this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2026
50 points (98.1% liked)

Selfhosted

60281 readers
566 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

Detailed Rules Post

  1. Be civil.

  2. No spam.

  3. Posts are to be related to self-hosting.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or readme if you're providing a link.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title.

  6. No trolling.

  7. Promotion posts require active participation, with an account that is at least 30 days old. F/LOSS without a paywall has exceptions, with requirements. See the rules link for details.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
ruud@lemmy.world
Loki@lemmy.world
CannaVet@lemmy.world
devve@lemmy.world
ayyy@sh.itjust.works
curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
curbstickle_lw@lemmy.world
50
Recommended mini pc for a homelab? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by FukOui@lemmy.zip to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
63 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

My old laptop for self hosting just croaked, and I'm thinking of buying a 2nd hand mini pc, but this time I want to do it proper. I want to optimize the electricity consumption and specs needed/ future upgreadability, considering how expensive everything is now.

My use case is just for self hosting files (infrequent access and reducing reliance to google drive), and occasional dev workload via ssh. I'm thinking of buying a used optiplex with at least i6 gen cpu (SFF or micro form factor), but I want to see if there are better options.

There was a link posted in this subreddit about power consumption comparison of different mini pcs (raspberry pi, n100, etc), and I regret not saving it.

If anyone could suggest me better options it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] ITGuyLevi@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I honestly need to learn your ways and sell the rack of stuff in my basement. Right now I've got an old R720XD with 12 spinning metal drives and 2 SSDs, then another old Intel box the local government used for VOIP (I've only got 7 spinng rust and 1 SSD in there), then the R610 that I use for homeassistant and a few VMs...

I've also got a smaller desktop for jellyfin/Plex and an old MicroServer (gen8) for a firewall...

I could 100% save some power I just need to learn what I actually need.

[โ€“] irmadlad@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Well, it all started way back when, with a misunderstanding in my mind about what a homelab is. Back then, in my mind a server was this big, honkin', brutal piece of equipment. Over the years I came to realize that all that rack stuff, while cheap upfront on the used market, was costing me some serious bucks in energy consumption + the added load on the AC, even when electricity in my locale is relatively cheap. Since I already was invested, I didn't want to redo everything and start from scratch. Then the 'mini-racks' started to be a thing with Lenovo's and such. I saw that others were doing what I wanted to do with much less. So, now days, it doesn't take much of a computer to run docker containers, Proxmox, etc. Far more energy efficient, doesn't generate so much heat load, and significantly more quiet.

In the near future, my goal is to miniaturize my lab, and then build me a $4k AI machine. Out of the frying pan into the fire yes, but I haven't had new equipment in well over 15+ years. I've always had used or refurb's. I think it's about time to treat myself.