So, I currently have a Netgear ReadyNAS 314 with 1 SSD, 3 HDDs, Intel Atom D2701 and 4GB RAM, running Debian 12, and since getting it I’ve been getting more into self hosting. What I have now is primarily too weak in the CPU and RAM department, but it could also use more HDDs. I’m aiming for 5-6 3.5 HDDs, 1 Nvme, 1 2.5" SSD.

What I’m currently running:

  • Samba and NFS server
  • OpenVPN
  • Jellyseerr/Jellyfin/*arr stack
  • Pangolin
  • Dawarich
  • Immich
  • rsnapshot
  • Homepage

And it’s rather sluggish right now, and is almost filling up its 4GB of swap.

What I’d also like to be able to run/have:

  • Nextcloud
  • Transcoding (including ability to decode AV1, but preferably also encode)
  • Anything else I may want to run (working on degoogling myself)
  • ECC RAM (to prevent bitrot, I’m already running btrfs raid1 to prevent bitrot from faulty disks)
  • 1x 2.5G ethernet

If possible I’d like to have some room for upgradeability. I’m aiming for a low power build, that should be rather compact, especially not very wide unless I can find a better place in my office for it.

I’m looking at a Jonsbo N1 chassis (17cm wide) , but I’m also following a Readynas 626 (19cm wide) in an online auction. Options:

Intel N100 board

Pros: cheap, low power, quicksync with av1 decode Cons: boards with 2.5G ethernet have to be ordered from Aliexpress and have no support and uses the JMB585 chip that prevents low power C states, limited pcie lanes, no AV1 encode, not very upgradeable (1 DIMM, soldered CPU) , no ECC, I worry it may be too slow

Intel 13100

Pros: AV1 enc/dec, quite fast, upgradeable Cons: No ECC, relatively expensive

AMD 8500G

Pros: AV1 enc/dec, ECC, relatively fast, upgradeable Cons: relatively expensive, not as low power as the 13100

Readynas 626

Pros: enterprise grade HW, less DIY, ECC, may be relatively cheap Cons: high power for its performance (roughly that of the N100), wider (19cm) than a Jonsbo N1 (17cm), not upgradeable (no CPU or mobo swap), expensive DDR4 2133 ECC UDIMM

I’d love to hear what you think about these options and whether you have other concerns that I haven’t thought about.