Looking to build/buy a headless Linux PC to #selfhost a few things including #pihole, #Nextcloud, media server, etc. Nothing that needs amazing compute power. Ideally small form factor like a NUC. This is replacing a Raspberry Pi 4 which I feel is underpowered and cumbersome with the 2.5" external drives separate or externally powered 3.5 inch drives. Ideally I’d be able to use the cheaper 3.5" drives on this setup without needing external power that requires.
I looked on local resale options and can’t seem to find anything available.
Thanks
If you’ve got an old laptop lying around that might work for free, or get a cheap old ThinkPad (you can squash 3 drives into a T440p for example).
If you’ve got some old PC stuff lying around and maybe a case, an AM4 5600G or Intel 12000 or so system can be pretty cheap to fill out the missing bits, boom, NAS (just doing this myself, only needed a mobo, sweet, check the bios supports undervolting for power savings). Get some extra PCIe slots for a HBA card as you grow, maybe an old video card for transcode. Even 8G RAM should get you going.
Otherwise, second the second hand SFF.
Work out if you need transcode for the media server, that will limit your options to specific later CPUs.
Consider a new-ish ex-lease SFF business PC. You’ll be spending a tiny fraction of the cost of a new machine (or of it’s RAM). You’ll also get PCIe slots.
It’s what I did for my OpnSense fire wall router.
Most PC’s will idle at (relatively) very low power.
odroid or minisforum. Good luck though, prices are horrid right now thanks to unhinged AI tech bros.
Better to take up a new hobby like woodworking
I’ll be honest, with the prices of RAM and storage nowadays, it’s not an ideal moment to start self-hosting. Given that you already have 3.5’’ drives, I suggest going for a NAS form if you can afford it. Also, a multiple app server with Nextcloud won’t work well unless the system has 8 GB RAM at the minimum, preferably 16. Try getting a more modern processor, as those come with support to encode more recent video formats and you mentioned having a media server.
For instance, a server will probably work just right with an Intel N150 processor - decent power, low consumption, and support to encode up to VP9/HEVC (no AV1 though)
Check out beelink
I have a good experience with Aoostar mini PCs, you can get them barebone by $300 with pretty powerfull CPU and GPU for the price.
Check out minisforum.
