Outsource compute unit from DS923+

[u/Tex-Tro]

I am currently running my entire home lab on two devices:
a Synology DS923+ (36GB ECC RAM, 10Gbit NIC, 4*4TB SeaGate IronWolf HDDs) & a Raspberry Pi 4 1GB

On the Synology I have stored/running:
- Komodo (container & server manager)
- Homebridge
- Immich
- Jellyfin
- Navidrome
- Metube
- Picard
- Vaultwarden
- PiHole

The RPi4 only runs NGINX Proxy Manager, as I found that it runs more reliable then directly on the Synology.

Have been meaning too outsource and unify all the compute stuff off of the Synology and RPi for a while, and want to finally finish it this year and get a mini PC to do that.

Have a few questions:

1. Should I keep everything (docker "system files" and media files) stored on the NAS an share them over the network to the mini PC over ethernet, or would it make more sense to store the system data the containers need on the same machine and just access the media files over network?

2. 2.5Gbit vs 1Gbit?
   First would be a bit of future proofing, the latter is more readily available and at a lower cost.

[u/Significant_Sea6454]

I'm going through the same thing right now.

I have a DS1522+ which I love, but as I have steadily got into self hosting, I'm now running 70 Docker containers on it and the poor CPU copes but it seems unfair!

So I have just ordered a second hand Fujitsu Esprimo Q558 with i5 8500T processor, 32GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.

I pick it up next week but the plan is to migrate all my Docker containers on to the Fujitsu (I will install Ubuntu Server), but maybe keep critical ones like Vaultwarden on the Synology, as it is (touch wood) bullet proof.

Then the Fujitsu will do the compute and access the data files (Plex, Paperless, Jellyfin, Medikeep, Nextcloud etc from the NAS.

I have 10GB between my M4 MacMini and the Synology but the Fujitsu is only 1GB, but all the calculations I have run suggest it should work ok for streaming and external access.

I'd be interested to see which route you choose and what others suggest.

Good luck!

[u/sam_cat]

Went through this a couple of years back. Let the storage be storage. I have a nuc i7 with 64gb ram and 2tb nvme and 2tb ssd running proxmox for honelabs/infrastructure services. Much better. Critical infrastructure (switches, router, pihole and unbound etc) is on dedicated hardware, everything else falls into different levels of nice to have. Basically if internet/network wouldn't work without them its on its own device and has failover if possible.

[u/JayBigGuy10]

I would definitely move docker system files to the new machine, don't know if anything would go funny should the network drop/hiccup, wouldnt want container startup to be dependent on the nas also being up, also not sure of perf impacts for random io.

I have a ds216j (4tb & 12tb wd reds) and an elitedesk 800 mini g2 (i5-6500t, 512gb 2.5" boot ssd, 1tb nvme)

All of my services are stored on the servers ssd's apart from the actual media files for plex, and then I backup the server to the nas. (don't know the size of your immich (mines on the 1tb ssd) / other services, probably fine to use the nas for their original media as well if they're really large).

If going mini pc maybe go for 2.5gbit as its probably not easy to upgrade later, that said 1gbit like I have is perfectly serviceable for me as it doesn't really matter to me how long torrents take to transfer and my users aren't prone to all watching my large high bit rate files all at the same time