Here's what I currently have:
- Ryzen 1700 w/ 16GB RAM
- GTX 750 ti
- 1x SATA SSD - 120GB, currently use <50GB
- 2x 8TB SATA HDD
- runs openSUSE Leap, considering switch to microOS
And main services I run (total disk usage for OS+services - data is :
- NextCloud - possibly switch to ownCloud infinite scale
- Jellyfin - transcoding is nice to have, but not required
- samba
- various small services (Unifi Controller, vaultwarden, etc)
And services I plan to run:
- CI/CD for Rust projects - infrequent builds
- HomeAssistant
- maybe speech to text? I'm looking to build an Alexa replacement
- Minecraft server - small scale, only like 2-3 players, very few mods
HW wishlist:
- 16GB RAM - 8GB may be a little low longer term
- 4x SATA - may add 2 more HDDs
- m.2 - replace my SATA SSD; ideally 2x for RAID, but I can do backups; performance isn't the concern here (1x sata + PCIe would work)
- dual NIC - not required, but would simplify router config for private network; could use USB to Eth dongle, this is just for security cameras and whatnot
- very small - mini-ITX at the largest; I want to shove this under my bed
- very quiet
- very low power - my Ryzen 1700 is overkill, this is mostly for the "quiet" req, but also paying less is nice
I've heard good things about N100 devices, but I haven't seen anything w/ 4x SATA or an accessible PCIe for a SATA adapter.
The closest I've seen is a ZimaBlade, but I'm worried about:
- performance, especially as a CI server
- power supply - why couldn't they just do regular USB-C?
- access to extra USB ports - its hidden in the case
I don't need x86 for anything, ARM would be fine, but I'm having trouble finding anything with >8GB RAM and SATA/PCIe options are a bit... limited.
Anyway, thoughts?
I'm honestly not sure, I'm just pulling stuff from various online sources to get an estimate. This YouTube video measures noise from a single 7200 RPM WD Red drive, and I have 2x 5400 WD Red drives, so I'm guessing mine will be similar, if not a little quieter. I'd measure it myself, but it's next to 2 other PCs and fan noise drowns it out.
Basically, I want it to work under my bed. It's a large, thick bed (king size purple mattress; so basically foam), so I can stick it pretty far in to get some flexibility on what "quiet" means. We also aren't particularly light sleepers, so our threshold is probably a little higher than others.
That said, I'm using the stock fan for my Ryzen 1700 (Wraith Spire I think?), and that's way too loud for a bedroom (40dba-ish?), and I can't really hear my drives over the fan unless I get really close. The spec on the drives say something like 20-30dba for my drives (I'm guessing that's right next to the drive), and I think that's quiet enough for my room, especially if I can dampen vibration a bit. But since the drives will probably spin down, I'm looking for fan noise around that level or lower, if I need a fan at all.