this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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When building a home server, could a used/cheap PC do the job? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 day ago by SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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I've never done any sort of home networking or self-hosting of any kind but thanks to Jellyfin and Mastodon I've become interested in the idea. As I understand it, physical servers ("bare metal" correct?) are PCs intended for data storing and hosting services instead of being used as a daily driver like my desktop. From my (admittedly) limited research, dedicated servers are a bit expensive. However, it seems that you can convert an old PC and even laptop into a server (examples here and here). But should I use that or are there dedicated servers at "affordable" price points. Since is this is first experience with self-hosting, which would be a better route to take?

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[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 11 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

There are advantages to getting server-grade hardware. It’s designed to run 24/7, often supports more hard drives, ram sticks, processors, etc, and often is designed to make it very quick to replace things when they break.

You can find used servers on sites like EBay for reasonable prices. They typically come from businesses selling their old hardware after an upgrade.

However, for simple home use cases, an old regular desktop PC will be just fine. Run it until it breaks!

[–] qaz@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Yes, but if you care about power efficiency then they really aren't a great option. Most professional server hardware that you can get for a decent price uses significantly more power than an old mini computer or a cheap N100 PC. I own a proliant but rarely power it on due to the fact that I could rent an similarly performant VPS for 2x the power bill. Besides that many server CPU's don't have integrated GPU's and will require additional hardware if you want to run something like Jellyfin.

[–] danny801@lemm.ee 2 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

https://labgopher.com/

LabGopher extracts information from active eBay listings to help you easily find the right hardware for your needs.