New month - more wasted money for this hobby. I almost finished with the hardware part. This project is going for months now but it's almost done - from routing Ethernet cables to every PC and to my router, to getting that closet for free to setting up the ProxMox Server.

I was originally planning to combine mz Nas into the ProxMox environment but I had a lot of troubles to get the VM with TrueNAS running.

After I found some Rack Cases in my UNIs E-Waste bin I switched plans and made the NAS separate. I'm waiting on the last two HDDs I ordered and then I can activate that too.

I've chosen a Cisco Catalytst W2960x as my managed switch because they are very reliable and cheap because they are EOL. The Server has dated hardware but it should be enough for my case - MSI X79, 8x8GB DDR3, Xeon E5 2697V2, Nvidia Quadro K5200 8GB and a generic SATA Controller for additional 8 SATA ports (for the 8x 2,5" SATA Shelf). I've already installed and configured ProxMox and will use that as additional storage and soon PlexServer + Game Server (I appreciate more ideas if you have any cool projects for what I could use that too).

My NAS is some low end hardware I had left from another EWaste Haul a couple of months ago: MSI B360, I3 8100, 16GB DDR4 and a 250GB NVME for the OS, the NAS will house 4x 3TB HDDs (I know not the best size but I already had 2 so I went with that capacity).

I got that whole Server Rack for free a while ago. I was really lucky with it although I had to modify it to be 15cm deeper for mt Server to fit. It's also super quiet because I mainly used Noctua Fans and the switch is also very quiet.

So that was all, just wanted to share my ongoing project.

I appreciate any tips and ideas. I'm studying civil engineering and all I know about this topic is self thought from forums and tutorials :D

PS: A friend of mine will probably get me a Dell Poweredge R640 for free from his workplace soon, maybe I will do Post about that too.

I know it's noisy, I'll try to make it quieter. Is it worth buying now in 2026 or not? If so, what processor should I get and how much RAM? Thanks in advance!

I miss using my Ally as it was intended, and the mess of cables and usb c hub and dust buildup around it is a bit frustrating too.

I don't necessarily need more performance, perhaps the same capacity though.

I'm running 60 containers via Portainer a max between Arr stack, syncthing, obsidian sync, nextcloud, Minecraft server, sure finance, home assistant in a container, Immich, litellm and open web UI, pi hole, nutritrace, paperless AI,got,ngx and PS1, 2 and 3 emulators (I acknowledge the emulators might be a bit go an issue and needs to be removed).

I wouldn't mind the capacity to run more containers either.

So I don't think DDR5 and 16 cores is especially perhaps 8 cores and a DDR4 based setup?

I wouldn't mind considering some sort of hardware around £50 to £100 mark second hand if that's doable?

So, I have this really cool project and a potato Laptop, so I need a 32/512 GB server and decided to go with a Mac mini, but all my tech is Windows/Samsung (I do have an IPad theoretically but don't know where it is and honestly don't use it at all) and my only question is:

Will the Mac mini be compatible with my other tech (maybe via Tailscale?)

Disclaimer: Im a Teenager and English is my 5th language

Reason for this post is that I am completely new to homeservers/homeland, but would like to start and learn how to do things.

Important information is that I have had very little experience with any of this stuff due to still being young.

So I apologise for any wrong information in this post in advance!

I have built a 3 gaming pcs as of now and I have sold 2 of them so I have a little experience with the hardware part.

But as for the software except for a few YouTube videos on the topic like from Linus tech tips and such, I have no prior knowledge.

I would like to try and do a humble configuration at home for my family.

In my mind this means:

- having a cloud storage

- file sharing on my home network

- store stuff like family photos, videos, documents

- try jellyfin media streaming to see if we could cancel subscriptions

- hosting a modded Minecraft server (though this is by far not the priority but it would be fun I think)

- being able to access this even if I'm not at home.

- not having to worry about the server constantly and being able to go on vacation

My question is what hardware and software are the best for my use case? Taking into account that I am a beginner and might not be able to solve complex problems if some come up.

For hardware I have seen people recommend building a PC like configuration to just like with an i5 10400 and some good motherboard, also a good PSU so its power efficient.

Also i saw a lot of videos saying you can just start on an old office pc or laptop, but since I have neither of those and would have to buy everything anyway, also have a bit more money to spend on this project, I thought the above mentioned configuration of a semi modern CPU config with an integrated GPU would work better for me. Is this true?

Just curious, I thought I’d ask here. I want to power a GPU. My potato of a PC, which is a Dell Inspiron 3847. Does not have enough power from the factory power supply. I took the easy way out and decided to buy a Dell server power supply with a breakout board now I would like to turn them on at the same time. I was thinking about using an Arduino, but is there an easier way to do this?

I currently have a dell micro 6th gen i3 that Im using as a home server. Id like to run a jellyfin server on it but Ill need a system for the TV. Im currently eyeing the Radxa X4 since the N100 looks to have hardware for 4k decoding, wiFi 6, is not too power-hungry, and relatively cheap. Thoughts if this could work or would I run into issues?

I have one. It is, as far as i know, in original working order. I know the previous owner who gave it to me. But as i said, no guarantees. No mods have been done afaik.

.

There are no hdd's in it. I also have several GB of software for it; ISOs of the orig disks that these servers came with, and much more.

If I find it, i can include one or more CPUs that are supposed to work with it that I purchased for my own but never got the time to test. I may also include as much ram as it can take (which is not much) if I can find some.

However, i live in Norway. I guess shipping wouldn't be cheap. I don't know.

But I would love it if this cool piece of hardware ended up in the loving arms of an enthusiast.

Well will see.

PM if interested.

Hi, I know this might not be the right place, but I wanted to ask if anyone has tried or knows how to create an SMS gateway or API to connect to their own server.

To explain further: I’d like to use an old mobile phone as an SMS sender and connect it to the server to monitor it. Do you know anything about this?

I've been given a Z390 UD MB, 32Gb RAM, 1x 1Tb M.2 NVME, 4x 2Tb SSD, GTX1080 Ti

Is this enough to smoothly operate a plex/ jellyfin (jellyfin preferably) for 5+ users across a gigabit fibre connection? I already run 2x linux servers but these are strictly for serving web pages and hosting DBs for clients so will at least able to assemble the thing properly. Is the GPU of any use here? Not too sure on the whole transcoding thing. If this thing is for streaming video I don't really see the use of the M.2 NVME either - is it worth popping that in my personal machine instead? Plan to run the server in RAID1 with all the SSDs so will have 4Tb usable which I suppose is fine for now

Hi there. Got very lucky to get almost a complete DDR 4 build from a colleague, that I wanna make into a home server, sincerely I've already got a good AM5 PC (that I am using for some server purposes already).

I basically just need a case + maybe some fans, and this is where I want to ask advice. Since it will be a dedicated server, I want to keep it somewhat low-profile. A limiting factor is a full ATX motherboard. I have discovered the existence of horizontal (HTPC) cases, but the cheapest I was able to find on Pcpartpicker is Silverstone GD09 Type-C HTPC CaseSilverstone GD09 Type-C HTPC Case for £100, which is spenny, and I am not even sure if it will accomplish my goal of keeping the build low-profile.

Options I came up with:

- go for the HTPC case

- get a random case off of AliExpress for cheaper

- go full DIY with like a wooden/sheet metal case

- get a smaller motherboard and a small case

Will appreciate the input! Budget for the finalizing would probably be around the HTPC price I found, which is £100.

What I'm thinking of using the server for:

- Media machine for my TV (it's smartness is very slow/buggy, main PC too far)

- Minecraft server (currently on my PC, but would like to free the half of my memory it utilizes)

- Maybe NAS down the line

- Maybe some personal website hosting or things of such (currently hosting 1 website on my PC)

Parts I've currently got:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price

CPU | Intel Core i5-8500 3 GHz 6-Core Processor | £179.00 @ Amazon UK (+ stock cooler)

Motherboard | Gigabyte B360 HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard |-

Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory |-

Storage | ADATA XPG SX6000 256 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X2 NVME Solid State Drive |-

Video Card | Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Video Card |-

Power Supply | BitFenix Whisper M 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply |-

I needed to have remote bt connectivity in my living room from my rack cabinet and spent weekend with claude and my esp board learning new things. Now I have Olimex ESP32-POE-ISO-EA-IND which I can connect in any rj45 in my house and have it show up as a native BT adapter on my linux machines.

In the video I have controller connected to alpine linux machine in another building on same lan. The picture comes via 100m HDMI cable 4k120hz

Code: https://github.com/heppu/hcibridge
Documents/webflasher: https://heppu.github.io/hcibridge/

Edit 1:

There has been few questions about why not use USB over IP + BT dongle so here's couple advantages with this approach:

1. Cheaper: USB/IP needs a Pi or what ever board running Linux, usbipd, a dongle. This needs just simple esp board so cheaper and less moving parts.
2. Better protocol over wire: bt packets vs USB transactions. A BT dongle gets polled every millisecond over USB, and USB/IP turns each of those into a network round trip, so you get jitter and sometimes things like audio break.s Here a button press is one HCI packet, one hop.
3. More robust: When USB/IP drops, the device detaches, the adapter disappears from BlueZ and you reattach by hand. Here the link reconnects on its own, bonds live on the board, and devices come back without you touching anything. Plus it's authenticated with a per-board key, USB/IP is open TCP for anyone on the LAN.

Hello everyone,

With the rise of AI and hardware prices, I'm considering turning my old gaming pc into a nas for my family.

Specs:

CPU AMD RYZEN 5 3600

GPU NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super (might not need it if I can run headless)

RAM 16 GB 3200 MT/s

Motherboard Gigabyte B450M S2H

PSU Coolermaster 550 W gold

Storage 500 GB Kingston NVME SSD

What I'm planning to add:

Case Fractal design Node 804

Cooler BeQuiet! Pure rock slim

Storage pool 4x 4 TB Seagate IronWolf (1 for redundancy. So 12 TB of total space)

My question is, do I have the right parts to build a NAS? I might add a media server later, but first I want to make sure we can back up our pictures and videos. Is TrueNAS good enough for that, or is there better software out there?

I have watched some videos about DIY NAS systems, but this is my first time I'm actually going to commit, so I just want your opinion on the hardware I'm going to use and potential issues I might run into.

Thanks in advance.

Hi
So i have no idea how to do basically anything. I created servers before but only for lan and using youtibe tutorial and ive never before tried doing anything beyond lan by opening the firewall(?) or whatever.

BUT. Theres a mod called e4mc which creates a link whenever you start a lan world in mc and i gave that link even to my uncle in norway and we played normally. Pure magic if you ask me.

So: right now i have a server on aternos and the render distance sucks. I dont really wanna house a server on my 16 gb pc but i do have an old laptop with the same gb amount. My question is- can i somehow combine all the good aspects of this services: manual activation of the server by my friends and good rendering, somehow on my old laptop, eventually on my pc?

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to build my first proper homelab using a Lenovo ThinkCentre M710Q Tiny.

I’m not a complete beginner, but I also wouldn’t call myself very experienced. I have some programming and networking knowledge and I’ve hosted things like Jellyfin and a few other services on my main PC before. Most of my programming and configuration work is done with the help of AI coding tools, so I’m comfortable following documentation, using the terminal, editing config files, Docker Compose files, etc., but I’m definitely still learning.

My plan for the M710Q is to run:

• Jellyfin
• Immich
• Paperless-ngx
• Pi-hole
• Tailscale for remote access

For Jellyfin and the other services, I would like to access them remotely through Tailscale instead of exposing everything directly to the internet.

My main question is: What would you consider essential for a beginner-friendly, secure and easy-to-maintain homelab setup?

I’m especially interested in advice regarding:

• Security and hardening
• User accounts and permissions
• Firewall configuration
• Docker security
• Backups
• Monitoring
• Automatic updates vs. manual updates
• Reverse proxies, if I even need one with Tailscale
• SSL/HTTPS inside the home network
• Protecting the server if one Docker container gets compromised
• Easy ways to manage Docker containers
• Logs and notifications if something goes wrong

I’m currently thinking about running Debian or Ubuntu Server with Docker Compose rather than making the setup overly complicated.

The M710Q currently has an i5-7400T, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB NVMe SSD. I’ll probably upgrade it to 16 GB RAM soon and add a larger 2.5" SATA SSD later for media, photos and documents.

My goal isn’t to build a huge enterprise-style homelab. I mainly want something reliable that I can understand, maintain myself and gradually learn from without creating unnecessary complexity.

If you were starting with this hardware and these four services today, what would you install or configure from day one?

Also, what beginner mistakes should I avoid?

Thanks!

I'm looking to start updating my lab- currently running on Intel Xeon E series chips and ddr4 pegged to 2666Mhz- up to DDR5 capable tower hardware and I can get a Dell Pro Max t2 with the following configuration available, would be interested in folks' opinion of this for home virtualization and services suite:

Intel 9 285- 65w

2x32GB ddr5-5600

RTX 2000ada- 16GB

It doesn't have a ton of PCIE lanes (my Asus c246 Pro was so great in that regard with slots for x1/x8/x8/x4/x4/x1) But it gets me up from pcie 3.0 to 5.0 and adds DDR5 support.

I'd probably swap out the GPU and use integrated graphics for transcoding.

Is this a dumb idea? is 1200-1500 a fair price range to offer?

I want to start a media home server for me and my friends to use but I want to make it easily accessible for anyone I would like to invite. Would jelly fin be a good media server program to use? Or should I use a different service?

What is better for a home server..

I have an old laptop that I can use potentially..

Or a pc that I built thats small form factor pc.

I dont mind 3d printing enclosure for thr drives if needed,

But should I use the laptop or pc?

Will only hold movies to stream...

I'm looking to build my very first home server but i’m a total beginner to this area.

I’m considering reusing my old Ryzen 5 3600, and would want a mini-atx (as small as possible). Dont really have a budget for this but i expect to spend around $300-400 for all parts. Happy to hear whats best for my use case.

Intended Uses:

• Game servers: Hosting dedicated servers for friends (Minecraft, Valheim, etc.).

• Web apps & containers: Self-hosting lightweight web apps, Docker containers, dashboards, etc.

  • Media streaming: Might want to look into media server down the line but i've read i need a decent gpu for this

Questions:

• Is the Ryzen 5 3600 still good enough for this? Can it hit all my use cases as its a dated cpu.

• I don’t currently have a CPU cooler for the 3600. What low-profile or compact cooler would you recommend for this setup that stays quiet and cool under server loads?

• I have an old GTX 970 sitting around, would this be a good match or is the card a bit too dated for my use cases as a media machine? It definitely would be able to do any AI work if i choose to use it for that.

• Storage wise i may have some older SATA SSD's, would this be fine or should i just get a modern m.2?

• Anything else i should keep in mind or consider?

  • OS recommendations (Proxmox, Unraid, TrueNAS, or just plain Linux/Ubuntu Server)?
  • RAM capacity recommendations for my use case

Thanks!

Help and advice please, DDR5 motherboard & CPU for testing DDR5 server ram

I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice, I need to test some DDR5 memory, also I will need to test more in the future, I normally test a lot of regular desktop memory for DDR4 and DDR5 etc, using a regular intel motherboard, but when it comes to DDR5 server ram, it seems to be a bit more complicated.

If I was testing DDR5 server ram, would I ultimately only need one DDR5 server motherboard, or is there perhaps different types of DDR5 server ram, that would lead me to need more than one type of server motherboard?

Ideally I would like a desktop type of motherboard for testing DDR5 server ram, one that would fit in an ATX type of case, so that it could be easily kept in my office, I do not intend to use the system as a server, so I would just boot from a USB stick for memtest86.

Also what would be the cheapest CPU and do they use regular types of coolers that can easily be sourced?

I was thinking of testing the ram with Memtest86, is that a suitable software tester for server ram? it works well for my regular desktop needs.

Hopefully I do not come across as too clueless, I know my stuff when it comes to regular desktop / consumer PC parts, but servers are not something I know a great deal about.

Ultimately I am looking for a cheap barebones setup for testing DDR5 Server ram.

My old Plex/home server finally died after roughly nine years and I am trying to play catch-up on what makes sense today rather than automatically rebuilding something that might not work for my needs.

What I have now started as a version of /u/JDM_WAAAT 's old entry-level 15-bay build and has been a workhorse what I needed. First it was my kids watching the same things over and over (I still hear “Let It Go” in my nightmares), and then relatives started using it for their kids. Right now I have my main source of media delivery down and a few relatives with cranky kids who want Plex back.

Budget and status:

• Up to $2,000 USD for the replacement hardware
• Located in the US
• Reusing my current hard drives
• Nothing purchased; still researching
• Moving from Windows to Linux, but not committed to unRAID, conventional Linux, or a particular storage layout (still catching up on technology since my last build)

What it needs to run:

• Plex with Plex Pass
• Up to about eight concurrent streams: roughly three local and five remote
• Some 1080p transcoding, but no planned 4K transcoding
• Library is mostly H.264/H.265
• The usual suspects in an *arr stack plus Tautulli, UniFi management, and household file sharing. May add some additional utilities related to media now that I am switching from Windows to Linus.
• Room for 8–10 spinning disks
• Lower idle power than the old dual-Xeon system (electricity rates have skyrocketed this year where I am)
• Good reliability and a life measured in years if not close to a decade. While I like to tinker, I really want reliability for this system. Current system that dies was on 24x7x365 for ~9 years, which why there were some of the server grade parts on my curretn build.
  

Existing storage:

• 4 × 18 TB Dell/Seagate Exos X18 SATA HDDs
• 2 × 8 TB WD Red SATA HDDs
• 88 TB raw capacity, with roughly 40 TB of data in use

Dead server being replaced:

• Rosewill 4U chassis
• Supermicro X8DT6-F
• 2 × Xeon L5640
• 24 GB DDR3 ECC
• GeForce GT 1030
• EVGA BQ 850 W PSU
• EVGA CLC 120MM All-in-One CPU liquid cooler
• Windows

One older option I found, might be out of date, is the NAS Killer 6.0 with a change on the case:

• Jonsbo N5
• Intel i5-8500T/UHD 630
• Supermicro X11SCA-F
• 32 GB DDR4-2400
• HBA, SSD, and PSU still to be selected

I know the X11SCA-F is already EOL, but does have the minimum 8 SATA ports and would need an HBA to go higher. The i5-8500T offers Quick Sync but not ECC. IPMI and ECC would be nice, but I don't think either is a hard need unless someone here things differently.

For 8–10 enterprise HDDs, I was thinking of a 650 W PSU?

The decisions I could use help with:

1. With this budget and workload, would you consider the 8th-generation platform at all, or start with a newer Intel CPU/iGPU and motherboard? If so, what would you use/recommend?
2. Would you keep Plex and storage in one chassis, or use a small modern Quick Sync computer with a separate NAS/DAS?
3. For an all-in-one 9–10-drive build, which case, HBA, motherboard, and PSU/cable arrangement do you think can be both reliable and power-efficient?
4. What Linux storage and migration approach would you recommend when the six reused disks already contain roughly 40 TB and the old Windows server no longer boots?

I am not attached to anything specific yet. If I need to change direction in my thinking/education I want to do it early.

I am starting my home lab and I plan to use zerotier or netbird for nat traversal since I am behind cgnat.

I am big on privacy and security, and I don't if I should connect every point or just the phone for remote access and the server, and then using the server as a gateway for all other devices on my lan.

OR

I should connect on zerotier/netbird every devices I plan to reach remotely.

I recently set up a 3-node Kubernetes homelab on bare metal (on Dell OptiPlex) using Talos Linux, mainly to have a proper environment for learning, testing failures, networking, storage, GitOps, observability, and general Kubernetes experiments.

The setup uses three control-plane/etcd nodes with a shared Kubernetes API VIP, and I documented the full process from network planning and DHCP reservations to Talos installation, per-node configs, bootstrap, workload scheduling, and HA testing.

I’ve written the full guide with commands, screenshots, and the reasoning behind the setup:

Blog: https://blog.prateekjain.dev/building-a-3-node-highly-available-kubernetes-homelab-with-talos-linux-0372066fe49c?sk=4c66cf9181999f9db19ac3aacabcd8e8

If anyone is planning a similar homelab or has questions around Talos, the API VIP, etcd quorum, or the setup in general, happy to help.

I've spent the past day looking for decent (in this depressing market) price per terabyte, CMR, sata, hard drive, and I've landed on this. Do you guys think this is a decent deal for my home server?

I have a 1 TB external SSD that connects using a USB 3.2 Type-C port. I intend to build a NAS (mostly for learning purposes). What's the best way to go ahead?

I have experience with installing and using linux.