Hi :)

I’m planning on setting up my home server, and I’m feeling a bit lost.

I currently have a Jellyfin, SSH and Backrest server running on my PC, but want to get some dedicated hardware for it, and increase the services hosted to VPN, Immich, maybe Nextcloud, etc.

The problem is that I have no idea for what kind of hardware to aim for. I don’t know whether I should aim for Rasperri, or MiniPC, or a dedicated rag, or any other thing. My country doesn’t have a big second-hand market for server stuff, but I that’s also a possibility.

Some context on my needs:

  • I run 1440p videos on Jellifyn, so my guess is I need H.265 support. Other than that, I think any CPU will do, and don’t need a very fast one. Same goes for RAM, maybe 8 GB is enough

  • I feel like I do need at least 2 hard drives (1 for my files, another for backups)

  • The ability of upgrade with better hardware would be appreciated, maybe another hard drive or some extra ram.

  • Preferably, a rather low-energy consumption drive. Maybe 10 W idle? No idea on this front neither.

  • Budget is around $200 USD, excluding hard drives. I can pay extra for drives, or get them later on as I start playing around and scale up.

  • What Linux distro should I use? For security, I want to run everything with Dockers, so I guess it doesn’t matter? I’m mildly fluent in Linux, experience with Arch and Debian based.

Thanks in advance :)

  • hodgepodgin@lemmy.zipEnglish
    3·
    10 hours ago
    • buy a cheap atx case with >= 4 3.5” drive bays
    • buy a mini itx mb with like 4/5 SATA ports or however you want. Btw pcie SATA hbas exist. This future proofs drives. You can also get pcie NVMe adapters or buy a MB with NVMe ports. Mini itx for the power efficiency. Beware RAM limits on some MBs.
    • throw a 6000 or preferably 9000 series and onwards intel chip in there. Anything before that will have poor efficiency. Good thing about this is the socket FGA1151(??) is supports a wide range of years
    • 16 gb ram min. Believe me. You’ll run out.
    • for PSU, go with Corsair. Only buy tested ones with all the original cables. I recommend looking at Cybenetic’s PSU efficiency numbers. I have a Corsair PSU.
    • put proxmox on it. Containerize everything if you’re low on RAM or CPU.
    • hodgepodgin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      1·
      9 hours ago

      I’m in the US so I was able to snag a lot of stuff for like $150 usd off eBay. Though my first home server was actually a mini PC which was only like $100 and is super power efficient, only using like 10-15 watts. The biggest downside though of that is that is only has two NVME slots and no SATA, because it’s a mini PC.