this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2025
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Hi :)

I'm planning on setting up my home server, and I'm feeling a bit lost.

I currently have a Jellyfin, SSH and Backrest server running on my PC, but want to get some dedicated hardware for it, and increase the services hosted to VPN, Immich, maybe Nextcloud, etc.

The problem is that I have no idea for what kind of hardware to aim for. I don't know whether I should aim for Rasperri, or MiniPC, or a dedicated rag, or any other thing. My country doesn't have a big second-hand market for server stuff, but I that's also a possibility.

Some context on my needs:

  • I run 1440p videos on Jellifyn, so my guess is I need H.265 support. Other than that, I think any CPU will do, and don't need a very fast one. Same goes for RAM, maybe 8 GB is enough

  • I feel like I do need at least 2 hard drives (1 for my files, another for backups)

  • The ability of upgrade with better hardware would be appreciated, maybe another hard drive or some extra ram.

  • Preferably, a rather low-energy consumption drive. Maybe 10 W idle? No idea on this front neither.

  • Budget is around $200 USD, excluding hard drives. I can pay extra for drives, or get them later on as I start playing around and scale up.

  • What Linux distro should I use? For security, I want to run everything with Dockers, so I guess it doesn't matter? I'm mildly fluent in Linux, experience with Arch and Debian based.

Thanks in advance :)

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[–] dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You have arch and debian experience, so I think Debian would be great for your server.

You don't want rolling releases (eg arch) on your server really because you don't want stuff to break. Debian will be a rock solid choice.

I don't feel confident with the hardware questions because I have never streamed higher than 1080p, but I would imagine it'd be easy for most systems. A used computer would probably be my choice, mostly for upgradeability, but that'd use more power than a mini-pc for example.

A normal used tower pc could be good if you plan on getting a cheap GPU down the line for transcoding (maybe you're out and don't want to use as much data, etc). CPUs can probably do a lot for one user though.

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Depends on the admin.

Arch servers are just fine. Just be sure to pay attention to Arch News to watch for manual interventions on certain updates. If anything, the older Debian packages can cause headaches occasionally. I personally use both distros as servers for different use cases.

[–] dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Sounds good, I mean you can use literally anything to host servers.

It's (debian) a great choice especially when you plan to only use docker though, for sure, as you won't really run into those old package issues (+ if u like to upgrade and feel very safe doing so each time without looking at news first, might be survivorship bias, but debian has never broken for me through multiple major version upgrades and I've been blindly upgrading each time).