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! :)

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.mlEnglish
    7·
    7 hours ago

    IMHO RAM>CPU. Anything released in the past decade will kick ass if it has a good amount of RAM. I still game on a 2016 desktop PC.

    EDIT: Please correct me if I am wrong, but 10,000k INR =~ $100. If that’s the budget, then I highly suggest an IBM ThinkCentre Tiny. They use to sell for ~$100 (used or refurbished). They have no moving parts and make for great headless units.

    • Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      6 hours ago

      How much RAM would you recommend ? I only find ones with 8Go (DDR3 mostly) in the ~100€ price range which seems a bit low

      • Jo Miran@lemmy.mlEnglish
        4·
        6 hours ago

        Ugh. You could get the 16gb 256GB I5 model, refurbished, for $159 not so long ago. 8 is not awful if you run a minimal Debian 13 server, but 12+ is ideal.

        The key is searching local IT clearance shops. Also, if you are entrepreneurial, ping your local banks to see if they are willing to sell their old ones. The prize is in the units that aren’t certified for Win11 as they are essentially e-waste.