Seeking Advice for Setting Up an Efficient Home Server in an Apartment

[MikeZ18]

Hello, LTT Forum Community!

I'm on the brink of embarking on an exciting project to set up a home server and would greatly appreciate your collective expertise to guide me through some decisions.

Given the constraints of apartment living, where space is at a premium and modifications to the property are off-limits, I'm leaning towards a compact yet powerful setup. My vision includes a small form factor PC discreetly placed under my TV cabinet, complemented by a hard drive enclosure for NAS purposes.

Here's what I aim to achieve with my server:

1. Implement ad-blocking using Pi-hole or a similar service.
2. Support at least four simultaneous video streams on Plex.
3. Run a VPN server, specifically something along the lines of Vmess/Vless.
4. Facilitate occasional light gaming on my TV, including Switch emulation and party games.
5. Hosting my website(s).
6. Explore additional services, such as smart home integrations.

Potential Hardware Configuration:

• PC Option: Minisforum UM790 Pro 7940HS Mini PC.
• Storage Solution: Ugreen 5 Bay RAID Enclosure USB-C to SATA HDD SSD – UGREEN.
• Hard Drives: 3 or 4 Seagate Iron Wolf 8TB drives, contemplating RAID 5 or RAID 6 setup. I saw a video telling me to leave a bay or two empty for future expansions.

Key Questions:

1. RAID Configuration: Given the built-in RAID support of the Ugreen enclosure, should I opt for hardware RAID or would software RAID be more reliable? I'm concerned about the potential for data loss if the RAID controller fails, and I've read mixed opinions on the resilience of software RAID in such scenarios.

2. PC Choice: Should I go with the Minisforum PC, or would building a custom ITX PC be a better route? Having previously built a mATX PC, I'm a bit hesitant about navigating the intricacies of a smaller ITX build. Alternatively, are there other solutions I should consider?

Budget-wise, I'm aiming for a balance between cost-effectiveness and meeting my project's requirements. I'm open to investing in quality components that provide value without being excessively pricey.

I'm eager to hear your thoughts, recommendations, and any personal experiences that could help steer this project toward success. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for any advice you can provide!

[ReidOnly]

Instead of opting for those overpriced Miniforum PCs, why not consider building with modern used hardware? In my opinion, you could get a much stronger setup for less than $400 USD. For instance, you could go for a 12th gen i3 with a micro-atx motherboard and 32GB of RAM. If you're open to it, you could even save more by exploring older generations. It's all up to your preference and budget.

[Zando_]

18 minutes ago, ReidOnly said:

Instead of opting for those overpriced Miniforum PCs, why not consider building with modern used hardware?

Not overpriced, they're killer value for what they are. Just... what they are isn't a NAS, so I agree that a DIY mATX box is probably better.  Something like this: 

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/czkqQP

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($116.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock B660M Pro RS Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($94.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($56.97 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($124.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $513.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-14 13:40 EST-0500

 

Pick drives based off what OS you end up picking (Unraid runs off a USB 2.0 drive, TrueNAS or Proxmox off a standard SSD, or you can run them off a RAID1 SSD setup if you're super worried about a potential failure and allergic to backing up your configuration). Sub out the case depending on space constraints. I'm partial to the Node 804 as it keeps up to 8 3.5" drives on 2 slide-out racks, has 2 more spots for 3.5" or 2.5" drives on the floor of the motherboard side, and 2 2.5" slots in the front panel. There's no 5.25" drive, but if you needed to have a disk drive you can install a laptop-style ODD drive in the front panel as well. It absolutely rules for sheer versatility, but it is a wide cube-style case, so a vertical tower may work better depending on what space you have and where. 

[Aaron_T]

In my opinion, running too many essential services on a single device always leads to issues, be it performance or just having a single point of failure.

For your 6 specific use cases, I'd break them up across a few small devices, something like this:

#1,3 and maybe 5: https://a.co/d/fBn6Y4f

#2, 6 also maybe 5: https://a.co/d/bpB4wHg

#4: https://a.co/d/2SRldUo or the UM790 you listed

PROS to this scenario:
-Top link gives you dedicated hardware to run a better router like pfSense or OpnSense which gives you lots of network tools for free.
-Multiple devices gives you redundancy and more room to grow (IE #6)
-You'll learn a lot more using dedicated devices instead of trying to make it all fit into a windows box
-NAS vs DAS is better IMO because you don't have to worry about the machine your DAS is attached to messing up your raid. (gives more freedom to experiment) 

CONS:
-Going to cost more
-Likely to take a little more space


EDIT: small note about the UM780 vs the UM790. The UM780 give you an Oculink port, which is awesome for external GPU enclosure that support it, the UM790 does not have this. And they both have the built in Radeon 780M iGPU

[m9x3mos]

1 hour ago, MikeZ18 said:

Hello, LTT Forum Community!

I'm on the brink of embarking on an exciting project to set up a home server and would greatly appreciate your collective expertise to guide me through some decisions.

Given the constraints of apartment living, where space is at a premium and modifications to the property are off-limits, I'm leaning towards a compact yet powerful setup. My vision includes a small form factor PC discreetly placed under my TV cabinet, complemented by a hard drive enclosure for NAS purposes.

Here's what I aim to achieve with my server:

1. Implement ad-blocking using Pi-hole or a similar service.
2. Support at least four simultaneous video streams on Plex.
3. Run a VPN server, specifically something along the lines of Vmess/Vless.
4. Facilitate occasional light gaming on my TV, including Switch emulation and party games.
5. Hosting my website(s).
6. Explore additional services, such as smart home integrations.

Potential Hardware Configuration:

• PC Option: Minisforum UM790 Pro 7940HS Mini PC.
• Storage Solution: Ugreen 5 Bay RAID Enclosure USB-C to SATA HDD SSD – UGREEN.
• Hard Drives: 3 or 4 Seagate Iron Wolf 8TB drives, contemplating RAID 5 or RAID 6 setup. I saw a video telling me to leave a bay or two empty for future expansions.

Key Questions:

1. RAID Configuration: Given the built-in RAID support of the Ugreen enclosure, should I opt for hardware RAID or would software RAID be more reliable? I'm concerned about the potential for data loss if the RAID controller fails, and I've read mixed opinions on the resilience of software RAID in such scenarios.

2. PC Choice: Should I go with the Minisforum PC, or would building a custom ITX PC be a better route? Having previously built a mATX PC, I'm a bit hesitant about navigating the intricacies of a smaller ITX build. Alternatively, are there other solutions I should consider?

Budget-wise, I'm aiming for a balance between cost-effectiveness and meeting my project's requirements. I'm open to investing in quality components that provide value without being excessively pricey.

I'm eager to hear your thoughts, recommendations, and any personal experiences that could help steer this project toward success. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for any advice you can provide!

This can work if the gpu in it is fast enough for your needs. 

As long as the usb controller is solid you can run windows pro and max out the ram. 

Run truenas scale in a vm and pass through the hdds.

Then run plex on the windows host and use shared storage from the truenas vm.

I have been running like that for years and it has been solid. 

[MikeZ18]

On 2/14/2024 at 10:46 AM, Zando_ said:

Not overpriced, they're killer value for what they are. Just... what they are isn't a NAS, so I agree that a DIY mATX box is probably better.  Something like this: 

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/czkqQP

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($116.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock B660M Pro RS Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($94.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($56.97 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($124.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $513.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-14 13:40 EST-0500

 

Pick drives based off what OS you end up picking (Unraid runs off a USB 2.0 drive, TrueNAS or Proxmox off a standard SSD, or you can run them off a RAID1 SSD setup if you're super worried about a potential failure and allergic to backing up your configuration). Sub out the case depending on space constraints. I'm partial to the Node 804 as it keeps up to 8 3.5" drives on 2 slide-out racks, has 2 more spots for 3.5" or 2.5" drives on the floor of the motherboard side, and 2 2.5" slots in the front panel. There's no 5.25" drive, but if you needed to have a disk drive you can install a laptop-style ODD drive in the front panel as well. It absolutely rules for sheer versatility, but it is a wide cube-style case, so a vertical tower may work better depending on what space you have and where. 

Hi, after some additional research I am leaning toward going down the diy route and use proxmox and truenas together. Although i really like the fractal node’s capabilities, the space I have in mind for it is only 33.5 cm which made the fractal node a little too wide. Do you have any other case recommendations?

[m9x3mos]

2 hours ago, MikeZ18 said:

Hi, after some additional research I am leaning toward going down the diy route and use proxmox and truenas together. Although i really like the fractal node’s capabilities, the space I have in mind for it is only 33.5 cm which made the fractal node a little too wide. Do you have any other case recommendations?

I would check to see if any of the jonsbo n1 n2 or n3 might fit. 

Silver stone has a small form factor case I think as well. 

There aren't a lot of choices sadly.