Hey folks. I’ve been running a media and torrenting server off an Odroid HC2 running OpenMediaVault 6 on Armbian. It’s been doing pretty great, and I have it set to run docker containers for qBittorrent, ProtonVPN, the *arrs, etc.

The problem I’m running into is that the HC2 has an arm32 CPU that is not supported by most apps, so I’m stuck running old images. I want to upgrade to a newer mini PC/SBC that is more future-friendly. I’d like it to be capable of running Plex streaming at 4K, Radarr/Sonarr/Prowlarr, etc. as well as other apps as docker containers. I might repurpose the HC2 to just run self-hosted NextDNS.

Here are my questions:

  1. What mini PCs or SBCs would you recommend? I’m leaning strongly towards a mini PC over an SBC because it would be more powerful, I don’t need specialized software for it, recovery and backups are much easier, etc. I’m not too concerned about power usage unless it’s extravagant.
  2. Which OS would you recommend as a media server?
  3. What is the simplest way to transfer my server over with minimal fuss? I use private trackers, so I’ll have to very carefully stand up the new server and transfer over torrents, etc. in one fell swoop. I’m guessing I should just be able to install the apps and then transfer over the configurations and media files and change permissions, etc.
  4. Anything else I need to consider?

Thanks!

  • @[email protected]English
    2•1 year ago

    I like the “1 liter PCs/home servers” for this kind of stuff. I have a 3 node proxmox cluster running on hp elitebook mini 800 g4’s. I got them for around $120 each on ebay (prices vary). Other big manufacturers have their own mini modules (hp, lenovo, dell) Generally these have a lower price tag than something like a similar generation intel nuc because it’s less of a niche market, these are used in business office environments and usually sold used pretty cheap when hardware is refreshed or businesses are closed. You can find replacement parts easily also. Just make sure they include a power adapter if you do search for one.

    Mine are running i5-8500t processor which supports Intel quicksync and performs very well for video transcoding in plex. Should easily be able to do a couple of 4k transcodes easily. If you’re not interested in running proxmox, this would run OMV easily and have plenty of power to run lots of containers.

    • Anony MooseOP
      1•1 year ago

      I haven’t looked into proxmox yet, so I wouldn’t rule it out yet. OMV is nice, but I found it a little limiting. I actually really like the idea of running a full linux distro with an actual desktop (so not just headless) on it instead of just using OMV as the primary interface. I like the idea of spending more time within actual linux so I can upgrade my linux-fu.

      1L PCs look cool, I suppose I won’t be able to upgrade too much, but then again I’m unlikely to need to anytime soon. The form factor looks amazing.

      • @[email protected]English
        1•1 year ago

        I needed something for compute not really storage, regardless these hp’s have two nvme slots, and an optional ssd tray (lower modules come with the ssd, these did not have the tray but can buy separately if needed) so the storage upgradeability is pretty good.

        • Anony MooseOPEnglish
          1•1 year ago

          Since my home server is a media server, it’s primary drive is an 8TB HDD :)

          • @[email protected]English
            1•1 year ago

            How is that currently plugged in to your odroid? You’ll face similar limitations with beelink or intel nucs. Those small form factor pcs generally don’t support 3.5inch hdds. Most can fit a single 2.5incch ssd.