The Raspberry Pi is excellent for a lot of home applications and self-hosting needs (I still have multiple dotted around the house doing various things). However, they soon run out of resources when running more intensive applications on them. Therefore, I started a search for a low-power alternative which would allow me to do more.
I started with looking at other Single Board Computers, checking the other supported devices on the excellent distribution DietPi. The devices from Pine64 looked good, but I decided I wanted something that wasn't ARM based as x86 at the time was better supported by community Docker images.
Suggestions around the Internet ranged from using an old laptop to getting an old rack mounted server (Dell T30 seemed to be a popular option) from eBay. However, I still wanted to have low power consumption. In the end I went for another oft-suggested device: Intel NUC. The tiny form factor meant it wouldn't take up much room in my office, they had very low power consumption and are x86 based. Also there were quite a few options to choose from, and they were extendable allowing for more RAM and bigger hard drives. The 4 USB ports has allowed for multiple external hard drives, and the ethernet port means I am not relying on WiFi.
Links
- https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/90k116/hardware_recommendation_next_step_up_from_rpi/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/siuyta/which_small_factor_or_nuc_is_best_for_hosting_and/
https://cheapskatesguide.org/articles/best-mini-servers.html