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

  • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 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
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          4 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.

  • forger125@lemmy.mlEnglish
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    4 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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      4 months ago

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  • helenslunch@feddit.nlEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Define “pre-built”?

    What will you be using it for?

    I’m still testing the CWWK X86 P5 but so far it seems like a near-perfect solution for personal use and the price can’t be best.

      • helenslunch@feddit.nlEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        Define pre-built.

        How big is your media library?

        Ollama will probably benefit from a more powerful processor like a Ryzen 7000/8000 series.

        Can’t comment on NPUs and TOPs and all that. Still completely at a loss as to what is or is not marketing nonsense when it comes to AI. But the new Ryzen CPUs are supposed to have more of those, if you can wait.

        • diy@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
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          4 months ago

          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. Storage capacity between 1 and 8 terabytes

          • helenslunch@feddit.nlEnglish
            0·
            4 months ago

            I want to buy a device that already has the necessary hardware

            Does that include disks? That’s going to limit your options considerably.

            The one I recommended does not come with RAM or storage but those are both very easy to install and you can choose what size. It also comes with 2xSATA/power connectors. You could get 2x8TB 2.5" SSDs but I’d probably go with 4x2TB NVMe, that would give you 8TB RAW or 6TB with a parity disk.

  • lautan@lemmy.caEnglish
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    4 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.

  • Getting6409@lemm.eeEnglish
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    4 months ago

    I’ve had a good experience so far with two minipcs, mele quieter 4c for kodi, and a morefine m9 (I think this one is branded as mipowcat in the EU). They’re both n100, the m9 can go up to 32gb of ram although it is picky about what modules it will accept. I use the m9 for jellyfin and about 10 other services. Quick sync works great as far as I’ve tested it. For jellyfin I’m relying mostly on direct streaming, but I tried a few episodes with forcing some transcoding by using Firefox for playback and it worked fine.

  • bitchkat@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    4 months ago

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

  • Aux@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    4 months ago

    If you want to run Ollama and other ML stuff, you’re looking at buying an RTX4090, my friend. Affordable and ML are two things you can’t put into one sentence.

    • 486@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      4 months ago

      While you certainly can run AI models that require such a beefy GPU, there are plenty of models that run fine even on a CPU-only system. So it really depends on what exactly Ollama is going to be used for.

  • delver@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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    4 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.

  • poVoq@slrpnk.netEnglish
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    4 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
      0·
      4 months ago

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

      • Mixel@feddit.deEnglish
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        4 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

  • Presi300@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    4 months ago

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