Mini PC for Server

[bakedlays5447]

Hi gang,

I'm thinking about getting a couple mini PCs to use as servers. The first would be for personal use on my local network, where I watch mostly 1080p and 4K remuxes, always direct playing on my Nvidia Shield TV Pro. I have two 22TB drives in a QNAP TR-004 DAS, with my M2 MacBook Pro currently acting as the server. I'd also use the mini PC to download from {we don't talk about content acquisition here - TDP} and for general NAS stuff, i.e. accessing files from different devices, pi-hole, etc.

The other is for use at my parents' house (they'll soon have gigabit fiber), and will be for friends and family viewing remotely. I don't plan on transcoding with this server either — it'll mainly be 1080p files in the neighborhood of 10Gb.

I'm looking at the lower-end Beelink models, would this be overkill? Not powerful enough? How inexpensive can I go here? Definitely open to getting something older/used.

Many thanks!

[EggplantHabitat856]

According to Jellyfin's Wiki, single-board computers are not good for using as servers, so it depends on which device you are planning on buying.

[TheDreadPirate]

Worst case scenario, how many simultaneous users could be using your Jellyfin at one time? And what is your budget?

[bakedlays5447]

Starting out, it would surely be fewer than 10, but I could imagine a scenario down the line where like 30 people are tuning in at once.

I ended up snagging an HP EliteDesk 800 G3 i5 7500T with 16GB of ram from eBay for $80 to have as my private home server. Would this model also be able to handle the described situation of a few dozen simultaneous users? Ideally for this second machine I'd like to spend under $150. Under $100 would be even better.

[TheDreadPirate]

It wouldn't be able to handle a few dozen users if a significant number of them are transcoding. Even if just the audio was transcoding.