Hello everyone,

I am looking for a new home server to replace my existing hp proliant microserver gen8.

Requirements:

  1. Reduce power consumption. It currently runs at around 60 watts at idle, I would like to reduce that.

  2. Enough performance for various docker containers

  3. Enough power for 4k HDR video transcoding for a jellyfin container, whether graphics unit in the CPU or an additional graphics card doesn’t matter

  4. At least 4 SATA ports and space for 2 m.2 SSDs

  5. 16GB of RAM is a minimum

It doesn’t have to be a ready-made solution, I have no problem putting everything together myself.

Edit: Budget is ~500€

  • pandad0x0n@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    10 months ago

    Judging by your name and the high price of electricity you stated, I assume you live in Germany?

    If so, mabe this could be an interesting option to consider in search for your server: https://www.ram-koenig.de/Gigabyte-MJ11-EC1-AMD-EPYC-3151-4x27-Ghz-Mini-ITX-Mainboard-ATX-Adapter-Server

    It definitely is “a project” as it is a custom board from gigabyte, designed to be used in a Mining rig. It abides by ITX standards however an ATX adapter is required for power delivery to the board.

    I got mine from Ramkönig, bought 32GB of registert ECC ram on eBay (27€) so the total for the server (if you have a case and HDD) for me was under 100€.

    Power consumption is at around 20-30 watts in idle and according to the tdp of the CPU 45W higher when under load.

    What is also interesting is the option to use an M2 SSD on this board. It also has 4 SATA ports.

    • GerPrimus@feddit.deOPEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Thanks, that sounds interesting. Unfortunately the board is not available. But I’ll keep an eye out for it. Case shouldn’t be a problem.

  • Dr. Jenkem@lemmy.blugatch.tubeEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    I don’t know for certain, but I think you’ll ultimately have to decide between either low power consumption or 4k transcoding. I doubt you’ll be able to achieve both.

      • Dr. Jenkem@lemmy.blugatch.tubeEnglish
        3·
        10 months ago

        And you’re able to transcode 4k with that? 1080p with hardware offload isn’t surprising, but 4k really requires some extra horsepower.

        EDIT: Maybe I’m wrong, seems like quicksync even on a Celeron has gotten pretty good.

        • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          Yep, 4k to 4k tonemapping, even, which was one of the use-cases my previous Celeron N3350 server couldn’t handle (it got ~14 fps)

      • 8tomat8@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        This is really good, do you know if I can plug my 4tb m2 ssd in there? If yes, I’m moving tomorrow😁

        • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          Check that it uses the same interface for the M2 slot as your SSD (PCIe vs SATA).

          • 8tomat8@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            It does. What concerns me is the sign “up to 2TB”. And I don’t understand if it is a limitation of preinstalled os or hardware.

        • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          I haven’t personally opened it up, but it does internally use a replaceable m.2 NVME SSD according to the info that came with it, so you should be able to.

      • BearOfaTime@lemm.eeEnglish
        21·
        10 months ago

        Wow, that’s pretty slick. Thanks, you may have just solved one of my project plans.

        At that price/performance, it would supplant 4 Raspberry Pis I was planning on using for a variety of tasks.

        I’ve been lazily running a gaming desktop as a “server” for far too long. Trying to reduce power consumption now.

      • BearOfaTime@lemm.eeEnglish
        21·
        10 months ago

        Wow, that’s pretty slick. Thanks, you may have just solved one of my project plans.

        At that price/performance, it would supplant 4 Raspberry Pis I was planning on using for a variety of tasks.

        I’ve been lazily running a gaming desktop as a “server” for far too long. Trying to reduce power consumption now.

      • GerPrimus@feddit.deOPEnglish
        0·
        10 months ago

        That would be conceivable, but I would like to pack my existing HDDs in a case if possible

        • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          Yeah, in my case I host my hard drives on a cheap ARM Synology NAS and an external drive plugged into an M1 Mac Mini running Asahi. Just have an external SSD plugged into the Jellyfin server as a cache/transcodes drive

  • darcmage@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    Is 60W a lot? I think a system with a few mechanical hard drives and fans will be at least half of that regardless of the processor used. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Fewer Letters More Letters
    LTT Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel
    NAS Network-Attached Storage
    PCIe Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
    PSU Power Supply Unit
    RPi Raspberry Pi brand of SBC
    SATA Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage
    SBC Single-Board Computer
    SSD Solid State Drive mass storage

    7 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 8 acronyms.

    [Thread #257 for this sub, first seen 1st Nov 2023, 13:20] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    01·
    10 months ago

    I think your best bet will be an SFF/USFF/1L box used on eBay. The tiny/1L ones mostly have energy-efficient CPUs (like intel T-suffix SKUs), but they also don’t support the SATA connections you specified (unless you go for an external USBC/TB3 enclosure, which many people do)