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
    12·
    5 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·
      5 months ago

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

      • Mixel@feddit.deEnglish
        11·
        5 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·
    5 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·
      5 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·
    5 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·
    5 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.

  • Presi300@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    5 months ago

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

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

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

  • bitchkat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    5 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·
    5 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·
      5 months ago

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  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    3·
    5 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]

  • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    5 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·
          5 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·
            5 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·
        5 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.