis, FFmpeg, and the app for a single-host install. By default it exposes the web app on port 8090 and a Jellyfin-compatible endpoint on port 8096, so verified Jellyfin-compatible clients can talk to Silo while you still use Silo's own server and admin interface.

Silo ecosystem

The Silo-Server GitHub organization also includes:

Silo is open source, licensed under AGPL-3.0-or-later, and currently pre-1.0, so treat it like software you operate yourself. Clearstreamer support covers your ZenDRIVE access, credentials, whitelist IP, and CDN node; Silo application issues belong to the Silo project and your own server environment.

Do my family or users connect directly to ZenDRIVE?

Usually no. Your media server connects to ZenDRIVE, and your viewers connect to your media server.

This matters because ZenDRIVE access is locked to a whitelist IP. Set the whitelist IP to the public IP of the machine running the mount. Your Silo, Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin users do not each need their own ZenDRIVE credentials or their own whitelisted IP.

Do I need a Clearstreamer subscription for each viewer?

No. ZenDRIVE S3 Access is sold by bandwidth tier, not by viewer count. A household or family setup normally uses one ZenDRIVE service behind one media server.

Your media-server software may have its own account, app, or feature requirements. Those are separate from Clearstreamer:

  • Clearstreamer does not include or require Plex Pass.
  • Clearstreamer does not include or require Emby Premiere.
  • Clearstreamer does not include or require a paid Silo license.
  • Silo, Plex, and Emby licensing, app unlocks, sharing features, downloads, restrictions, and device limits are controlled by those projects, not by ZenDRIVE.
  • Jellyfin behavior and client support are controlled by the Jellyfin project and the clients you choose.

Check the current media-server documentation before buying a license, relying on a specific client, or planning around a premium feature.

Which tier should I choose for 18-20 people?

Size by simultaneous streams, not by the total number of invited users.

For a family group around 18-20 people, the 1 Gbps tier is a reasonable starting point if most viewing is 1080p or mixed direct-play/transcode usage and not everyone is watching at the same time. If you expect many concurrent streams, frequent high-bitrate 4K, or mostly direct-play 4K, step up to the 1.5 Gbps tier, which is the largest plan available.

Your real limit is not only the ZenDRIVE tier. Also check:

  • the outbound bandwidth of your Silo, Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin server
  • server CPU/GPU capacity if you transcode
  • distance between your server and the ZenDRIVE region
  • rclone VFS cache size and disk speed
  • how many users stream at the same time

See Choosing a tier and Understanding bandwidth.

Can I upgrade later?

Yes. You can move to a higher bandwidth tier as your usage grows. Upgrades are designed to keep the same service, endpoint, and credentials where possible. Downgrades are not generally supported, so start with a tier you are comfortable keeping.

See Upgrading or changing plan.

Is there a request bot?

ZenDRIVE supports missing-content requests through a Sonarr/Radarr-compatible request API. That API has no request limits and includes status endpoints so you can see what is queued, downloading, or already available.

The wiki does not currently document a hosted Discord request bot operated by Clearstreamer. If you want a Discord bot, Overseerr-style front end, or custom request workflow, run it on your own server and point it at the ZenDRIVE request API.

For a Silo, Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin setup, a clean layout is:

  1. Pick the ZenDRIVE region closest to the media-server host.
  2. Run the media server on a box with a stable public IP and enough outbound bandwidth.
  3. Set that box's public IP as your ZenDRIVE whitelist IP.
  4. Mount ZenDRIVE with rclone mount --read-only and VFS caching.
  5. Add the mounted movie and TV paths to Silo, Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin.
  6. Run ZenLocalPoller to refresh the mount and optionally trigger media-server scans.
  7. Use the request API, or a compatible request manager, for missing movies and shows.