I’m looking to replace an existing older Synology box, I thought about running one of these mini-pc type machines to be able to build something with some more compute. Although I guess I’d be forced to get a NAS for storage.
I mostly run stuff like, shared storage, backups, Media Streaming, and sometimes locally hosted game servers (minecraft, valheim, etc.)
Anyonehave exerience with this want to share some suggestions, painpoints etc?
a mini pc may not give you enough room for drives to have enough storage to act as the nas.
a micro atx on the other hand might work if you are okay with drives on the inside. makes it not very hot swappable.
1] What is the model of your Synology device?
2] What drive sizes/configuration are you currently using?
3] Do you expect your storage needs to grow over the next 24 months? If so, by how much?
Synology DS720+ (2 bay). I’ve got 2, 4TB drives in a mirror
I mostly back up local files from our PC’s. Pictures. Some PC Backups and Media Streaming Files
Storage might increase, but mostly with just adding streaming media, family pictures and backups. So some growth, but slow and steady over time.
The only reason I really looked at another homelab option is because i’ve considered running some servers locally on the device and the synology running those servers in a docker isn’t very performant.
I don’t have any specific need for it, just wanted to toy with setting up a linux server and hosting those things on something with a little more “umph”. And I just wanted to get some suggestions on how others have approached it.
I’ve considered use rack servers, but then I run into finding space for it, buying a rack, more power consumption and heat, and all of the other things that come along with that adventure.
It sounds like your needs are still fairly modest. Since you already own the DS720+, why not keep it as a NAS and get something like a MiniPC that mounts the NAS’s share? Run all your computing needs off the MiniPC, file server can happily fart along in the background! No racks, much cheaper expense, maintenance, noise, and room occupied in house. Also more easily ‘wife approved’ if that’s a consideration, than say a server rack.