With all this migration i’ve been inspired to start self hosting some services.

I am looking for a mini pc to ideally run linux and host a media server with radarr and sonarr, pihole and some other stuff as i start getting more into self hosting.

Any recommendations / experiences that you can give? Or some general guidelines on what i should look for or things to avoid.

Thank you!!

  • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I’d be a bit wary of using a laptop. I use one (Dell XPS 13 9310) for a development DB server, and despite all the Windows power saving features being turned off, it goes to sleep after a few hours unless I keep an RDP connection open.

    • poVoq@slrpnk.netEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      Obviously you would install Linux on it. Absolutely no difference to a regular server then.

      • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
        21·
        1 year ago

        Yeah that would no doubt help.

        I’d also be a little concerned about laptops not being designed to be on 24/7. The fans and the heat dissipation wouldn’t be as good as in a dedicated box, so components might not last as long.

        • hungover_pilot@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          You can usually buy replacement fans pretty cheap. I run an old framework laptop motherboard as my server and if the fan ever craps out I can get a new one for 40 bucks.

          I agree that other components might not last that long due to heat but if you already have the equipment sitting around and its not a production environment why not use the hardware until it fails?

          My plan is whenever I upgrade the motherboard in my laptop I will add the old one to my proxmox cluster. Double upgrade! Faster laptop and more compute for the homelab :)

        • Fthisguy@lemmy.fmhy.mlEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Have someone 3d print a custom encloser for you that can also house an independent cooling system. It could even be made temperature sensitive if you choose.

        • hungover_pilot@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          You can usually buy replacement fans pretty cheap. I run an old framework laptop motherboard as my server and if the fan ever craps out I can get a new one for 40 bucks.

          I agree that other components might not last that long due to heat but if you already have the equipment sitting around and its not a production environment why not use the hardware until it fails?

          My plan is whenever I upgrade the motherboard in my laptop I will add the old one to my proxmox cluster. Double upgrade! Faster laptop and more compute for the homelab :)