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!!
Obviously you would install Linux on it. Absolutely no difference to a regular server then.
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.
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 :)
The Framework laptop is interesting with its removable motherboard that you can put in a separate case when you upgrade the laptop.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/23/23652939/framework-cooler-master-sff-pc-case
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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 :)
Self-hosted servers rarely run at high load for longer periods. But if you don’t mind tinkering a bit you can improve cooling quite a bit on laptops. At least putting new thermal-paste under the heat-pipes is something I would recommend for older laptops.
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.