I’m working on building a compact, efficient, and budget-friendly home server to centralize my scattered data and host a few lightweight services.
Currently, my data is spread across multiple hard drives, and accessing it is a hassle. A while back, I set up a home server using an old netbook running Debian and a few Docker containers. It was a fun Linux learning experience, but not a long-term solution (its RAM can’t be expanded beyond 2 GB, and its CPU is too weak). So, I guess it’s time for an actual dedicated server machine!
Budget: Around €500, including storage (I’m in Europe, btw)
Requirements:
Centralized storage for data, photos, and phone backups
Run lightweight containers for web services like Immich, Paperless-ngx, Pi-hole, and custom services I’ve developed
Occasionally download Linux ISOs (I use and delete them; the whole *arr stack would be overkill for my needs)
No need for virtualization (so no Proxmox, TrueNAS, or Unraid); a plain Debian install with Docker should suffice (or maybe I could use OpenMediaVault)
No closed OS: I’m not interested in Synology, QNAP, or similar. I want full control to install and customize my OS
Goals:
Low power consumption: ≤10 watts idle without HDDs would be ideal (this is my number-one priority)
Low noise
Compact size: space is limited, so it needs to be small (I also don’t need a huge case for just a couple of drives)
SSD (for OS and containers): Patriot P320 128GB NVMe PCIe Gen 3x4 (€15.99)
PSU: LEICKE PSU 19V, 4.74A, 90W (€19.99)
Case: Sharkoon QB ONE (€50)
Total: ~€257
Concerns: Will the 4-pin connector on the board be able to power two HDDs? ASRock includes a cable to power 2 HDDs in the package, so it should be fine, and I don’t plan on adding more drives
SSD (for OS and containers): Patriot P320 128GB NVMe PCIe Gen 3x4 (€15.99)
PSU: LEICKE PSU 19V, 4.74A, 90W (€19.99)
Case: ODROID H4+ Case Type 4 (€44.90)
Accessories: 2x SATA data and power cables (€14.00)
Total: ~€340
Concerns: I’m unsure about reliability and updates, and with 2 HDDs, it’s out of my budget
Prebuilt Option (AOOSTAR R1):
Specs: N100, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB NVMe
Total: ~€238
Concerns: Power consumption might be higher than the ASRock and ODROID boards; I’m unsure about its reliability and updates; I’ve read that it can get noisy and heat up
Storage:
For storage, I’m planning to use two 4 TB HDDs (Seagate IronWolf, ~€120 each) in a mirrored configuration. I’m considering ZFS for its compression, deduplication, snapshots, and bit rot protection. However, I’m unsure if I really need RAID since I’ll perform regular backups.
Questions:
Which of these options would you recommend?
Are there better hardware options within my budget that meet my power/noise/size goals?
Do you have other suggestions for hardware or software I might have overlooked?
Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!
A used i5-8500T or similar sounds pretty good, actually. Idk about Europe, but in the US you can get them second hand for like $30 on ebay. Seems like you can also find Passive coolers for that socket too on ebay, if you really want.
If you can find an ITX board that has the correct socket second hand, then you’d be good to go, and have options for expansion, if its got a pcie slot.
I’ve got a NAS built with used parts and its been fine for me so far. Its not as low power as yours, but the components were cheap enough that I could spend more on storage. And when its just idling, I don’t think it uses that much power (Never actually measured the power consumption at the plug. Its a Ryzen 3200g) but it sits at like 2% CPU usage most of the time with the host OS and 3 VMs running.
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A used i5-8500T or similar sounds pretty good, actually. Idk about Europe, but in the US you can get them second hand for like $30 on ebay. Seems like you can also find Passive coolers for that socket too on ebay, if you really want.
If you can find an ITX board that has the correct socket second hand, then you’d be good to go, and have options for expansion, if its got a pcie slot.
I’ve got a NAS built with used parts and its been fine for me so far. Its not as low power as yours, but the components were cheap enough that I could spend more on storage. And when its just idling, I don’t think it uses that much power (Never actually measured the power consumption at the plug. Its a Ryzen 3200g) but it sits at like 2% CPU usage most of the time with the host OS and 3 VMs running.
They’re selling around 40-50€ here just the CPU, with motherboard and RAM for about 100€ and mini pcs with those around 150€.