Homelab mini PC

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arnies

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#3405609 19-Aug-2025 15:21

Since I realised I needed a NAS regardless, I ended up ordering a https://aoostar.com/products/aoostar-wtr-pro-intel-n150-4-bays-nas-mini-pc

This should serve me well for at least running NAS + Plex on it. Thinking of Unraid but debating Proxmox + TrueNas or OMV too.

everettpsycho

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#3405733 19-Aug-2025 23:46

arnies:

Since I realised I needed a NAS regardless, I ended up ordering a https://aoostar.com/products/aoostar-wtr-pro-intel-n150-4-bays-nas-mini-pc

This should serve me well for at least running NAS + Plex on it. Thinking of Unraid but debating Proxmox + TrueNas or OMV too.

I keep looking at it but I've heard you should avoid truenas on it, something to do with the ASM sata panel they are using can lead to data corruption on that OS. Seemingly isn't an issue on unraid so it's not zfs related.

Handle9

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#3405926 20-Aug-2025 20:27

arnies:

Handle9:

I'm very happy with my Minisforum MS-01. Low idle power, all the conenctivity you could want and has a ton of capability.

It could be overkill for a basic homelab but it's a buy once, cry once sort of thing for me. I'm planning on changing my storage server to something much lower power in the next 12 months as I don't need the compute it has now.

From what I've read its 25W+ at idle, is that right? Would prefer lower if possible but is not a deal breaker.

It's roughly 25W-30W for me at idle with 3 SSDs and a discrete GPU. I imagine it'd be a bit less without the GPU.

aj6828

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#3405932 20-Aug-2025 21:58

i just run a refurbished Lenovo Intel 1L pc with Proxmox, which works great... not the state of the art, but does the job

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tchart

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#3406042 21-Aug-2025 11:36

michaelmurfy:

The Minisforum is super easy (and free - from their official website) to ship to NZ.

I'm rocking a MS-01 running Proxmox and have their NAS coming soon - it's amazing. Really recommend it.

I have several (3 or 4) Minisforums for my homelab. Never had any issues ordering even before the NZ site. A few of the newer ones are running 96Gb of memory and I use Hyper-V.

Only "problem" is that I run Windows 10/11 on them as I couldnt get server installed and happy.

tchart

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#3406044 21-Aug-2025 11:38

arnies:

Since I realised I needed a NAS regardless, I ended up ordering a https://aoostar.com/products/aoostar-wtr-pro-intel-n150-4-bays-nas-mini-pc

This should serve me well for at least running NAS + Plex on it. Thinking of Unraid but debating Proxmox + TrueNas or OMV too.

Nice! I ordered a GMKtec G9 earlier in the year. Runs hot (bad thermal design) but OMV works great on the N150.

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arnies

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#3416432 19-Sep-2025 16:30

Well, now i kinda wish I waited for these new Unifi NAS devices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv36qeanFIo

The 4 bay systems + a mini PC for home lab seems like a nice solution

Handle9

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#3416435 19-Sep-2025 16:33

Don't worry about it. There's always a new shiny which comes out after you buy a new unit.

If what you have does what you want then you're in a good place.

sonyxperiageek

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#3424113 11-Oct-2025 15:48

Has anyone got any thoughts on the Minisforum vs the Beelink lineup of mini PCs? They both seem good on paper!

Sony

JimmyH

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#3450130 5-Jan-2026 19:12

I did my small setup on the cheap (the joys of having young children to drain the bank account). I just got an ex-lease Optiplex for (from memory) around $275, which has only an i5 6400 CPU. Bunged in an SSD I had lying around, and planned to use it as a temporary solution for at most a year. But to my surprise, two years later it's still doing the job, installed in a headless setup and primarily running Jellyfin. In fact, I just bought some RAM from @vexxxboy to make it a bit less sluggish at browsing and scanning the media libraries connected to it.

I will do something better eventually (needed to replace my main PC and the car, as well as house repairs, so not in this years' budget). But if you want something affordable to play with, enterprise quality ex-corporate gear can be worth a look.

Once I have the RAM in, I'm looking at also installing a Calibre server, and an audiobook server as well.

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