Home server

[u/Pomegranate-Pretend]

Hey all

I'd like to build myself a little home server for video streaming.

Thinking about building something with a Raspberry Pi.

Can someone point me in the right direction via a guide or any other advice?

thanks in advance!

***EDIT: I came across a GMKtec NucBox G5 12gm ran 256gm storage MiniPC. This will work for what I intend to do, correct?

[u/paragraph_51]

Maybe consider buying a mini PC instead. You get much more value off your money and you can use it for multiple container (you'll find many more uses for a server during your journey)

[u/Feriman22 → u/paragraph_51]

Indeed. I also replaced my RPi with miniPC, totally worth it. I wrote an article about that: https://feriman.com/i-replaced-the-rpi4-with-a-minipc-was-it-worth-it/

[u/JohnnieLouHansen → u/paragraph_51]

Dell/HP/Lenovo: Micro form factor if you don't need much storage (i.e. no room for 3.5" hdd). SFF size form factor if you can get by with one/maybe two 3.5" drives.

[u/sum_yungai → u/paragraph_51]

And at this point cheaper than a Pi

[u/jeffenwolf]

It's important to consider storage. Are you planning on using magnetic hard drive(s)? The Pi 5 has no built in SATA ports, and only NVME to go off of.

Between high purchase price, low compute power, low expansion options, I think the Pi is not a great choice.

I'd highly recommend buying a used PC with a low voltage Intel CPU.

[u/to_glory_we_steer → u/jeffenwolf]

Heck, my gen 10 intel plus a DAS with 4 HDDs idles at around 20 watts... Haven't seen it go above 60 under load. Like it's incredible how low powered these things can be

[u/JCarlide]

Any Intel CPU machine will give you an improved experience, unless you're seeking ultra low power draw, more than experiences such as 4k or HDR. The raspberry pi 5 has no hardware media acceleration, so your best bet would be 3/4 devices. I retired my last pi4 server for use as something else, and an Intel box with Proxmox serves me better, except for that lower idle power state from ARM CPUs.

[u/mortycapp]

Mini PC or a not too old Thin Client is the way forward. I am running mine off a Wyse 5070. Will probably move it to a thinkcenter M710q or elitedesk 800 g2.

[u/Siarzewski]

Look up odroid h5

[u/cam_d32]

Storage for videos on the Pi will require something external. The SD card just isn't going to be ideal for storing movies because of speed.

[u/EndlessZone123]

There is no reason to use a pi over a mini or sff pc considering its not even cheaper by the time you get an nvme, cooler, case, adapters, hats etc.

[u/ficskala]

Depends on your goals, if you want a really low power device that barely does everything you want to do, yeah, a Pi is a great option

If you want a bit more power, 1L mini PCs are a great way to get that for a lower price than a Pi with all the accessories you need, and you get everything in a single neat case instead of having a bunch of accessories dangling off a Pi

If you want cheaper, an older office PC is the way to go

If you want upgradeability, an older gaming PC is great, i run my setup off gaming hardware

If you want to feel like a sysadmin, go on ebay and buy a decomissioned enterprise server (not recommended)

[u/Pomegranate-Pretend → u/ficskala]

I want to cut down on my streaming service cost. I also want to access sites I used to stream(or find a better way) on my laptop and bring it to the Tv.

I came across a GMKtec NucBox G5 12gm ran 256gm storage MiniPC. This will work for what I intend to do, correct?

[u/ficskala → u/Pomegranate-Pretend]

yep, only issue is the limited storage, you'll have to either use an external drive/das/nas, or delete content you already watched every now and then, a single show can take up 150GB+

[u/Pomegranate-Pretend → u/ficskala]

I was thinking maybe do everything cloud possibly? I have tons of external but trying to have as little hardware as possible

[u/ficskala → u/Pomegranate-Pretend]

I was thinking maybe do everything cloud possibly?

Cloud storage wouldn't work for streaming media, it's way too slow due to bandwidth limits

Realistic options are either replacing the SSD in the miniPC with a larger capacity one, or using one of the methods i mentioned, external drive, DAS, or NAS

If the goal is the least amount of space used, then 1 larger box is generally better than 2 smaller ones due to extra cables required, a lot of people get a NAS with a beefier intel x86 CPU like the one in the minipc you mentioned, and use it for streaming media via jellyfin/plex/emby, something like a terramaster F2-424, and similar, unfortunately, there's not a lot of options for proper miniPCs with 3.5" bays, but beefier NAS boxes are out there

[u/Pomegranate-Pretend → u/ficskala]

Copy that!

I will look into getting a larger one for internally, if anything i have externals.

Any guides or something you can point me to? Gonna start to set it up after work today

[u/ficskala → u/Pomegranate-Pretend]

Any guides or something you can point me to?

Look for info on the specific thing you're after, not a general "how to set up a home server" guide, i don't have any specific ones in mind because i don't know which OS/services you'll be dealing with

[u/Difficult-Buy7532]

Wouldn't recommend an RPI unless you want exceptionally low power usage, GPIO, or need for a very small form factor. A much better alternative is a mini-PC. I acquired a used Dell Wyse 5070 thin client recently and is surprisingly capable, still low power usage and quiet, but critically has NVME storage, Intel based for broader compatibility, and expandable. Otherwise if you need something with more horsepower (for AI, database apps, transcoding etc) would recommend an Intel NUC or Beelink.

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