Hey,
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)
Ideas:
- DIY Option (ASRock N100DC-ITX):
- CPU + Mobo: ASRock N100DC-ITX (~€138)
- RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 16GB 3200MHz DDR4 Non-ECC CL22 (€32.99)
- 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
- DIY Option (ODROID H4+):
- CPU + Mobo: ODROID H4+ (€196)
- RAM: Crucial RAM 16GB 4800MHz DDR5 Non-ECC CL40 (€48.90)
- 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!
Thanks in advance :)
If you go that route I’d want to make sure the cpu is at least somwewhat recent.
My first server was an old office PC I bought used as well, but I had real problems with it, because the CPU was lacking some X86 instructions which is why I could not run a specific service I wanted to as it used those. (And if you want to run jellyfin in the near future you should make sure to buuy a cpu that can also do some hardware encoding/decoding as doing that in software on a low end CPU can make the experience somewhat sluggish.
Totally, but that won’t be a problem if you’re 8th+ gen right now. I’ve had experiences like you describe with a Core 2 Duo about two years ago, even SSH was taking ages to connect because the CPU lacked some modern instruction for ECDH.