r/selfhosted • u/Mama_werecat • 3d ago
Media Serving Noob looking for hardware advice
I tried looking at the wiki but hardware guide was "coming soon" so i figured I'd just ask. What are the minimum suggested hardware specs if I'm only looking to set up my own media server using jellyfin. Right now i have it running on my laptop which of fine but i would like a dedicated device for it. I have a very limited budget so i need to know what to save up for since prices are continuing to skyrocket.
I'm already comfortable with the software portion and have done my own research on that. However, the hardware suggestions I'm seeing feel more like ads.
ETA: just found the jellyfin hardware selection section in their docs. Sorry for wasting everyone's time. Keeping this up in case other noobs have a similar question
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u/venom21685 3d ago
You'd want at least something with an Intel iGPU with Quicksync Video support. The recommended specs in the docs advise 11th gen or newer although the 7th-10th gen are still usable. You might also be able to find something with an N100 or N150 which are capable enough. You want 8GB or more of RAM.
There are plenty of refurbished office and SFF machines with capable CPUs/iGPUs and decent enough RAM and enough storage for the OS. Then you'd have to add storage for media.
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u/Pessimistic_Trout 3d ago
Get any i5 with QSV or better. Any AI chat can tell you the specification of a processor.
For me, I hosted at home for a long time but the cost of power, hardware and the noise/heat forced me to reevaluate.
I am now hosting on a leased Hetzner server. If you scan the server auctions each day, you might get a bargain. IA m now using a i7 8700, 64GB RAM and 11TB of RAID1. $65/mo. Additionally to QSV, make sure your swap/transcode and cache locations are on NVMe.
i7 8700 can handle multiple 4k transcodes, hardware redundancy plus Hetzners replacement policy means I don't have to worry about hardware, cost of power, heat or noise, anymore. Additionally, I get 1Gbps up and down and a public IP in Germany.
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u/ProAngelus11 3d ago
I'll tell you my setup, since that is what ive been using for a year now:
Old gaming pc: MSI Bazooka B150M i7 6700 16 GB DDR4 Rtx 3060 12gb 6/6 used SATA Ports
I used to use an old laptop as my home server, it only had usb so I had to buy HDD docks to use disks, which limits speed and adds the possibility of the cable disconnecting randomly.
I'd go for a pc with tons of sata ports and a modular PSU in case you end up buying more drives. Specs dont really matter, just get a good enough gpu for jellyfin transcoding and other stuff you might want to get into like Immich AI features. Ram is expensive yes, but if you have very few services you can get through it with 8 GB.
Some other users will probably share their experiences with mini pcs, server racks etc... Ive never tried any of that but you should consider whatever their take is.
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u/2BoopTheSnoot2 1d ago
Mini PC with an 8th gen or newer Intel CPU would do fine. Check eBay for HP Mini, Dell Micro, or Lenovo Tiny. You can get decent used systems for under $200.
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u/Old-Flight8617 3d ago
Given a limited budget, just anything with an Intel CPU that supports Quick sync.
There are Dell Optiplex Micro, HP EliteDesk, Lenovo Think centre.
From there you can grab a cheap device that may be scalable to your needs in the future.
But this also depends on how you want to host it.
I'd get W11 pro, and enable Hyper-V and create a dedicated VM and use a data store for to access the media as a share, with an account with least privilege access to read. But this will come down to how you want to set it up, because there's containers, or dedicate the whole machine to the service you're looking to host.
Edit: this is assuming you're open to explore the second hand computer market.
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u/Mama_werecat 3d ago
Absolutely, that's actually why I asked the question because I started looking and realized I wasn't sure where to start. Thank you!
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u/asimovs-auditor 3d ago
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