What’s the best affordable pre-built mini server available in Europe? I’m looking for a reliable and compact option that won’t break the bank

Edit: something that are not arm based

Edit 2: I’m looking to set up a system that can run Jellyfin, Ollama, and a few other small services. By ‘pre-built’, I mean I want to buy a device that already has the necessary hardware and installation, so all I need to do is install the operating system and I’m good to go

  • poVoq@slrpnk.netEnglish
    11·
    7 months ago

    You need to first explain what you want the server for, because that will give us an idea of your CPU and storage requirements.

    • diy@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      4·
      7 months ago

      I’m looking to set up a system that can run Jellyfin, Ollama, and a few other small services.

      • Mixel@feddit.deEnglish
        10·
        7 months ago

        Ollama is a big thing, do you want it to be fast? You will need a GPU, how large is the model you will be running be? 7/8B with CPU not as fast but no problem. 13B slow with CPU but possible

  • SpeakinTelnet@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    9·
    7 months ago

    Edit: something that are not arm based

    You want pre-built to run ollama, that’s at least gonna cost you an arm, maybe even a leg.

    • xcjs@programming.devEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      It depends on the model you run. Mistral, Gemma, or Phi are great for a majority of devices, even with CPU or integrated graphics inference.

  • lautan@lemmy.caEnglish
    8·
    7 months ago

    Prebuilt like a traditional server? I personally use an orange pi and it’s pretty good. Just make sure to use the open source arm OS.

  • delver@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    7·
    7 months ago

    I’m not sure if they’re still affordable but I ended up getting both a morefine and a beelink, one with the n100 Intel CPU and the other with the n305. They handle everything I’ve thrown at them, and come with out of the box quicksync transcoding for Jellyfin/Plex. Handles 4K transcode like a champ. Couple that with 2.5g Ethernet and they sip power. Though they might have gone up in price since I bought mine.

  • bitchkat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    I love my NUCs but haven’t really paid attention to what has happened since Intel sold that line to ASUS.

  • forger125@lemmy.mlEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    You can try the Minisforum MS-01. Relatively compact, inexpensive, with a lot of options for expandability as well as relatively powerful Intel CPUs with QuickSync for LLM and transcode. Here is a nice overview of the device.

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      2·
      7 months ago

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  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Fewer Letters More Letters
    NUC Next Unit of Computing brand of Intel small computers
    NVMe Non-Volatile Memory Express interface for mass storage
    Plex Brand of media server package
    SSD Solid State Drive mass storage

    [Thread #785 for this sub, first seen 5th Jun 2024, 13:55] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

  • Presi300@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    Go on ebay or your local 2nd hand market and search “mini PC” or “Office computer”…

  • Charadon@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    A used mini computer, like a lenovo thinkcentre, hp prodesk mini, and dell optiplex micro.

  • B0rax@feddit.deEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    I like my HPE microserver gen10+

    Although it does not come with a GPU by default, but you can install a low power one.

  • HumanPerson@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    I see people mentioning small office desktops, and they are good, but I will warn you that they use proprietary parts so upgrading and repairing them can be difficult. Also jellyfin.org has some good info under the hardware acceleration section for what to use.

  • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    How small? How many drives? I bought several used Lenovo P330 E2276G for my servers.

    The Intel CPU has great low power GPU for video encoding/decoding for video streaming.

    The Xeon ECC ram gives long term reliability. It’s important if you leave your PC on 24/7 for years at a time.

        • diy@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
          1·
          7 months ago

          I just need something that works. I’ve had a bad experience with a previous model that wouldn’t boot on my Ubuntu server drive, no matter how much time I spent on it. But if you know of any models that are worth checking out, I’m all ears.

          • ElectricMachman@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
            1·
            7 months ago

            Might be worth trying to find a refurbished HP ProLiant MicroServer. There are a few on eBay UK within the £200-400 range. You can sometimes find professionally refurbished units as well.

      • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        Used servers/workstations are likely more reliable than new consumer.

        They were very likely kept temperature controlled, have ECC, and are actually known working instead of something like Asus. If I remember correctly, PC mortality is very high the first 6 months, goes down to near zero for 5 years, then starts going back up.

        Replace the SSD/hard drive and you are good. You might not even have to do that. I checked the stats on the SSD that came with my used Lenovo workstation and it had like 20 hours on it.