Submitted 3 months ago by werefreeatlast@lemmy.world to selfhosted@lemmy.world
I am currently serving a photoprism instance for my self and the wife. I want to expand to have everyone’s home folder on the server. So we would have 5 home folders, all lunuxes. Anyway so I’m looking at some old servers that actually look pretty good.
HPE Proliant DL360 Gen9
I’ve been comparing it with other servers and it seems to be the easiest to use for the semi intrepid admin wannabe that I am. Is there anything better in the sub $300 range?
Your options will depend on many things…
I don’t know how demanding photoprism is, but you could probably do fine with a refurbished i5/i7 Dell Optiplex or similar, with one or more SSDs added to it. If money is really tight and storage needs are high, you could go with mechanical drives instead.
Dell optiplex desktop or workstation would def be a gpod idea. Both are much quieter than servers - you can get the workstation if you want a xeon chip and ecc memory - otherwise the desktop will likely do what you need.
As someone who has owned enterprise servers for self-hosting, I agree with the previous comment that you should avoid owning one if you can. They might be cheap, but your longterm ownership costs are going to be higher. That’s because as the server breaks down, you’ll be competing with other people for a dwindling supply of compatible parts. Unlike consumer PCs, server hardware is incredibly vendor locked. Hell, my last Proliant would keep the fans ramped at 100% because I installed a HDD that the BIOS didn’t like. This was after I spent weeks tracking down a disk that would at least be recognized, and the only drives I could find were already heavily used.
My latest server is built with consumer parts fit into a 2U rack case, and I sleep so much easier knowing I can replace any of the parts myself with brand new alternatives.
Plus as others have said, a 1U can be really loud. I don’t care about the sound of my gaming computer, but that poweredge was so obnoxious that despite being in the basement, I had to smother it with blankets just so the fans didn’t annoy me when I was watching TV upstairs. I still have a 1U Dell Poweredge, but I specifically sought out the generation that still let you hack the fan speeds in IPMI. From all my research, no such hack exists for the Proliant line.
Remember, if your photoprism lasts more than 4 hours, consult a medical professional
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Unless you’re hardcore I’d highly suggest not getting an actual server, especially a 1U server like that. Servers are loud, use a lot of power, and especially in 1U form not that expandable. CPU and RAM upgrades are cheap, but say you want more drives, or to install some weird expansion card it might not have the space.
If photoprism is actually “AI” you’ll want a GPU to do the processing, and 1U servers limit you to oddly sized 1U GPUs. But considering they say it will run on a raspberry pi I’d assume any desktop with a core i7 would do the job. If you can find a desktop with 4 ram slots of DDR5 that would get you plenty of expandability. The DDR5 spec is rated for up to 512gb per stick, so assuming the memory controller (and bios) supports it you’d be PLENTY future proof. But even DDR4 with 32gb sticks should be plenty, and those machines are CHEAP.
A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I am WAY ootl on shopping for PCs and hardware, all the sites I used last time i did anything (god, around like 2008?) are quite defunct. Anywhere you’d recommend looking for a desktop like you’re talking about? I’d love to get my home on a selfhosted network.
thayer@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
Amazon typically has a few vendors that specialize in refurbished Optiplexes and/or HP Elites in small or ultra small form factor sizes.
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Facebook Marketplace is my go to here in the US. Pre built computers don’t hold their value for shit, so you can pick one up with a nice i5 or a medicore i7 office computer for almost nothing. Just look for Dell optiplexs or the HP/Lenovo equivalents. If you don’t need a lot of drive space (or are fine with external storage) those mini PCs litter marketplace and can go for stupid cheap.
I’d target 8th gen or newer, ideally 10th gen, but one that comes with an i7 might cost a bit more than $300. You can always go with an i3 for now, then if you need more power then the non k i7s tank in value after a few years of being out.
just_another_person@lemmy.world 3 months ago
A lot of manufacturers either have their own refurbished sites they sell from (warrantee and all), or some will liquidate on other places like eBay or Newegg.
If you’re looking to build, pcpartspicker is probably the most popular component configuration app these days.