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.

  • chellomere@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Yeah, old Xeons tend to not be very low power, also I don’t think I’ll be able to find one with a mini ITX board to fit it in a compact case. Also, I’d probably need to add a discrete GPU, which adds to the cost and power consumption.

    I want a low power build to limit heat and noise produced in my office room, to limit the electricity bill and as I understood it the case I’m considering also doesn’t have the best thermals, so I don’t want to put a CPU with too high a TDP into it.

    The ReadyNAS 626 actually has a Xeon D-1521, but with a quite low TDP - 45W.

    Regarding budget, I’m aiming for 400-800$. The N100 option, including case and PSU (but not disks) is at the lower end of this, while the 8500G and 13100 options are at the upper end.

    • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I got a sff P330 Xeon with integrated graphics for ~$500 two years ago that includes case power supply etc. Far faster than an n100 and even lower power than if you added a GPU to an n100.

      I just plugged in a kilowatt to check:

      My Lenovo sff workstation running Plex idles at 15 watts- which is 90% of the time. Streaming 4k 52Mbs hevc (This Flash Gordon is my torture test that caused me to upgrade 2 years ago) it’s 18 watts! I was so surprised that I went back and unplugged the Ethernet thinking I put the killawatt on the wrong server.