Hey folks. I’ve been running a media and torrenting server off an Odroid HC2 running OpenMediaVault 6 on Armbian. It’s been doing pretty great, and I have it set to run docker containers for qBittorrent, ProtonVPN, the *arrs, etc.
The problem I’m running into is that the HC2 has an arm32 CPU that is not supported by most apps, so I’m stuck running old images. I want to upgrade to a newer mini PC/SBC that is more future-friendly. I’d like it to be capable of running Plex streaming at 4K, Radarr/Sonarr/Prowlarr, etc. as well as other apps as docker containers. I might repurpose the HC2 to just run self-hosted NextDNS.
Here are my questions:
- What mini PCs or SBCs would you recommend? I’m leaning strongly towards a mini PC over an SBC because it would be more powerful, I don’t need specialized software for it, recovery and backups are much easier, etc. I’m not too concerned about power usage unless it’s extravagant.
- Which OS would you recommend as a media server?
- What is the simplest way to transfer my server over with minimal fuss? I use private trackers, so I’ll have to very carefully stand up the new server and transfer over torrents, etc. in one fell swoop. I’m guessing I should just be able to install the apps and then transfer over the configurations and media files and change permissions, etc.
- Anything else I need to consider?
Thanks!
I’m in the same boat. My poor HC-2 is struggling on memory running Omada (WAP controller) and HomeBridge, among other things. I use Emby so I don’t need transcoding - supports 4k streaming just fine.
Right now I’m looking at one of the fanless Intel four port software routers, like this one.. But for a machine like that I’m going to use ProxMox to spin up a Firewall/Router/VPN/Networking VM - not sure which OS/image. That will remain separate from my media and web serving. I will probably end up just off-loading the network tasks to the new machine, and leave my HC-2 running as a media server. That way I can restart and upgrade the systems independently. Using ProxMox, it may be possible to move the media services onto a second VM on the same machine, but I’m not sure what advantage that might give me, if any.
I recommend reading up on LXC within Proxmox. They are containers so run on bare metal but you interact with them a bit like normal VM. There are some prebuilt templates for a few different distros available for download too.
My current test proxmox setup is intel quad-core 10th gen i5 nuc with 32GB ram, 2 * 2TB nVNME, and 1TB SATA SSD. I have a few different LXCs for things like NVR, ZeroTier, TailScale, and a general docker one where I have plex, emby, jellyfin, and supporting apps. All LXC that need it have been configured for access to the iGPU and the host retains access.
I don’t have as much of a need for a networking machine, since I’m happy to keep my simple network setup with just the VPN bits on the home server. I might start self-hosting NextDNS too for DNS ad-blocking. The main downside of the HC2 I’m facing for media is that 32 bit CPU support is being dropped on the main apps I’m using. For your needs that Intel router does seem quite interesting.
Why not build a new PC or buy an old pc? One with ryzen 5 5600G, 8gb Ram, 250GB ssd should cost ~250USD whether you buy new/old, i recently checked the prices, cause I needed one and they were similar. This should take you a long way. As for storage just pick a case with enough ssd/harddisk slots.
You can also go much cheaper depending on what you get.
The advantage is you can add a GPU like the intel A380 for av1 encoding of video if you feel like you need it.
For OS depending on what you are doing there are a few choices:
- True nas: mid difficulty
- debian: i just use this with docker, does the job
- alma linux/Rocky linux
- ubuntu
- yunohost: if you would be interested in hosting activitypub apps, easy
- casaos: easy
The main concern with using a PC would be size, noise, heat, etc. If I can build something with a tiny form factor and minimal fuss, that could totally work.
You can get pretty sleek mini-pc in the price but, there performance is sub-par compared to the price they are asking for.
While itx for factor is very expensive, m-atx is cheaper and there are quite few sleek cases for them.
If you are looking for prebuilt mini pc, asustor flashtor is pretty sleek if you only want m.2 storage.
I was in the same boat and recently bought a Beelink S12 Pro, which has a N100(12 gen) processor and 16GB of RAM. I added an SSD in the included bay and has been great. I just installed Debian and docker and configured those containers.
Only thing is I needed to connect to a monitor and keyboard to select the Debian USB installer in the BIOS. After setting that and ssh, it has been smooth sailing. Can recommend
I like the “1 liter PCs/home servers” for this kind of stuff. I have a 3 node proxmox cluster running on hp elitebook mini 800 g4’s. I got them for around $120 each on ebay (prices vary). Other big manufacturers have their own mini modules (hp, lenovo, dell) Generally these have a lower price tag than something like a similar generation intel nuc because it’s less of a niche market, these are used in business office environments and usually sold used pretty cheap when hardware is refreshed or businesses are closed. You can find replacement parts easily also. Just make sure they include a power adapter if you do search for one.
Mine are running i5-8500t processor which supports Intel quicksync and performs very well for video transcoding in plex. Should easily be able to do a couple of 4k transcodes easily. If you’re not interested in running proxmox, this would run OMV easily and have plenty of power to run lots of containers.
I haven’t looked into proxmox yet, so I wouldn’t rule it out yet. OMV is nice, but I found it a little limiting. I actually really like the idea of running a full linux distro with an actual desktop (so not just headless) on it instead of just using OMV as the primary interface. I like the idea of spending more time within actual linux so I can upgrade my linux-fu.
1L PCs look cool, I suppose I won’t be able to upgrade too much, but then again I’m unlikely to need to anytime soon. The form factor looks amazing.
I needed something for compute not really storage, regardless these hp’s have two nvme slots, and an optional ssd tray (lower modules come with the ssd, these did not have the tray but can buy separately if needed) so the storage upgradeability is pretty good.
Since my home server is a media server, it’s primary drive is an 8TB HDD :)
If you have Plex pass the key for 4k streaming is hardware transcoding. Quick sync with any newer Intel CPU, like 8th Gen and up, is going to hardware transcode 4k fine. Personally I bought an HP chromebox gen 2 and threw Linux on it to run Plex then have VMs and what not on separate small form factor boxes.
I’d bet you could probably run all the services you’re mentioning on something like a single USFF Optiplex but if you want to throw drives into it for storage then the towers would be the way to go.
Ideally I want something with a small form-factor, but more bays for additional storage might come in handy. Definitely won’t need the DVD drive though :D I also don’t want to have to pay for that W10 license since I’ll be running linux on it. I don’t have Plex pass, but good point about the Intel 8th gen CPUs.
I like the Chromebox suggestion, I hadn’t thought of that as a possibility. Something like that might be perfect, thanks.
Just be real careful with the chromebox, an lot of them can’t run Linux and are pretty low specs so I wouldn’t want try putting everything I want to run on them. The CPU in HP gen 2 one I have is just a dual core without hyper threading. I would only even look into the a Chromebox if your thinking about Plex pass and hardware transcoding.
Also should be noted anything bought used your not paying for a Windows license though most the SFF boxes come with windows license baked into the bios.
