I am currently using an old laptop (circa 2015) with a 250GB SSD in it, and 4GB of RAM. It runs Fedora 39 Server, and only hosts a Jellyfin instance through Docker right now (though I want to use Nextcloud later too). There is only 15GB of storage left on it, and the CPU is constantly overloaded (due to forced transcoding). I happen to have a lot of 500GB 3.5" HDDs laying around, and I want to use them in RAID 5. What hardware would be good for having 4 HDDs, and running Jellyfin and Nextcloud in Docker? I’m okay with either having just a 4-bay NAS (as long as it can handle transcoding (MKV 480p -> MP4)), or having a 4-bay NAS and a server/computer/NUC. I only have a budget of CAD$900 (USD$658 as of writing), but I am willing to go to CAD$1000 if absolutely necessary.
idk what resolution you use for streaming but my raspberry pi 4B runs plex at 1080p just fine as long as it isnt using x265/AV1 (but on jellyfin you might be able to use the Pi’s GPU for transcoding).
I use nextcloud too but it’s a tiny bit slower than I’d like, but that’s likely a wifi issue i think.
Literally any PC on Amazon for $200 CAD, then add your own SSD. I’d say 8GB of RAM but that’s just for cache, youll rarely go over 4 in general use.
That, or a raspberry pi 4B/5 which runs you about $150 once you get a case, power supply, powered USB dock for sticking SSDs into (just for safety since technically the pi’s USB ports cant handle certain SSDs power reqs.) and then stick SSDs into that.
Use dietpi (dietpi.com) for setting up your services and it’ll run nice and smooth for anything not H265, which might be annoying but Plex and possibly jellyfin let you transcode stuff in the background which is nice.
They’re still mounted individually, so you do RAID5 or ZRAID on them, same as if they were internal. You can potentially be bandwidth-limited since USB 3.0 has a 5 Gbps speed limit, but realistically only for reads and you’re still fine in terms of overall performance since they’re all spinning disks anyhow and 5Gbps is fast enough for any media server/NAS unless you’ve got a 10-gig LAN/internet connection and feel the compulsive need to saturate it.
My go to for home servers for like 20 years has been used dell optiplexes. They are quite reliable, easy to find, pretty cheap, come in a few different standard physical sizes, and last a long time. The one thing they could do better at is energy efficiency. I spent a total of US $450 on the last two that I bought. I added an LSI HBA to one and it runs 4 HDDs in raidz1.
For lots of services that require little CPU and ram, I use tiny/mini/micro PCs, bought used. I get them for anywhere from $100-$400, and usually all I do is drop in an SSD. That includes Linux VMs when I’m testing distros or deployment on a distro, since 32gb ram on the host is more than enough to leave 4-8gb ram to the VM.
For some heavier applications, I also have a 4RU case stacked with drives, which I use as a third NAS (VM with drives passed through), large DBs, etc. Its just a 1700x with 64GB ram, and that’s plenty.
For most things (DNS, a few web servers, git, grafana, Prometheus, rev proxies, Jenkins, personal fdroid repo, homepage, etc) I just use the tiny/mini/micro’s. Imo, you can’t go wrong with those for your services, and a big case with spare parts and lots of drives for your NAS. Especially at the price you mentioned. Just remember you can separate your services easily, so don’t focus on getting everything in one spot, you can make your requirements (and cost) go up quickly.
My recommendation would be building a Jonsbo NAS. They’re relatively affordable. You probably also want a mobile CPU for better efficiency. I don’t recommend ARM as it will greatly limit the variety of software you can run on it. Erying and CWWK/Topton make ITX mobos with mobile CPUs. These are Chinese brands but I don’t really see anyone else making them.
The cheapest and easiest thing to do would be to just use an old standard desktop computer case that can hold a few HDDs.
You could get one of those cheap N100 boards and a couple refurbished enterprise HDD’s. Board costs about 150, case & PSU another 150, which leaves you with enough to buy 2 10ish TB drives, a boot drive and some additional RAM. Power usage should be pretty decent.
Another option is going with a second hand Mini PC and a DAS. I went with this myself because it’s the cheapest and easiest option. It cost me about €150 combined (excluding the cost of the 2 drives I had laying around), and it has served me well for the past year. The CPU is a bit weak (i5-6500T) and it doesn’t have a lot of RAM (8GiB), but it handles the 30ish docker containers and video transcoding (single stream) well.
I’ve also bought an old proliant micro server and I wouldn’t really recommend it. It uses a lot of power and it was kind of a pain to get running. I’m planning on installing a HBA adapter and using it as a backup system.
Get a old used desktop from eBay. Use either Intel QuickSync (Intel integrated) or a dedicated GPU.
Additionally, use a LTS and keep good backups. Fedora Server shouldn’t be used for anything actively depended apon. You could move to Rocky Linux, Debian or something else.
500GB HDDs? If you don’t need hot swap, with your budget, buy new ones. Transcoding is solved by using any modern-ish Intel CPU. I built one for $230 using a used office desktop and three 4TB HDDs plus a small used NVMe for TrueNAS.
After seeing some of Craft Computing’s videos on YT I’m considering getting my hands on one of those cheap Erying mainboards off Aliexpress with a laptop CPU on it. Seen those as low as 140 bucks with a 13th-gen i5, just add a cooler and desktop DDR4.
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idk what resolution you use for streaming but my raspberry pi 4B runs plex at 1080p just fine as long as it isnt using x265/AV1 (but on jellyfin you might be able to use the Pi’s GPU for transcoding).
I use nextcloud too but it’s a tiny bit slower than I’d like, but that’s likely a wifi issue i think.
Literally any PC on Amazon for $200 CAD, then add your own SSD. I’d say 8GB of RAM but that’s just for cache, youll rarely go over 4 in general use.
That, or a raspberry pi 4B/5 which runs you about $150 once you get a case, power supply, powered USB dock for sticking SSDs into (just for safety since technically the pi’s USB ports cant handle certain SSDs power reqs.) and then stick SSDs into that.
Use dietpi (dietpi.com) for setting up your services and it’ll run nice and smooth for anything not H265, which might be annoying but Plex and possibly jellyfin let you transcode stuff in the background which is nice.
I’d recommend a DAS setup (just a 4-bay USB 3.0 or better hard drive enclosure) with a server with any modern Intel CPU in it.
What would you use to RAID the drives? Die you try zfs for a USB das?
They’re still mounted individually, so you do RAID5 or ZRAID on them, same as if they were internal. You can potentially be bandwidth-limited since USB 3.0 has a 5 Gbps speed limit, but realistically only for reads and you’re still fine in terms of overall performance since they’re all spinning disks anyhow and 5Gbps is fast enough for any media server/NAS unless you’ve got a 10-gig LAN/internet connection and feel the compulsive need to saturate it.
Truenas core/scale, custom built (easy) but the disks will be the main costs… I think ik 2015 mine cost me 450$. Disks were 1200 :/
https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-6-0-ddr4-is-finally-cheap/13956
I’ve been looking at getting a odroid h4 ultra as my next toy. It would suit you I think.
My go to for home servers for like 20 years has been used dell optiplexes. They are quite reliable, easy to find, pretty cheap, come in a few different standard physical sizes, and last a long time. The one thing they could do better at is energy efficiency. I spent a total of US $450 on the last two that I bought. I added an LSI HBA to one and it runs 4 HDDs in raidz1.
For lots of services that require little CPU and ram, I use tiny/mini/micro PCs, bought used. I get them for anywhere from $100-$400, and usually all I do is drop in an SSD. That includes Linux VMs when I’m testing distros or deployment on a distro, since 32gb ram on the host is more than enough to leave 4-8gb ram to the VM.
For some heavier applications, I also have a 4RU case stacked with drives, which I use as a third NAS (VM with drives passed through), large DBs, etc. Its just a 1700x with 64GB ram, and that’s plenty.
For most things (DNS, a few web servers, git, grafana, Prometheus, rev proxies, Jenkins, personal fdroid repo, homepage, etc) I just use the tiny/mini/micro’s. Imo, you can’t go wrong with those for your services, and a big case with spare parts and lots of drives for your NAS. Especially at the price you mentioned. Just remember you can separate your services easily, so don’t focus on getting everything in one spot, you can make your requirements (and cost) go up quickly.
My recommendation would be building a Jonsbo NAS. They’re relatively affordable. You probably also want a mobile CPU for better efficiency. I don’t recommend ARM as it will greatly limit the variety of software you can run on it. Erying and CWWK/Topton make ITX mobos with mobile CPUs. These are Chinese brands but I don’t really see anyone else making them.
The cheapest and easiest thing to do would be to just use an old standard desktop computer case that can hold a few HDDs.
Additionally ARM is mostly a miss when it comes to transcoding.
You could get one of those cheap N100 boards and a couple refurbished enterprise HDD’s. Board costs about 150, case & PSU another 150, which leaves you with enough to buy 2 10ish TB drives, a boot drive and some additional RAM. Power usage should be pretty decent.
Another option is going with a second hand Mini PC and a DAS. I went with this myself because it’s the cheapest and easiest option. It cost me about €150 combined (excluding the cost of the 2 drives I had laying around), and it has served me well for the past year. The CPU is a bit weak (i5-6500T) and it doesn’t have a lot of RAM (8GiB), but it handles the 30ish docker containers and video transcoding (single stream) well.
I’ve also bought an old proliant micro server and I wouldn’t really recommend it. It uses a lot of power and it was kind of a pain to get running. I’m planning on installing a HBA adapter and using it as a backup system.
Currently ugreen has released some nas systems that seem powerful but have yet to be shipped (reviews are out though).
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
10 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 11 acronyms.
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Get a old used desktop from eBay. Use either Intel QuickSync (Intel integrated) or a dedicated GPU.
Additionally, use a LTS and keep good backups. Fedora Server shouldn’t be used for anything actively depended apon. You could move to Rocky Linux, Debian or something else.
Get a mainboard and CPU supporting ECC ram. Combine it with ZFS as the file system. With this setup you are safe from bitrot.
500GB HDDs? If you don’t need hot swap, with your budget, buy new ones. Transcoding is solved by using any modern-ish Intel CPU. I built one for $230 using a used office desktop and three 4TB HDDs plus a small used NVMe for TrueNAS.
Look at the 3 minute mark for transcoding accelerated CPUs: https://youtu.be/WCDmHljsinY
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/WCDmHljsinY
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
After seeing some of Craft Computing’s videos on YT I’m considering getting my hands on one of those cheap Erying mainboards off Aliexpress with a laptop CPU on it. Seen those as low as 140 bucks with a 13th-gen i5, just add a cooler and desktop DDR4.