My current setup consists of a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4gb RAM and a 1tb external SSD. I’m thinking of getting a used mini PC for around 100€ to replace that tho because it would give me a lot more power and especially RAM (I currently need to use an 8gb swap file). My plan so far is to get a used mini PC that’s quiet, has a built-in SSD and at least 8gb of RAM (16 would be better). Because of the built-in SSD, I could also sell the external SSD and buy an 8-12tb HDD instead.
Does anyone have recommendations for what mini PC to get or things that I should look out for?
Edit: Thanks for all the help! I decided on the Firebat T8 Pro Plus with 16gb RAM and 512gb internal storage because that really seems to be perfect for my use case.
I got an HP ProDesk 400 G2 with an i5 6500T, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for 99€. Works beautifully, and while it’s not as efficient as a raspberry pi, it idles around 6-7w and can run a bunch of VMs with Proxmox.
Is that a mini? I love those little 1L HP’s. I run 3 G2 800’s. These are very nicely built and therefore a joy to work on, and sip power when idling. Highly recommend. Also +1 for Proxmox.
I love the Dell Micros. I’m rocking three 7060 micros in my lab atm. All running Proxmox.
Go used on eBay. Also I wouldn’t recommend replacing a SSD with a HDD as hard drives tend to be much bigger. Many devices will have a m.2 slot and a small bay for a hard drive.
If you want more storage, get some sort of NAS or a external drive. You aren’t going to be able to sell used storage anyway.
I have a couple Lenovo tiny form factors: an M700 8GB w/ J3710 running Pihole on Ubuntu server—which is total overkill in both CPU and mem; and an M73, 4GB w/4th gen i3 running jellyfin server on Mint 21.3. Certain kinds of transcoding brings it to its knees but for most 1080p streaming it’s fine. Memory is a bit tight; 8G would be better. It has a usb3 2T drive for video files that runs more than quick enough. Serial adapters are available if you want to use the console.
The latter has been running for I think a couple years. The former I just set up.
But I’ve been shopping for newer gear for the Jellyfin server. I think you could get a Dell, HP, or Lenovo 6th gen TFF with 8G and 256-512G internal SSD within your price range.
I see some EliteDesk G800 G3 (6th gen Intel) tinys with no disk for $50-70 shipped on eBay in the US. I think those look the coolest by far :)
You could find one with no disk, no ram and config as you please and probably still come in under budget.
E-
My eventual plan for the Jellyfin server is a SFF, probably an HP with enough space to fit a couple of big HDDs, plus 16G ram and a newer CPU that can transcode on the fly without lag.
Because of the built-in SSD, I could also sell the external SSD and buy an 8-12tb HDD instead.
If you’re going for a 3.5" HDD, then you’ll most likely have to look for a bit bigger form factor than TinyMiniMicro (Lenovo Tiny / HP Mini / Dell Micro series) - these computers can’t fit a 3.5" HDD.
If size isn’t a major concern, I’d go for the SFF variants of these computers - they are often cheaper than minis for same specs, but probably have a bit larger idle power draw and take up more space. As a bonus upside, you get some small PCIe slots in these computers, so yay for expansions.
I can also buy an adapter and plug the drive in over USB. It would be nicer if it fit inside but it’s not that important.
USB is not really a reliable connector for storage purposes. I’d highly recommend against USB.
