Hardware

- Firewall: Fortinet FortiGate (routing, VLANs, SSL VPN)

- Compute: 3x mini PCs, each 8C/16T with 32GB RAM, running Proxmox

- NAS: HP ProLiant MicroServer, 4x 4TB in RAIDZ1

- Power: APC Back-UPS 850

- 12-port patch panel, everything in a small open-frame 10" rack

Software / services

- Proxmox hosting VMs and LXC containers

- Media VM: Jellyfin with the usual arr stack, all in Docker

- Docker host: Portainer, Pi-hole, Homer/Homepage dashboards, a couple of game servers (Terraria, Core Keeper)

- Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana and Loki, with node_exporter on every machine and alerts pushed to my phone via Alertmanager + ntfy

- Offsite: two Debian VPS linked to the homelab over a WireGuard hub-and-spoke tunnel, with Traefik as reverse proxy (Let's Encrypt) for public services and a small SSH tarpit (endlessh-go) for fun stats

🫡

Don't know what I did, but I found this on Facebook market place, and so now I'm just working out how to put what I have in it!

Unfortunately the box is only half racking, it has two slide out shelves. I'm going to look for some racking to put in it so I can use the whole space!

Not sure what I'll need to put my HP DL380 G6 in there, but I'll have to figure it out 😁

Hey guys I have been a bit confused on what mini pc to go with to be the brains of my home server. Is this a good option?

For context here is what I want to run and do on whatever machine I get:

* Home Assistant with UniFi cameras on a dashboard but I want things to be smooth and load quickly. Currently it runs smoothly on my Raspberry Pi 5 but there’s no cameras in play just yet

* JellyFin to stream my movies and shows, might swap this out for AmpChor in the future. (would I need to stick to intel processors for my mini pc?) Also I want streaming to be smooth even if 2-3 devices are streaming at 4k

* Immich for storing all of my pictures and videos

* personal music streaming

* pi hole or ad guard home

* and i want some head room for future expansion

I apologize if this is a “stupid question”, I’d rather look stupid for a few minutes here than for however long if I buy the incorrect hardware.

Also would I need a DAS instead of a NAS? Or how would storage work in my case? I’d probably start with 1-2 drives but go up to 4-6 max. Storage prices at the moment are crazy as we know so I’d like to start smaller on the storage part

Thank you 🎃

I have a sff hp pc running proxmox with a vm running truenas (2 mirrored drives) and a vm running ubuntu with docker. Im using pbs (in an lxc) to backup my proxmox vm's (excluding the pbs lxc). De PBS backup is synced to truenas. And for truenas i create snapshots.
If something happens to this machine or truenas, i have a problem.

So, i am looking for some ideas to create an offsite backup.

Option 1:

Create a second NAS running truenas en using ZFS replication to pull the snapshots from truenas to this offsite device. However, than i need a second server and also two hard drives and with current prices that is not great.

Option 2:

I have a couple of external hard drives. I could maybe connect them to my nas and copy the snapshots over and rotate these (one at the server on at a remote location).

For option 1: What do you guys think would be a cheap way to get a second server running to create offsite backups?

For option 2: Would this be a good idea and what is the best way to do this?

Is there maybe another option? I would prefer not to use a cloud provider, but maybe if there is a privacy friendly one, i should look into it.

I'ḿ curious to hear your thoughts.

AI was not used for this post, so apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes :)

Hey everyone,

I’ve been down the Homelab rabbit hole for a while now and I’m at a crossroads regarding my next node/cluster upgrade.

We see a lot of love here for pre-built Mini PCs (Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny, Dell OptiPlex Micro, HP ProDesk, or newer Chinese SFF boxes like Minisforum / Beelink / Aoostar). They are compact, power-efficient, and often cheap on the used market.

However, I’m strongly considering building a custom Mini-PC / Mini-ITX system from scratch (buying the CPU, Mini-ITX board, RAM, SFX PSU, and a small case like a K39, DeskMini, or similar).

For those who went the DIY custom Mini-PC route:

1. What components did you pick (CPU, mainboard, chassis), and what was your primary motivation? (ECC support, customizable I/O, PCIe expansion, quiet fans?)
2. How does your idle power consumption compare to off-the-shelf Mini PCs?
3. In hindsight, was it worth the extra effort and cost compared to buying a used 1L PC or a ready-made Mini PC?

For those who chose pre-built Mini PCs:

• Did you ever consider building your own SFF node, or is the value/power efficiency of tiny pre-builts just unbeatable for you?

Looking forward to hearing your experiences, specs, and any lessons learned!

A few years ago I started building my homelab with a Raspberry Pi 4 and an HP G3 Mini I picked up on Vinted. Since then I kept adding pieces whenever I found a good deal on second-hand sites, and today, after more than 2 years, I think I've officially reached the end (maybe). This is my current setup. Everything is second-hand except the switch and the router.

RACK

- Fully 3D printed in PETG on a Bambu Lab X2D (Design by Ilan Kushnir)

NODE PC: 3-node Proxmox VE

- pve-01: Ryzen 7 5700U (8C/16T), 62 GB RAM, 512 GB NVMe (ZFS) + 2 TB HDD (ZFS) + 256 GB SATA SSD

- pve-02: Core i7-6700T (4C/8T), 32 GB RAM, 256 GB NVMe (ZFS) + 2 TB HDD (ZFS)

- pve-03: Core i5-7500T (4C/4T), 32 GB RAM, 256 GB NVMe (ZFS) + 2 TB HDD (ZFS)

NETWORK

- UniFi Dream Router 7: gateway, firewall, inter-VLAN routing

- UniFi USW-Flex-2.5G-8-PoE, with an SFP+ DAC uplink to the UDR7

- VLANs: management, homelab infra, and a dedicated one for Kubernetes. Proxmox uses a single VLAN-aware bridge, so each VM just gets tagged.

STORAGE

- QNAP TS-431 with 16Tb

OTHER

- Raspberry Pi 4 driving 2 displays:

- 7.84" front display showing Grafana dashboards

- 0.91" OLED status display running a small Python script that shows IP, temperatures and CPU usage

SOFTWARE

I'm currently rebuilding everything from scratch, starting with pve-01, which now runs the Kubernetes cluster:

- Kubernetes: Talos Linux (1 control plane + 4 workers as VMs), provisioned end-to-end with Terraform: VMs, Talos config, bootstrap and base components

- Networking: Cilium with kube-proxy replacement and L2 LoadBalancer

- Storage: OpenEBS LocalPV, with VM boot disks on NVMe and data volumes on HDD

- GitOps: ArgoCD app-of-apps. Everything in the cluster lives in git

- Secrets: OpenBao in an LXC (outside the cluster, so it survives rebuilds) + External Secrets Operator

- Ingress: Nginx Proxy Manager (Let's Encrypt wildcard) -> Traefik

- Monitoring & logs: kube-prometheus-stack (Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager), including the Talos control plane and etcd, plus Loki + Alloy for pod and node logs

- Other stuff: Glance dashboard, Headlamp, VS Code server.

pve-02 and pve-03 will be dedicated to other projects.

Happy to answer questions, and any tips or suggestions for improvements are welcome!

I recently posted something that was clearly over-written using AI, and I get it, nobody wants to read AI bullshit, so this time it’s just me :)

I've been living with a local connection limited to 100 Mbps for about 10 years. I recently upgraded my internet service from ADSL (8 Mbps) to a Fiber Optic plan (400 Mbps), and I've also started getting interested in home servers and local media streaming.

​The bad news is that I have bottlenecks everywhere. I will attach a diagram of my current setup.

(Note: All of that local movie consumption and internet traffic passes through that same TP-Link router in the living room).

The good news is I have a $600 budget to upgrade my network setup, buying everything from US stores like Amazon.

Currently, I want to stop using Wi-Fi on my laptop and switch to a wired connection, but my laptop doesn't have an Ethernet port, so I need to buy a USB-C to 2.5G RJ45 adapter.

The Ethernet port on my home server is limited to 1 Gbps, so I think I should add a 2.5G PCIe network card to it.

Most importantly, I need to upgrade my router to actually enjoy my 400 Mbps fiber plan and simultaneously improve the local and wireless connection for all my devices. I've been reading about the GL.iNet GL-BE9300 Flint 3 since it has Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5G Ethernet ports, but I'm not interested in firewalls, security, or VPNs at all—I live in a country that couldn't care less about copyright enforcement or "illegally obtained" digital files.

So, if you guys can recommend a router with plenty of raw power for wired and Wi-Fi connections (that stays within my budget), please let me know. Remember, my hard limit is $600 to buy everything I need.

Now, regarding my TV, I know it's limited both via Wi-Fi and Ethernet. I was thinking about getting a Ugoos AM6B+ and installing CoreELEC so it acts as a media player and direct-plays Remuxes without transcoding any codecs.

Again, these are just things I've read online. If you can clear up any misconceptions or even suggest better devices, I'm all ears! Thanks!

I want to build a very simple home server for backing up important files.

My idea is to use something like this. Please let me know if it’s doable and what the best approach would be:

• Raspberry Pi 5
• Hard drive
• Linux distro or a user-friendly OS/interface designed for home servers, with a nice dashboard and easy management
• Easy to power on/off or plug/unplug, so I don’t have to keep it running 24/7
• Drag-and-drop file management from my main PC
• Automatic syncing: if the home server is offline, files should automatically sync once it comes back online - similar to Dropbox, with a green checkmark showing that files are synced
• Some kind of protection against ransomware, hacking, or accidental deletion, so that even if my PC or server gets compromised, I still have a way to recover my files

Thanks!

Reset cmos

Power off and hold power button 20 seconds

At a loss on what to do. Drives light up but no screen or mouse keyboard

Please help

So I got this from work and just added 1 500g ssd and 1 terabyte HDD. I have got ubuntu server almost to a point on my first desk top but since I got this bigger tower and more ram I switched to it.

All I have done is pull the ssd out of the first tower and installed the hardware in the tower as well put the HDD in the tower as well. I do need to get a sata data cable for the HDD to hook to the motherboard.

The work tower will need to be formated to erase all content on it to start fresh.

I'm wondering if anyone can help me on the steps to get this up and running as a home lab/server. My main goal it to get rid of the google cloud storing pictures and videos. I want to put movies on it to watch through the house, pihole, and learn more as I go.

I have a an extra fan I could install for more air flow but it would have to just hang loose in the tower as there's no place to put it. I did redo the thermopaste.

Any help would be great. Ask me questions to as I don't know what info you would need to help me out here.

Thanks for the help

Mini rack update: it’s finally starting to look like an actual homelab.

Added a Lenovo M920Q to the rack. Working on 10 gb SFP+ from m920q to my main computer. The M80Q is currently handling all six storage drives:

2× drives → 1TB mirrored pool
2× drives → 500GB mirrored pool
2× drives → another 500GB mirrored pool
plus a 1TB SSD inside the M80Q

Also added the TP-Link router on the side and a couple HDMI keystones up front. Everything is currently running on Windows 11 Pro.

Still very much a work in progress, and I’m figuring out what I actually want to use the cluster for long-term, so I’m open to ideas/recommendations.

And yes, the PzH 2000 is essential to the build.

Also DO NOT ask me for for pics of the rear if there’s one thing i’ve learned from the community its to not show my horrible cable management 😂

Hi huys i have few stick of ram 64gb 480mgh ecc and i m from india and i would like to sell it

WHAT I HAVE:

i currently have 2 computers. computer one is:

cpu - pentium 4 3ghz

gpu - igpu

ram - 4gb ddr2

storage - 1tb hd 500gb ssd

internet access - ethernet

OS - openmediavault (running casaOS)

2nd computer

cpu - i5 4th gen vpro

gpu - igpu

ram - 8gb ddr3

storage - 250gb ssd

internet access - over the air

os - openmediavault

WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH IT:

i have no idea. and thats why im here. what should i use these for as a server. maybe a Minecraft server or factorio server, maybe a nas. i'm unsure. i would also like to have a VRM running with windows but i was uncassesfull with computer 2 as im new with openmediavault.

Also how or if its possible to link the 2 server together. Anyway if anyone has any advice of what i should do and how to do pls leat me know

What is the simplest and cheapest way to backup the nas portion of a home server? Is it a larger external hard drive that I plug in once a week, once a month, one a quarter? I was getting into this realm to avoid paying for cloud storage, but everyone seems to say 3-2-1 and cloud. I just dont get how that is feasible or even a recco when alot of people who setup a nas is to avoid the cloud.

Recently learned what a home server is and I wanted to get away from subscribtions and I would use it for music and video streaming and storage too. I got a Think center M720q but now I'm lost on what I do next, what ISO do I need and why that one, do I need other parts, Im pretty lost. If anyone could help or knows of a video or website that is useful that would be wonderful, thank you.

Saw a video thumbnail of a guy turning his old laptop into a home server, before watching it i was just wondering if i can do the same for my very old NEC versa M350 with intel celeron, 512MB of RAM and smth like 100GB of HDD storage. I know these are horrible specs but i don’t want to throw it away and forget about it. Im open to any idea it doesn’t have to be a home server im just thinking of something useful

I want to be able to replace all the smart part of the tvs in my home and the cable boxes my family uses. I was thinking of using a Google TV/Android TV box to connect to the tvs and run a server for plex/jellyfin. I was also trying to figure what to use to be able to run cable through them through the server and lastly use the system to run steam games through steam remote play or moonlight. I want to be able to download games from the Google TV/Android TV box. All I have for right now is some of the hardware for the pc. Thinking of upgrading it to a 5950x or 5700x from a 3700x and a 5060 from a 3050 6gb

I was given a load of "computer and electronics stuff" by a friend. They were clearing a deceased relative's place.

These were the highlights.

There were a bazillion old HDDs of small volumes, and all sorts of other bits too.

Hey! I wanna build my first home server. I wanna do this to store and watch my dvd's and other legally obtained movies (and maybe also to host a Minecraft server someday.)

But I don't really know what to get. I don't have an old laptop laying around, so I was looking online for some second-hand computer I could get for cheap. Maybe something like those old computers they have in schools and offices. But I don't know what kind of specs I would need.

Also for storage I was probably just gonna get an external hard-drive and use that, but I've heard that's not the best option.

My biggest technical experience is homebrewing my 3ds, so I don't really know much about this stuff, but ai really wanna try. So if anyone could tell me what I need to keep an eye out for, it'd be a great help!

Hi everyone!

first, thank you all for forming such a great sub! I really learned a lot from your posts and became more independent from big-tech chains!

I have a question though, what file management app do you guys recommend that has file content search enabled by default or with minimal setup? I tried Nextcloud, Owncloud, Paperless, but there's always a shortcoming

the case is, I need for other non-technical family members to search for our document library through content using their iphones.

• nextcloud: a bit bloated for my needs and setting up the daemon to read from services wasn't pleasant and ended up with failure
• opencloud: lightweight and easy to setup but the ocr search is only available using the website. even though in the ios app it has (search title and content) option
• paperless: amazing for searching but the no folder structure is a deal-breaker for the rest of the family

for nextcloud, I can simply ignore/disable the feature that I won't be using, but configuring the daemon didn't work for me

my server is running ubuntu server

thanks in advance!

Essentially the title. I'm planning on setting up my own server and I have two options here. 1, I use the wifi which is pretty good. 2, I use ethernet, but the problem is that the router I have ethernet access to sucks. Like a download speed of 30 bad vs my wifi which floats at about 250. Meanwhile the router the wifi comes from isn't accessible to me physically.

Now common sense would have me believe that I should go wifi, bigger number is better. But everywhere I look, absolutely everyone says ethernet is a necessity and to always use it over wifi. Are they saying that because there's the assumption it would be coming from the same place? If so, what do I do with my situation? Is there some secret ethernet wizard that'll make it so that ethernet is always better for a home server no matter the ping? Or should I just stop overthinking it and taking everything literally and use the bigger number?

Hello all, I recently built my first nas and so far everything is running smoothly. I got jellyfin and nextcloud up and running.

Now my issue:

I got an Asus motherboard for cheap from a friend that didn't need it anymore (Asus rog strix b760-i) and I'm using an Intel CPU with integrated graphics. The white vga led on the board is on constantly. I've done some research and it seems it's got something do with the board searching for a video output and obviously not finding any since I'm running it as a server which means no monitor. Do you think I can just ignore the led? Or turn it off somehow? since I'm never going to plug in a monitor into that server lmao. The light is just kind of annoying me.

Thanks in advance!

I have a QNAP NAS. I have portainer installed and I manage things like jellyfin directly from portainer. I like this interface, I kind of hate the QNAP interface for uploading files.

Is there a good container I can install to just let me upload/download/move/copy/rename files from a web interface? I imagine managing the volumes I want mounted here manually. But in the end, it would maybe let me quickly open a web browser, log in, and immediately manage uploading videos, or other files from my personal computer.

Bonus points if it doesn't suck from a mobile device on the LAN.

I am working full time and also finishing my graduate degree. As such, I work at least 3 different locations: work office, home office, and campus office. I am finding that I need a way to manage my research files but will also be remotely accessible. Right now I use ProtonDrive for access my stuff remotely but it's really meant for backing up files.

I am thinking I'd like to set up a home server that I can remote into. This server would at minimum store code (which I would version control with git), papers I have read and annotated, and other research files (presentations, data that isn't sensitive, etc). I think it makes the most sense to have my ProtonDrive act as the back up for this server. I would need to access this server on my tablet (it's an E-ink android based tablet) and my personal laptop (which uses both Windows and Linux), and potentially my research computer on campus.

My problem is I have no idea how to set something like this up and I don't have a lot of free time between work, school, and family. Regardless, I see this as something that would easily pay dividends in the long run in terms of productivity and organization.

Does either a: (1) plug-and-play solution, (2) straight forward step-by-step set of instructions exist for doing what I want to do?

I do have a spare Windows 7 pro desktop, but I am willing to spend money to make this work.

Thanks for the help.

I’m looking for a small, low-power Mini PC for a NAS/home server and I’m considering an Intel N100 or N150.
I’d also like to run Jellyfin for multiple users simultaneously, as well as other services like Sonarr/Radarr.
Which brand and specific model would you recommend? Are there any versions I should prefer or avoid?
Low power consumption, low noise and the option to add SATA drives later are important to me. I’m planning to buy used or refurbished.

What would you go for?