With all this migration i’ve been inspired to start self hosting some services.
I am looking for a mini pc to ideally run linux and host a media server with radarr and sonarr, pihole and some other stuff as i start getting more into self hosting.
Any recommendations / experiences that you can give? Or some general guidelines on what i should look for or things to avoid.
I’d be a bit wary of using a laptop. I use one (Dell XPS 13 9310) for a development DB server, and despite all the Windows power saving features being turned off, it goes to sleep after a few hours unless I keep an RDP connection open. The computer is set never to sleep and the wifi adapter’s power savings are disabled. Maybe I’m missing something, but I’ve hunted all over and not found a way to keep it on.
I’d also be a little concerned about laptops not being designed to be on 24/7. The fans and the heat dissipation wouldn’t be as good as in a dedicated box, so components might not last as long.
You can usually buy replacement fans pretty cheap. I run an old framework laptop motherboard as my server and if the fan ever craps out I can get a new one for 40 bucks.
I agree that other components might not last that long due to heat but if you already have the equipment sitting around and its not a production environment why not use the hardware until it fails?
My plan is whenever I upgrade the motherboard in my laptop I will add the old one to my proxmox cluster. Double upgrade! Faster laptop and more compute for the homelab :)
You can usually buy replacement fans pretty cheap. I run an old framework laptop motherboard as my server and if the fan ever craps out I can get a new one for 40 bucks.
I agree that other components might not last that long due to heat but if you already have the equipment sitting around and its not a production environment why not use the hardware until it fails?
My plan is whenever I upgrade the motherboard in my laptop I will add the old one to my proxmox cluster. Double upgrade! Faster laptop and more compute for the homelab :)
Have someone 3d print a custom encloser for you that can also house an independent cooling system. It could even be made temperature sensitive if you choose.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !selfhosted@lemmy.world
A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don’t control.
Rules:
Be civil: we’re here to support and learn from one another. Insults won’t be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.
No spam posting.
Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it’s not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.
Don’t duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.
Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).
No trolling.
Resources:
selfh.st Newsletter and index of selfhosted software and apps
I’d be a bit wary of using a laptop. I use one (Dell XPS 13 9310) for a development DB server, and despite all the Windows power saving features being turned off, it goes to sleep after a few hours unless I keep an RDP connection open. The computer is set never to sleep and the wifi adapter’s power savings are disabled. Maybe I’m missing something, but I’ve hunted all over and not found a way to keep it on.
Obviously you would install Linux on it. Absolutely no difference to a regular server then.
Yeah that would no doubt help.
I’d also be a little concerned about laptops not being designed to be on 24/7. The fans and the heat dissipation wouldn’t be as good as in a dedicated box, so components might not last as long.
You can usually buy replacement fans pretty cheap. I run an old framework laptop motherboard as my server and if the fan ever craps out I can get a new one for 40 bucks.
I agree that other components might not last that long due to heat but if you already have the equipment sitting around and its not a production environment why not use the hardware until it fails?
My plan is whenever I upgrade the motherboard in my laptop I will add the old one to my proxmox cluster. Double upgrade! Faster laptop and more compute for the homelab :)
The Framework laptop is interesting with its removable motherboard that you can put in a separate case when you upgrade the laptop.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/23/23652939/framework-cooler-master-sff-pc-case
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
You can usually buy replacement fans pretty cheap. I run an old framework laptop motherboard as my server and if the fan ever craps out I can get a new one for 40 bucks.
I agree that other components might not last that long due to heat but if you already have the equipment sitting around and its not a production environment why not use the hardware until it fails?
My plan is whenever I upgrade the motherboard in my laptop I will add the old one to my proxmox cluster. Double upgrade! Faster laptop and more compute for the homelab :)
Have someone 3d print a custom encloser for you that can also house an independent cooling system. It could even be made temperature sensitive if you choose.