I’ve been running a Plex server for music off my gaming laptop for a few months and (I think) I’m ready to take it further - that is, I’d like to have the server running on its own hardware.

At this point, I’d just be running a music server, but I know I’ll want to add more services.

The first would be something like Google Drive - I’m working with a couple of other people on business plans and I’d love to self-host our files and the software (like LibreOffice) to edit them.

I’m comfortable with the software side and I’m finding lots of options, especially in this community.

The hardware side… I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all the options and I don’t know enough to judge the search results.

Any recommendations for hardware or links to guides would be appreciated.

  • @macattack
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    16 hours ago

    If you have a spare laptop/phone, I’d find a good tutorial and start there and then venture towards new hardware as your needs require it. Personally, I bought a (used) laptop when my main laptop wouldn’t boot, but then I wiped my malfunctioning laptop and it started working again. I’ve been using the used laptop as a server ever since.

    Personally, I have yet to find something that I couldn’t self-host on the laptop and still don’t quite grasp why I’d need a heavier-powered device.