Hi all,

I want to spin up a small home server. Nothing crazy, maybe 4 or 8GB ram at most. 1 Docker instance running a few privacy frontends (Invidious, Redlib, Xcancel, SearxNG, etc.) and split tunneling VPN connections for each one.

Obviously, a Raspberry Pi 4 or higher is the internet’s favorite choice, but I don’t need wireless connectivity, I just need a single HDMI and 2 USB ports to get everything set up, one ethernet port, and a dream in my heart.

Has anyone use alternatives like Le Potato or Orange Pi? I’m curious what their community support is like, and if there’s a FOSS-friendly standard.

Thanks!

  • Telodzrum@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    2 hours ago

    Used micro PC is often the best deal. Companies offload old SFF i5 and lower machines all the time. They’re all over eBay.

    • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      1 hour ago

      I used to be of the erroneous mind set that a server had to be some big honkin’, dim the lights, piece of equipment, but that’s not necessarily true now days with modern architecture. Doesn’t take a lot to get a lot back.

      • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        1·
        6 minutes ago

        I’m shocked with what I’ve been able to do with an old Dell SFF desktop.

        Upgraded to 48GB of ram it’s running ESXi hosting a couple Debian VMs, a DietPi VM, 3 Windows VMs, a massive data drive, idles under 20w and peaks at 80w when I’m doing video conversion.

        At this point I’m shopping for some old mini PCs to run the VMs as independent servers because their idle power is so low.

      • Telodzrum@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        36 minutes ago

        Dude same. Back in the day I was dead set on getting older blades and a couple Dell 710 in a rack and “that’s what a real homelab is.”

        Now, I still got the rack because I think they look cool, but it’s all decommissioned workstations, a white box unRaid server, and micro/mini PCs; there’s not a single traditional server box in place.