I am currently using an old laptop (circa 2015) with a 250GB SSD in it, and 4GB of RAM. It runs Fedora 39 Server, and only hosts a Jellyfin instance through Docker right now (though I want to use Nextcloud later too). There is only 15GB of storage left on it, and the CPU is constantly overloaded (due to forced transcoding). I happen to have a lot of 500GB 3.5" HDDs laying around, and I want to use them in RAID 5. What hardware would be good for having 4 HDDs, and running Jellyfin and Nextcloud in Docker? I’m okay with either having just a 4-bay NAS (as long as it can handle transcoding (MKV 480p -> MP4)), or having a 4-bay NAS and a server/computer/NUC. I only have a budget of CAD$900 (USD$658 as of writing), but I am willing to go to CAD$1000 if absolutely necessary.
What's a good NAS and server system under CAD$900 (USD$658)?
Submitted 5 months ago by tester1121@lemmy.world to selfhosted@lemmy.world
Comments
tyler@programming.dev 5 months ago
Pringles@lemm.ee 5 months ago
I use an HP microserver gen 8, which I bought second hand (300$) and upgraded with a better CPU (20$ from ebay) and extra ram (80$) and 4 2TB SSD’s (100$ per). I installed Windows server on it because I just wanted it to work in a way I’m familiar with, but a colleague of mine installed Synology OS on it. You can use the cd drive bay for the OS disk (with some tweaking). Since you already have the disks, this would fit your budget.
B0rax@feddit.de 5 months ago
I have the gen 10 plus (with an upgraded cpu). I am very happy with that.
friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 5 months ago
My go to for home servers for like 20 years has been used dell optiplexes. They are quite reliable, easy to find, pretty cheap, come in a few different standard physical sizes, and last a long time. The one thing they could do better at is energy efficiency. I spent a total of US $450 on the last two that I bought.
someonesmall@lemmy.ml 5 months ago
Get a mainboard and CPU supporting ECC ram. Combine it with ZFS as the file system. With this setup you are safe from bitrot.
qaz@lemmy.world 5 months ago
You could get one of those cheap N100 boards and a couple refurbished enterprise HDD’s. Board costs about 150, case & PSU another 150, which leaves you with enough to buy 2 10ish TB drives, a boot drive and some additional RAM
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 months ago
Currently ugreen has released some nas systems that seem powerful but have yet to be shipped (reviews are out though).
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
Truenas core/scale, custom built (easy) but the disks will be the main costs… I think ik 2015 mine cost me 450$. Disks were 1200 :/
Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 5 months ago
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters NAS Network-Attached Storage RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks for mass storage SSD Solid State Drive mass storage
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unwillingsomnambulist@midwest.social 5 months ago
After seeing some of Craft Computing’s videos on YT I’m considering getting my hands on one of those cheap Erying mainboards off Aliexpress with a laptop CPU on it. Seen those as low as 140 bucks with a 13th-gen i5, just add a cooler and desktop DDR4.
entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org 5 months ago
I’d recommend a DAS setup (just a 4-bay USB 3.0 or better hard drive enclosure) with a server with any modern Intel CPU in it.
WbrJr@lemmy.ml 5 months ago
What would you use to RAID the drives? Die you try zfs for a USB das?
entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org 5 months ago
They’re still mounted individually, so you do RAID5 or ZRAID on them, same as if they were internal. You can potentially be bandwidth-limited since USB 3.0 has a 5 Gbps speed limit, but realistically only for reads and you’re still fine in terms of overall performance since they’re all spinning disks anyhow and 5Gbps is fast enough for any media server/NAS unless you’ve got a 10-gig LAN/internet connection and feel the compulsive need to saturate it.
acockworkorange@mander.xyz 5 months ago
500GB HDDs? If you don’t need hot swap, with your budget, buy new ones. Transcoding is solved by using any modern-ish Intel CPU. I built one for $230 using a used office desktop and three 4TB HDDs plus a small used NVMe for TrueNAS.
Look at the 3 minute mark for transcoding accelerated CPUs: youtu.be/WCDmHljsinY
merthyr1831@lemmy.world 5 months ago
If you don’t mind plugging stuff in yourself, literally any quadcore x86 CPU with integrated graphics after 2016 will run jellyfin just fine. Then you can load up on SSDs as you see fit.
Any prebiilt NAS you can find with anything within the last 8 years in the CPU will also be just fine.
idk what resolution you use for streaming but my raspberry pi 4B runs plex at 1080p just fine as long as it isnt using x265/AV1 (but on jellyfin you might be able to use the Pi’s GPU for transcoding).
I use nextcloud too but it’s a tiny bit slower than I’d like, but that’s likely a wifi issue i think.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 5 months ago
Get a old used desktop from eBay. Use either Intel QuickSync (Intel integrated) or a dedicated GPU.
Additionally, use a LTS and keep good backups. Fedora Server shouldn’t be used for anything actively depended apon. You could move to Rocky Linux, Debian or something else.
helenslunch@feddit.nl 5 months ago
My recommendation would be building a Jonsbo NAS. They’re relatively affordable. You probably also want a mobile CPU for better efficiency. I don’t recommend ARM as it will greatly limit the variety of software you can run on it. Erying and CWWK/Topton make ITX mobos with mobile CPUs. These are Chinese brands but I don’t really see anyone else making them.
The cheapest and easiest thing to do would be to just use an old standard desktop computer case that can hold a few HDDs.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 5 months ago
Additionally ARM is mostly a miss when it comes to transcoding.
realbadat@programming.dev 5 months ago
For lots of services that require little CPU and ram, I use tiny/mini/micro PCs, bought used. I get them for anywhere from $100-$400, and usually all I do is drop in an SSD. That includes Linux VMs when I’m testing distros or deployment on a distro, since 32gb ram on the host is more than enough to leave 4-8gb ram to the VM.
For some heavier applications, I also have a 4RU case stacked with drives, which I use as a third NAS (VM with drives passed through), large DBs, etc. Its just a 1700x with 64GB ram, and that’s plenty.
For most things (DNS, a few web servers, git, grafana, Prometheus, rev proxies, Jenkins, personal fdroid repo, homepage, etc) I just use the tiny/mini/micro’s. Imo, you can’t go wrong with those.
franglais@lemm.ee 5 months ago
I’ve been looking at getting a odroid h4 ultra as my next toy. It would suit you I think.
foggy@lemmy.world 5 months ago
If price is the deciding factor then just build one.
Get an old i7 for dirt cheap, cram the thing with ram and storage to suit your budget.
Run something lightweight like Ubuntu Server.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 5 months ago
Keep in mind this could drive up your energy bill.
foggy@lemmy.world 5 months ago
It totally doesn’t
I’m running a 14th gen i9 and a 4080. It’s a power hungry boy. 1500w power supply. Generally using about 600-800w.
Running this costs me <$10/month in electricity.
The old compaq presario with a Pentium II that probably pulled down 100w running Ubuntu server as described here made no statistically significant change in my electric bill. That is to say, it’s about as much change as being good or bad at turning off your lights. It’s negligible.
psy32nd@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Or maybe a Xeon from Alibaba