Simplify home hardware for selfhosting

Submitted ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨lIlIllIlIIIllIlIlII@lemmy.zip⁩ to ⁨selfhosted@lemmy.world⁩

Right now I have a NAS running 24/7 for some self hosted apps (p2p, *arr…) and as primary storage for my multimedia files.

This NAS has some limitations because it has a low spec hardware and the OS is “propietary”, so sometimes I have issues with docker or I miss some random feature that “standard” Linux distros have.

I work in IT and deal with the technology at home sometimes feels like a second job. I’m thinking that maybe I could simplify my home hardware avoiding NAS servers and use only a desktop running 24/7. This could give me a lot of flexibility (a standard OS, VMs, standard docker, better hardware, faster file operations because no LAN involved…) and less hardware to deal with.

Does anybody went this way? Any recommendations in favor or against it?

Sorry for my english.

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Comments

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daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
I have just set up a normal computer with the specs I wanted, installed debian and docker/podman and I’m golden.

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originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
im a firm believer in task appropriate stuff.. 24/7 server apps should be on a dedicated server box.. network storage should only perform storage tasks. i wouldnt use a primary workstation also as server cuz i want to do crazy shit on my workstation. i wouldnt ever want to interfere with my 'production' stuff on the server.

ive been quite happy running a headless server and various nas boxes for storage redundancy.. my home related i.t. tasks are very minimal now that everything is solidly automated.

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- bobs_monkey@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Absolutely agree. My DD distro accidentally gets borked sometimes as fiddling can go too far, and it’s become essential that it doesn’t interfere with services my wife uses (file storage, movies/tv, etc). Plus, if everything was going down every so often, she’d probably start looking at me twice for the money I’ve invested in my server rack.
  
  I have one box running TrueNas Core as a straight file server only, and another box running Proxmox for applications plus VMs for projects, as well as network gear and a surveillance NVR. Thankfully, she never sees the power bill. But, this way everything keeps humming and I don’t get an earful.
  
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arjuna@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Lenovo Thnkcentre Tiny or other tiny form factor PC for this, you can buy used/refurb on eBay or Amazon or wherever. quiet, low power, stackable, take up very little room, very cheap. mine are running with minimal Debian and Docker, mostly under 5% utilization.

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paequ2@lemmy.today ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I bought a NAS appliance once. I didn’t like it for basically the same reasons you listed. Since then I’ve moved to a regular Linux machine and it’s been great.

It’s probably worth it to get a whole other computer and run that 24/7. That way you can mess up your personal desktop and not mess up any of your hosted apps.

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Alph4d0g@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
There’s some power sipping mini ITX boards that are intended for servers. They are Intel N150 based and let you add a ton of ram. I have one in a Jonsbo NAS case with 6 drives in a ZFS pool. If you’re inclined to build your own, you have lots of options.

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Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

my main desktop running 24/7

a standard OS

Congrats to running Linux on your desktop

better hardware

That’s what usually kept me from doing it, because it sucks up too much power while idling around most of the day.

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salacious_coaster@infosec.pub ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Why not use the NAS as a NAS and pick up a cheap SFF or mini workstation for the compute tasks? Only reason I would ever consider running your endpoint as a server 24/7 is cost/availability of just adding a dedicated box.

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FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Yep I changed my whole setup recently - had a Synology DS920+ running with docker containers for everything. I had started moving stuff off to a NUC because the NAS was starting to struggle.

What I ended up doing was buying a Mac Mini M4 and a DAS, and just running everything on the Mac with it running 24/7, and the DAS just acts like a giant HDD (and it’s running in RAID). Performance of everything is out of this world better, while power draw is significantly less. The Mac Mini M4 is unbeatable as a home server imo.

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- themadcodger@kbin.earth ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  This is what I've been trying to figure out, so I'm glad you did it. I have a Synology too and I've outgrown it, but building my own server scratch is daunting so I just wanted to hook a DAS up to a mini PC and call it good. But there were a lot of people online saying it was a bad idea.
  
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  - FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    There are lots of people online who think they are smarter than they are haha
    
    Doing it this way is super simple and comes with many benefits and pretty much zero drawbacks. Another huge benefit is you can then sign up to backblaze personal computer backup plans which give you unlimited data backups for like $10 a month. I currently have my entire media library along with my entire Mac Mini hard drive (over 40TB in total) backed up in backblaze. To do that with a NAS would cost me thousands of dollars a year.
    
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- salacious_coaster@infosec.pub ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  The Mac Mini M4 is unbeatable as a home server imo.
  
  How do you figure that?
  
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  - FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    It’s insanely powerful yet sips power like a raspberry pi.
    
    It has a full OS that is mainstream so it’s easy to find any help you need.
    
    It’s the best bang for your buck machine on the market.
    
    It can run everything you want a home server to run.
    
    Do you disagree? Why?
    
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BombOmOm@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Yeah, that is my standard way of doing things. Old desktop becomes the server, and it’s specs blow everything I want it to do out of the water, so things like file storage (and the CPU required to encrypt-on-disk), etc have no chance of ever presenting an issue. Though, I do have a pair of Pis with POE hats on them, because I really like POE.

Then I set it up for auto-updates and proceed to ignore it. Love very simple home networking setups that still accomplish every goal.

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victorz@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’m in the same boat going the opposite way. I want to move my server stuff to separate hardware from my main PC.

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Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
An rpi might work for your computer issues.

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