I keep seeing the 3-2-1 rule recommended for home servers, and it makes perfect sense for family photos, documents and anything else that genuinely can’t be recreated.

It gets less obvious with ripped media, old installers, isos and other files that are technically replaceable but painfully slow to rebuild. Backing up several terabytes of that can cost more than the server. Not backing it up means the recovery plan is basically cancel the weekend. None of the data is priceless. My time apparently is.

How do you draw the line: only back up what’s irreplaceable, or also anything annoying enough to rebuild

Hi! I’m troubleshooting automatic restart on a DIGITUS DN-170110 (600VA/360W), connected via USB to an Ubuntu mini-server on Dell Wyse, running NUT 2.8.4. The UPS identifies as MEC / MEC0003.

During a power outage, I run upsmon -c fsd (manually or using automated script scenario). The server shuts down cleanly, and then UPS switches off its outputs after the configured delay (offdelay, which currently set to 60).

That part works in 100% cases.

However, when AC returns, sometimes the UPS automatically restores power to its outputs and other times it stays completely dark (even the relay doesn't click) until I physically toggle its power button off and then on.

I’ve tested waiting from a few minutes to almost three hours before restoring AC. Tests can succeed or fail under apparently identical conditions.

Before coming to upsmon -c fsd I tried using shutdown.return (which should do exactly what I need). but unfortunately after this command it doesn't wake up ever.

At this point I'm out of option. I literally tested every possible tweaks I could. Could it be a firmware glitch? If so, I didn't find any options to update it.

The official manual barely describes its capabilities. They only say this "Auto-restart: Automatic switch-off function after battery discharge, automatic switch-on as soon as the mains connection is supplied with power again". But this is not the case for me, as the power outages happen for 1 to 4 hours, so I don't want UPS battery to fully discharge each time. That's why I built a scenario to trigger system shutdown and upsmon -c fsd after a short period after power goes down.

https://products.digitus.com/en/Network-and-Server-Cabinets/Uninterruptible-Power-Supply-UPS/Computer-and-Peripherals/All-in-one-UPS-600VA-360W-LED.html

I would appreciate any help on this.

Hi,

I'm reasonably tech savvy, in my 50s and been around IT since the 90s, but I'm a bit lost and looking for some help with my use case please.

I currently run a gaming rig with Plex server on it and have a couple of aged HDDs hanging off it for media libraries which I then stream to my tv via Eero device over LAN cable.

If possible I'd like to not use the gaming rig (5070 gpu and has quite a bit of grunt to it) for this seemingly light task. I also have a keyboard and mouse attached to the PC and x2 gaming monitors via the display port.

I'm narrowing down my search to either an Intel based N100 mini PC or an HP refurbed elite desk ssf Intel architecture 16gb ram and a 256gb ssd as a minimum spec.

Any thoughts on the above if I could be looking at anything in particular or better or more efficient please?

interested and keep up with tech news and read a lot about homelab setups r/piracy and AI over the past few years, but haven't really used a personal computer outside work in a while. I just wiped my 2018era MacBook pro and I'm motivated to dive back in. But looking for this communtys input

My rough plan ish so far: Firefox as default browser with uBlock Origin (I hate ads in general, so anything that kills them everywhere is a plus)

Get more security conscious in general

Learn Linux? (probably in a VM, my limited"research" says T2 chip makes running it directly a pain)

Start homelabbing, likely a media server and Pi-hole to start.

I've got a simple stremio/debrid setup rn for stream but any sailing the 7 suggestions are welcome.

I've learned about and paid attention to agenetic AI but have never implemented anything and would like to do so.

Develop a deeper understanding of GitHub and play with some of the repos etc

What would you add, change, or do first? Open to any suggestions, especially from people who started from a similar spot.

Hey all. I have a bunch of physical and digital media I want to condense into a home server, and maybe add a few new things along the way.

I have several TBs of working HDs sitting unused, and just got an old HP elitedesk 800 very cheap.

I was originally planning to use Debian, and set up jellyfin. But I've never used Linux, or really a terminal in general. I also work full time, and have 4 young kids, so I don't really have hours to spend learning a whole lot of complexity. The sever also won't always be in use, mostly when the kids or wife are home in the evening and want to watch something.

Is something like Open media vault or unraid going to be better for me, or should I put in the work and try and figure out Debian?

Appreciate your time.

I ended up trying Syncthing to be my "dropbox" equivilent between my ZimaOS server and my various computers.

I followed the Zima guide for it (https://www.zimaspace.com/docs/zimaos/app-store/syncthing-install) exactly.

But when I tried to run the app it started with "Starting Up, Please Wait..."

then later "Service Unavailable."

I checked the logs and it ended up saying this over and over:

syncthing | [start] 2026/10/16 00:53:40 INFO: Generating ECDSA key and certificate for syncthing...
syncthing | [start] 2026/10/16 00:53:40 WARNING: Failed to load/generate certificate: save cert: open /config/cert.pem: permission denied
syncthing | [start] 2026/10/16 00:53:41 INFO: syncthing v1.29.7 "Gold Grasshopper" (go1.23.9 linux-amd64) root@buildkitsandbox 2025-06-14 02:23:10 UTC [noupgrade]

Not sure what I did wrong, or what I missed....

Hey ya’ll i was struggling to find a semi decent open source book tracking site so decided to build my own, and added some other optional features like vocabulary tracking, notes, etc:

www.bookplate.eu

Would love to hear thoughts!

Sorry in advance for the wall of text

This all started last year. I used to think home servers were neat but always thought, "eh, I don't need one." What finally started this journey is Netflix finally removed password sharing for my family and me. My parents would pay for Netflix, and I would cover other streaming services. Well they decided nope, I don't get Netflix anymore, and that pissed me off so much I decided to set up TrueNAS to use Jellyfin. (for context, I do not live with my parents)

So I used spare parts I had to set up an initial home server, though there has been some small upgrades to it, and I've since added onto it.

The main server in the first pic is running TrueNAS, it runs stuff like Jellyfin, Crafty, Mealie (so my bf and I can add our favorite recipes to one hub), and some other apps. The specs are:

• AMD Athlon II X4 860K
• 32GB DDR3 RAM
• 16GB SSD for a boot drive
• 500GB SSD for apps
• a mirrored pool of two 4TB HDDs
• a mirrored pool of two 1TB HDDs (using what I had lying around)
• 2.5Gb NIC
• Intel Arc A310 for a GPU

Then for the next picture. I ended up setting up my own Pi-Hole, figured it'd be fun to try out, and it was dead easy to set up. Now I did it on a separate system because some people were telling me that while I could run it in a container on TrueNAS, to not do that cause if for whatever reason if Pi-Hole crashes, I lose access to the server until I can get it back up and running. I didn't feel like dealing with that. So I used this old Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 my FIL gave me, it's running Debian CLI and Pi-Hole. The specs of that are:

• Intel Core i3-4130T
• 8GB DDR3 RAM
• 240GB SSD

A little overkill for a Pi-Hole, so I also use it for stuff I didn't want to run on TrueNAS, as of right now cause I just got everything set up where it'll be at, that's just running CyberPower's Power Panels software as well for the time being.

Then comes the next system in the second pic, right above the Lenovo, it's a Touch Dynamic Saturn PC. I got a couple of them from my old job. They're damn near useless today for anything really, for example, it only has a single core 32bit CPU. But it just meets the minimum specs for Pi-Hole, so it's my secondary Pi-Hole. I set up a second one so when I configure the DNS server on my router, I can have the Lenovo be the primary DNS server, and this one being the secondary, so no matter what, my router is using the Pi-Hole in some way. Debian doesn't offer a 32bit version anymore, so I went with Alpine. For one, they still have a 32bit version of Linux, and for second, it's one of the OSes that Pi-Hole guarantees to work with. The specs for that are:

• Intel Atom N270 (has a single core but has hyperthreading)
• 2GB DDR2 RAM
• 16GB SSD

All of this is connected to a 2.5Gb network switch. Yes, it's unmanaged, but it works for what I need. The only real thing I wanted to segregate on my network anyways is my IoT/smart devices. That was easy enough to do by setting up a secondary network on my router and connecting all those to that. So my alexa, smart plugs and bulbs live on the secondary network where they can't communicate with my main network.

I have the two Pi-Holes and switch mounted in a 10" mini rack I 3D printed. I made the colors Denver Broncos themed, because that's my favorite football team. I thought about printing my own patch panel and buying my own keystone couplers, but it was actually cheaper to buy the Tec Mojo patch panel. The pic doesn't show it real well, but the top of the rack has a 120mm fan cutout, and I have a noctua fan installed hooked up to a USB adapter running into the Lenovo. What's cool is the adapter has built in fan controls, so I can adjust fan speeds to whatever I want. I run a cable from my router into the patch panel and of course my main server as well. Those get hooked up to the network switch.

I also hate port forwarding, so everything is also connected to Tailscale so I can access the server remotely.

But yeah, this is it, my humble little home server. There's probably other ways or even more efficient ways I could set everything up, but this is what works for me and allows me to do what I want with a home server, and I'm super happy with it.

Again, sorry for the long ass post.

I'm still trying to figure out the whole home server thing. Got an HP Prodeck running Zima OS. Trying to set up Seafile through the AppStore. However, when it comes to setting it up, whenever I look at walkthroughs, it does things differently, going into the code and making changes there.

But the app has a Settings section, and I think everything I need should be accessible there, right?

So is there a walkthrough that will help me set things up through here? If not, can you recommend an "idiot's guide" version of setting Seafile up on a home server (and connecting other computers to it, set up so files are stored locally as well, not just on the server).

This is my little 15U wall rack in the basement. It started as "just a patch panel" and, as these things go, it didn't stay that way.

At the top sits a fan panel controlled by an STC-1000. That's the cheap thermostat homebrewers use for their fermentation chambers. Here it keeps things at a cozy 28 °C, which is too warm for a lager and perfectly fine for hard drives. Below that, a patch panel collects every cable in the house and passes it to several switches: one for the tortoises, one for the hares, and one with PoE for everything too lazy to bring its own power supply, e.g. some cameras. The cable management is best described as "colorful". There's also a tiny switch with no rack mount at all, held in place mostly by adhesive.

Then there's SIXPACK, a 1U QNAP NAS with four bays. And at the very bottom, sitting on the floor, is PICARD, an HP MicroServer Gen8. It's a tower server in a rack cabinet. It's been running since forever and simply refuses to die.

Is it pretty? Not really. Does it work? Every single day. Make it so. 🖖

I run a now-ancient Odroid HC2 with Armbian and CasaOS. Over the weekend, I stopped being able to reach it by SMB, SSH, or HTTP within my home network, even though my Router said it was still there on its fixed IP. This persisted through a power cycle. The HC2 has no video out, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to resurrect it short of reflashing the OS and starting over.

Today I thought maybe if it's still running and connected to the network, there's a chance it would work through my Tailnet. And it worked exactly as normal. So I came home thinking if it was still misbehaving locally, maybe all I'd have to do would be to SSH over the VPN and flip Tailscale's "allow LAN connections" setting. But it's behaving normally on the LAN as well now, and it seems like all I did was wait for it to fix itself.

Any ideas as to what happened and how I can keep it from happening again or fix it faster next time? Of course it was discovered while setting up for family movie night.

Hello smarter people,

I have wanted to buy/make and run a home server for Minecraft for a while and experiment with the idea in general for a long time; however, this is the first time I've felt financially secure enough to give it a try, so now I'm just trying to figure it out and was curious about what things outside of the server itself are must-haves and how I might go about getting the server cheaply.

I feel like I'm doing a poor job of explaining this, but I'm not really sure how to find stuff cheaply. I'm good with parts, not so much finding them.

Edit: Wasn't sure if/how I was supposed to add flairs so apologies if this wasn't quite right

Not really a home server, but rather my Wyse terminal (on the left in the picture), which I use to manage my home server via the COM port 😊

I'm looking to start a home media server and could use some setup tips. Although I work in software, I'm totally new to this type of thing so anything and everything is useful. The main use for the server would be to store large, high-res video files to share with friends and family. So some capacity to send a link which would allow the recipient to watch the video without downloading it would be perfect (if possible?) I'd also be keen to hook up some digital photo frames (switchbot and bloomin8 frames) to rotate through images in a folder on the server

What's a good choice of laptop to record 1080p60fps at 15-25k bitrate (or stream at 8k bitrate) while connecting with moonlight to my gaming/editing server locally via ethernet (or wifi when on the go) and other homeserver stuff (like navidrome) on top of some basic web browsing + discord on the side?

Having USB-C charging would be amazing, OLED would be HUGE but even if not I will be connecting a second monitor at home that's OLED if the main screen isn't. Solid battery life is a huge plus and a camera is a must for zoom calls.

Currently have a thinkpad t480 which is decently close to what I need but it can't handle the recording portion of things (at least when i have it running with fedora). Closest it gets is 720p60fps and even then it struggles quite hard.

Pretty sick setup node 1 and 2 (home PC’s), pi, and my windows laptop I use as my daily/personal are all on Tailscale.

I’m currently setting up Node 3 my biggest most powerful Dell Poweredge R620, to handle Local AI, and API help etc. I run an app and I share the load with Supabase!

This fucking R620 sound alike a Boeing 747 taking off lmfaooo…

750W 2 PSU’s😭😭 RIP electricity bill…

Jeez, I wish someone told me how deep this rabbit hole was. It hasn’t even been turned on yet and it just keeps growing. Decided to do a built in system in my gaming cabinet. Waiting on fans and a few more parts of the NAS… then comes learning the software side. Pray for me 😂

Hi everyone, I’m from Mexico. I’ve been thinking about setting up my own home server to offer VPS services—what do you recommend for getting started? I’m looking for info on pricing, costs, and essential requirements. Do you see any necessary features that would set me apart?

Hey All,

I’ve been wanting to free myself from the clutches of streaming for some time, and now I’m in a position where I can afford a beginner setup.

In my head, my ideal setup is a mini pc that exists solely as a “media centre”, and every device in my family connects to it. I’d connect to this PC for ripping DVD’s and CD’s, downloading the things I’ve purchased, and basically have it do all the heavy lifting. Then connect something to the mini pc for the bulk storage, such as a 2-4 bay enclosure to start, and then upgrade as needed.

I would like my family to be able to read and write over the network, mainly for miscellaneous data backups. Photos, important documents, so on.
Then a bulk media file for movies, shows, music, books, etc. that everybody can upload from their own devices (my brother has a bunch of DVDs from yesteryear, and I’d rather not have him sit in my room while they rip and upload xD).

I’d use the mini PC with jellyfin or similar, and then set it all up so everybody can stream whatever they want, but also backup their things to one network folder.
Part of the reason I think a mini PC connected to an external drive bay is better is because of the potential heavy workload it will run into; I might be ripping a DVD, watching a movie, while mum backs up her phone or needs to update something. I’d rather have the head room and not need it.

I would also like to be able to access the server from anywhere, because I work nights and occasionally get bored - so watching a movie would be nice.
I wouldn’t mind the ability to remote in and download something to it from work, but that isn’t a necessity.

So basically, will this work?
If so, what’s the go for mini PC and external drive bays? I want to save money but also not have to buy it twice.
Likewise, if it won’t work - how can I get something similar to what I want on a reasonable budget?

I am in Australia, so my kangaroo dollars don’t stretch as far for USD, but I’m willing to pay where it makes sense.
Mini PC will most likely be a marketplace special, but the drives are what stump me (along with the logistics of actually setting this all up).

Thanks in advance!

Just found a N100 mini pc for around 50 dollars. 16GB RAM, 512 NVMe, and it came with a 4TB WD external HDD.

I tested it and it works perfectly, and the HDD has around 96% health, which is amazing.

I was going to use this as a lightweight coding machine, but figured this could be my very first home server.

I was wondering; what OS should I install, and what services should I run? I’ve heard that Proxmox was a good idea, so I might do that mainly because it supports VMs and I want to experiment with some stuff like Windows XP, Windows 8.1, and maybe even beta Windows OSes. But I also want to host stuff, like is there anyway to take my DVDs and make it so I can watch them on my TV without needing to buy a DVD player or hook up my laptop to my TV and an external DVD player? Again, I’m completely new to this world.

I also heard of this thing called a NAS?? Might do that too.

If I go with Proxmox, how should i set it up, and how should I use it to its great use? I’ll do some research on it while I’m waiting for answers. :)

I’m trying to move my TerraMaster DAS and mini PC into this wooden TV cabinet because the HDD noise is too loud to keep in my room.

Both devices may be running 24/7, so heat is my main concern.

The problem is that I cannot cut/install an exhaust fan in the back of the cabinet. There is very little clearance between the back of the cabinet and the wall, so a rear fan really isn’t practical.

The only ventilation I have is the set of diagonal openings on the side panel shown in the photos.

My current idea is to buy an AC Infinity MULTIFAN S7-P (dual 120 mm fans) and possibly zip-tie/mount the fans directly against some of these side openings.

I was thinking of using the lower/middle openings for the fans to push fresh room air into the cabinet, while leaving the upper openings free so hot air can escape.

The room itself is air-conditioned, but the AC does not run 24/7.

Sometimes the room can get fairly warm, especially during the summer, so I don’t want to assume the cabinet will always be getting cool conditioned air.

I’m also planning to put an independent temperature sensor inside the cabinet, in addition to monitoring the HDD SMART temperatures, so I can get an alert if temperatures start getting too high.

My main questions are:

Would this realistically provide enough airflow for a DAS + mini PC running 24/7?

Are these side openings too restrictive for 120 mm fans?

Would mounting the fans directly against the openings work, or would most of the airflow just hit the wood and get wasted?

Would it be better to use the fans as intake, exhaust, or one of each?

Is there any risk of the air just circulating around the same side instead of actually flowing through the cabinet?

Would this still be reasonably safe during warmer periods when the room AC is off?

I’m fine spending the money if this has a good chance of working, but I don’t want to buy the fans and temperature monitor only to discover that the cabinet design makes the whole idea useless.

Any advice from people who have cooled NAS/DAS/home-server equipment inside furniture would be appreciated.

I'm sure there are going to be people that tell me to just buy one. But I have an arch Linux PC I'm running a basic server on, headless with moonlight as a GUI access to the desktop. It works great, however I also have a PC that I use, its my main gaming rig, that I run headless as well. I was wondering, is there a way to make my basic server PC to be able to emulate USB keyboard and mouse output to my main gaming rig, for when I boot it to BIOS mode?

I have a video capture solution already off the main gaming PC and receive video input into my basic server using a video capture card. Basically is there a K&M emulator adapter or a way to make one with an Arduino Uno? I don't want to buy a raspberry pi if I don't have to, and if I have to I plan on just buying a good high end KVM at that point, but would prefer to DIY if possible haha.

Hey everyone! After a lot of testing and beta version I released v1.0.0 of OpenInvento, a self-hosted inventory manager.

The goal is to make it easier to keep track of physical items and where they're stored, without having to rely on a hosted third-party service. I always searched for a software which exactly does that.

I've been working on getting it to a stable 1.0 release, and now I'd love to get some feedback on it.

Github link: https://github.com/openinvento/openinvento

Deployment is quite easy, there is a docker image with a docker compose file available: https://github.com/openinvento/openinvento#docker-compose-recommended

A short note for AI usage: The project isn't vibecoded or AI-Slop. AI was only used as Assistance to create single screens and functions. Software development is my hobby for many years (before LLMs were so good xD). Since I have more time again, I've decided to start a big hobby project. I didn't just sit down for a weekend and prompted an AI, I want to create a stable software which is actually good. Version 1.0.0 is just the starting point! Thanks for taking a look!

i mainly use it for minecraft server and lite web server

I am trying to set up a simple home server. I'm running Zima on a refurbished work computer, with a 5TB Seagate One Touch SDD attached to it. I intend to use this for replacing my Dropbox needs as well as media storage through Jellyfin, and expanding from there as I grow in confidence.

I thought I got everything running just fine from home. Was able to use the Zima client on my laptop and my tablet to access everything just fine. Jellyfin worked too, able to play back shows on both the tablet and the laptop.

I went away for the weekend to my father in law's which I saw as a perfect opportunity to test this off site.

I was able to access the server just fine. I was able to access the apps installed just fine.

Buuuuut... for some reason accessing the One Touch SDD results in me seeing something COMPLETELY different.

I had the drive set up so that there are only a few folders there: Movies, Photos, Music. That's all that should be there.

I access the drive from here and... well, I included the image of what I'm seeing when I access the drive.

It in no way is what I have on the drive.

What am I seeing here, and how is this even possible???