So, I currently have a Netgear ReadyNAS 314 with 1 SSD, 3 HDDs, Intel Atom D2701 and 4GB RAM, running Debian 12, and since getting it I’ve been getting more into self hosting. What I have now is primarily too weak in the CPU and RAM department, but it could also use more HDDs. I’m aiming for 5-6 3.5 HDDs, 1 Nvme, 1 2.5" SSD.

What I’m currently running:

  • Samba and NFS server

  • OpenVPN

  • Jellyseerr/Jellyfin/*arr stack

  • Pangolin

  • Dawarich

  • Immich

  • rsnapshot

  • Homepage

And it’s rather sluggish right now, and is almost filling up its 4GB of swap.

What I’d also like to be able to run/have:

  • Nextcloud

  • Transcoding (including ability to decode AV1, but preferably also encode)

  • Anything else I may want to run (working on degoogling myself)

  • ECC RAM (to prevent bitrot, I’m already running btrfs raid1 to prevent bitrot from faulty disks)

  • 1x 2.5G ethernet

If possible I’d like to have some room for upgradeability. I’m aiming for a low power build, that should be rather compact, especially not very wide unless I can find a better place in my office for it.

I’m looking at a Jonsbo N1 chassis (17cm wide) , but I’m also following a Readynas 626 (19cm wide) in an online auction. Options:

Intel N100 board

Pros: cheap, low power, quicksync with av1 decode

Cons: boards with 2.5G ethernet have to be ordered from Aliexpress and have no support and uses the JMB585 chip that prevents low power C states, limited pcie lanes, no AV1 encode, not very upgradeable (1 DIMM, soldered CPU) , no ECC, I worry it may be too slow

Intel 13100

Pros: AV1 decode, quite fast, upgradeable

Cons: No ECC, relatively expensive, no AV1 encode

AMD 8500G

Pros: AV1 enc/dec, ECC, relatively fast, upgradeable

Cons: relatively expensive, not as low power as the 13100

Readynas 626

Pros: enterprise grade HW, less DIY, ECC, may be relatively cheap

Cons: high power for its performance (roughly that of the N100), wider (19cm) than a Jonsbo N1 (17cm), not upgradeable (no CPU or mobo swap), expensive DDR4 2133 ECC UDIMM, doesn’t have M.2 but has a PCIE slot

I’d love to hear what you think about these options and whether you have other concerns that I haven’t thought about.

Edit: I just now realized that the 13100 doesn’t have AV1 encode in HW, that didn’t come until Core Ultra. And wowee, suitable mITX mobos start at 400$ here! I think AMD is the realistic choice if I want to go for AV1 HW encode…

  • Bronzie@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    I did the same.

    Jellyfin and all “fun” containers to a N100 NUC and let the NAS be a NAS. It’s only running the .arr stack and qBit. Works really well and the NUC has power for days to expand.

    • ladfrombrad 🇬🇧@lemdro.id
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      1 day ago

      Fourth person chiming in here !chellomere@lemmy.world, and I’ve pretty much the same as the above guys.

      Segmented the NAS to being a NAS + arrr stack, N100 for Immich/Jellyfin HW transcoding, RPi3& 5 for Adguard and TVHeadend server.

      I like the idea of there not being a single point of failure.

      • chellomere@lemmy.worldOP
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        1 day ago

        You’re starting to convince me, I’ve been looking at getting a GMKtec G3 N100 mini pc and just slotting it beside my existing NAS. I can even get a dedicated gigabit ethernet connection going between these two.

        • Bronzie@sh.itjust.works
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          23 hours ago

          That would be a mirror of my setup. GMKtec N100 with 16 Gb of RAM doing all the heavy lifting with Jellyfin (transcoding), game servers, HomeAssistant and so forth. Not once has it had a hickup.

          It’s a brilliant little thing for really very little money.

          Remember to activate C-states in BIOS to achieve the super low idle TDP people talk about, around 6-8W.

          Good luck on your journey!

        • ladfrombrad 🇬🇧@lemdro.id
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          24 hours ago

          It’s an expensive journey if you wanna ever keep near Moores Law and why I like handing down shit.

          A family member has my old Synology NAS and they still can’t get their head around Jellyseer but understands it, works.

          It then also gives me a test + bonus backup place. Have fun!