A huge upshot to using a laptop is you have a built-in UPS and KVM.
Thanks for reminding me i have a craptop in storage thst i can use for a server.
this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2026
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If it still turns on, it still has an use!
If it doesn't, it can still be a paperweight!
Which is a use by definition.
My wife's 10 year-old Chromebook has spent the last few years as my Linux laptop that I keep tucked away next to the bed for those "oh shit, did I remember to do x on the server" moments.
a* use, jfyi
You are right. But I actually don’t know why… I was told (as a non native speaker) that „an“ is always used when the next word starts with a vocal. But „use“ seems to be an exception.
English is complicated bro. I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you are multi-lingual, you've got more going for you than most Americans. In general, use "a" before words that begin with a consonant sound. Use "an" before words that begin with a vowel sound.
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Lol. Craptop. I named my old laptop that.
Kinda like my dentist ist named Crentist.
if a craptp is useful it's not crap anymore heh
it only works as a UPS if you periodically discharge the battery. My first "server" was a compaq laptop, I had used it for years and then reprovisioned it to Ubuntu Server, after 2 or 3 years of 24/7 if you unplugged it at all it just instant died because keeping it 100% charged all the time killed the battery.
one should cap the battery at 70% or smth if keeping it connected 24/7
I'm not sure that all laptops support capping, and I'm not sure if Panasonic ToughBook supports the drivers necessary to cap. I guess you could deploy TLP and check sudo tlp-stat -b
I have a PC that I use as a router. It's power setup is inverter > lifepo4 battery > battery charger. Relevance here is that it's a "dumb" setup insofar as the PC can't manage the battery.
What I did to help with battery health is figured out how long the battery should run the PC and have a scheduled disconnect of the mains power for about half that time once a day. Not as good a solution as something that can maintain a ~80% charge, but better than leaving it at 100%
It'd work for an old laptop too, and can be accomplished with a cheap aquarium light timer.
accomplished with a cheap aquarium light timer.
Love it man. Nice use of non relational equipment.
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Naively I assumed that anything in the last decade or so with a battery already has some sort of battery management system that regulates this stuff to help prolong battery lifespan, but maybe I'm wrong.
Yea, which is a fair expectation, but it's not a safe assumption. Verify it does before prolonged use. Make sure its well ventilated(heat is killer to batteries as well), and that some form of BMS is present on the system, and that it's enabled because some have the system but have it disabled by default.
I had one active a good while back. To quote Buddy Guy '..ain't nuthin' wrong with that.' Hell, I have a 15 year old, self build computer. I use it daily. It works, and pretty well too.
If you haven't already, I'd see if you can run it sans battery, just power cord. Reason being, old laptop batteries can be a hazard. They can swell and burst, they can over heat,. In some cases, they can become a fire hazard. Best to be safe.
If you've already done so, then awesome , and ignore the second paragraph. Is this your first foray into selfhosting?
Ideally see if you can do a battery charge limit. Lithium batteries are happiest around 40-60% charge. If you can limit it that low then you keep your built in UPS, don't risk the CPU running at a crawl, and the battery is happy. Even just the normal 80% that good laptops offer will be sufficient.
Well, that's something to think about. I've always thought it best to take mine out. Tempting fate and all that.
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I have a machine that’s 12 years old, I built it back in the early 2010s. I have some extra video cards laying around so I slapped a 2080 in and it’s now a dedicated Beat Saber machine (I don’t touch Facebook or Google code on any device with PII, so I’ve really missed playing Beat Saber.)
It runs at 90+FPS no matter the song, and it’s got about 500 songs so far. I love that machine soooo much.
When I built mine, I purposefully spent the $$ for a long term service machine and stocked it with all the cutting edge tech of the day in it like SLI which was wildly popular then, maxed out the mobo with RAM to 96 GB, etc. It's no modern gaming machine, but it will handle most anything you throw at it.
Niiiiice! I did SLI 7900GTs when Crysis came out and it ran at like 40+ FPS even with explosions on screen! It cost me an unholy amount…
the machine I now use for Beat Saber wasn’t as crazy as the Crysis machine: it’s an i5-4790k, 16 or 32GB DDR3, and a couple SSDs. I replaced its 1070 just because I had a better card laying around. I hope it works well for many years to come! It’s also on a 500w bronze semi-modular PSU that seems like it’s going to go on forever into eternity… I hope so, it’s been so good to me!
some machines restrict cpu clock speed if there's no battery fyi. my 2008 macbook does this
You don't need to blur the private address. No one here is going to be on your private network.
...is what They^tm^ wants you to believe.
Trust no one, always wear your tinfoil hat and don't take vaccines.
~this message was sponsored by the darwin awards committee and the illuminati~
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If it isn't 192.168.1.0/24 then you should blur it. Mine is completely random and I keep it to myself.
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I use a 2015 MacBook pro. The screen was busted so I removed it and disabled the lid switch. Works great.
Downside to laptop as your homelab: got that spicy pillow now permanently plugged in. Maybe consider pulling out the battery.
I also have a 2015 MBP lying fallow in my closet. Do you have any suggestions for turning it into a server? Are you using MacOS still or have you installed something else?
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This is the way to do it in my opinion. There is always an old computer laying somewhere in your house.
I can tell you live somewhere with cheap electricity
laptops are pretty power efficient tho
Not 15 year old laptops. Like that's 32nm Sandy bridge or even older
i use many sandy bridge laptops (mostly xx20 thinkpads) and they seem pretty ok to me. newer machine is probably much more efficient but these machines are not that power hungry compared to desktops.
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If you're curious what I'm running on here, it's mostly containers plus one VM for Docker. (I've made my dislike for Docker as a distribution platform known elsewhere on here and this is why).
Most are various wikis that I'm testing, MediaWiki, Bookstack, DokuWiki, PmWiki, An Otter Wiki, DocMost.
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