I have never homelabbed, and this is going to be my first experience. I want to set up a home server. My current goals are to set up a gallery using Immich, an ad blocker/DNS using Pi-hole, and a cloud service.
I want you to suggest what second-hand PC or laptop I should get. I researched a bit and found out that a PC is better because of 24/7 reliability, better cooling, no risk of laptop battery swelling, easy RAM and storage expandability, and low idle power consumption.
What I think the specs should be for me is 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. And my budget is 10k INR.
I want to hear your thoughts. Thank you! :)
If you have options and the space go for 64bit CPU and midi sized office tower for expandability. If you want hardware acceleration for playback you need the check the docs (like immich vp9 > intel 9th gen CPU). What do you mean by cloud service?
By cloud, i rn mean smth like syncthing. Like basically a storage machine
So yeah, space will be an issue if you would go small… Some SSF may be enough but you will mostly need some special cables though. I got an SSF thinkcentre and managed to put 3x 2,5" HDDs inside (needed some machining).
Basically I would recommend something like an i5-9400 with 16gb ram in an tower case. Also have the PSU in mind, because some office PCs come with really low wattage, that could limit your expandability.
If you really want to stay with your mentioned software, 8GB could be enough though.