I need some advice on what hardware to buy for my home setup. I see a lot of posts talking about software, but not so much hardware. I would love to have a box I can buy and start setting up stuff.
A rack seems a bit expensive, my initial budget I feel is reasonable starting out is about $500-$800.
I’ve been looking at mini PCs, what are your thoughts on ASUS PN52? Just throwing that into the post to give a pin point of what I’m looking for.
I’m planning on hosting
- Bitwarden
- Nextcloud
- Plex
- Standard notes
- Lemmy instance
- Web server
- Openresty
And need to be able to upgrade storage etc. for future proofing.
Thankful for all insights, tips, and suggestions!
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Pn52 is not a bad choice. Very upgradeable. Gigabit networking is probably all you’d need.
The heat may become a problem. But I dont run one so wouldn’t know.
Run proxmox on it. Your sweet 👍
What size drives are you thinking if you plan to host a plex server? Whatever you think, I’d recommend doubling it.
Thanks, I was thinking 2TB, so 4TB then! I’m considering a RAID1 setup, so the budget would need to accomodate that
Isn’t there only a single drive slot? (Not including the m.2’s) Don’t think Raid is an option for the pn52.
What do you think about running the OS and binaries on the SATA SSD, and storing the data on the M2’s? And having the M2’s in RAID1?
I don’t know why. But it makes me uncomfortable.
It’s weird, because that’s my feeling too. It got suggested by customer support at a retailer when asking in their chat. I guess it’ll work, but feels backwards. I think I’m going with a NAS solution, and running the server without RAID
I started with a nas. Did me well for a long time.
I personally just use an old desktop (4th gen i7, yeah that old) and a NAS (mostly for bulk storage seperated from the server). The device you listed is probably more than enough to handle everything, unless you’re sharing Nextcloud and/or Plex with a bunch of people.
Have you looked into an actual NAS rather than a mini-pc though? It’ll give you more storage upgradeability over a mini-pc, and a quality NAS could probably host everything.
I would also consider buying used, especially first starting out. You can save some money buying a model year or two older hardware for decent savings.
(4th gen i7, yeah that old)
The i7-4770 and -90 hold their own amazingly well a decade later!
Yeah, I’m amazed I haven’t had a need to upgrade yet.
A lot of people start on used small form factor desktops like the ASUS PS52. Other common ones are the Lenovo M series tiny desktops, Dell Optiplex micro desktops or Intel NUCs. These can sometimes be found used for sub $100 a piece from businesses updating their fleets. They can struggle a bit doing stuff that needs some CPU grunt, like live plex transcoding, but are decent otherwise, especially considering the low power draw. You might want to consider spreading that software demand over two or three of them.
Second this. Start with an old desktop and see where you land. it’s a good starting place to see what services you like using/need. Then you can spec out a second machine to solve any pain points you have.
live plex transcoding
If you need this, the most cost-efficient way is probably to get an Intel CPU with an integrated GPU that supports QuickSync (all recent ones do) and pay for the lifetime Plex Pass. In the long run, it’s cheaper than getting a beefier CPU, let alone a dedicated GPU, just for transcoding.
That also works with Jellyfin by the way. You can always switch over to Plex later, if you decide you need it and are willing to spend the money.
