Finally, I have a real home server

Life after Raspberry Pi

For many years, I played around with the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, using it for various projects such as a smart home gateway, print server, air humidity sensors, and radio recording. However, I always found it dramatically lacking in power and was unable to run multiple services simultaneously. Eventually, my Pi Zero began to overheat consistently, necessitating a replacement. Of course, I briefly considered investing in a more powerful version, but the cost-to-power ratio seemed extremely unfavorable, even considering the significantly lower power consumption.

The new computer serves as a home file server, a web server (which works flawlessly if you can read this!), and records radio broadcasts using the Radio2Podcast script—complete with an experimental feature for cutting out ads from the recorded shows. However, all of this came at a price.

A History of Bad Choices

My journey with the home server led me to the brink of frustration, and at one point, I wanted to give up. The only reason I now have a server is my stubbornness and defiance against silly setbacks. Since people online usually describe their successes, I invite you to read about the failures that plagued this “project”.

First Attempt: Lenovo m710s

The foundation was a Lenovo m710s, a small computer with a motherboard supporting LGA1151 (thus, Intel’s seventh and eighth-generation processors). I managed to buy it for a ridiculous 80 PLN without RAM and a hard drive, but with a Pentium G4560. On paper, everything should work perfectly—but it quickly became apparent that unpredictable and replicable problems arose. The system would freeze during boot, or something would go wrong during operation, or worse—the problem wouldn’t appear until the device was restarted, and the nightmare would return.

No words can adequately describe the three days of torment this computer put me through. To make matters worse, the device had no Wi-Fi—I had to keep it in a storage space along with the router (since I hadn’t finished installing Ethernet sockets yet). A cable hung down from the storage space to the monitor, along with a borrowed USB keyboard (because a wireless keyboard wouldn’t work in the BIOS without prior pairing). After reading 20 pages of fruitless discussion on the Lenovo forum, I finally got to the heart of the problem—the issues ceased when I removed my NVMe drive. It turned out that for some reason, the computer couldn’t handle the drive (possibly due to its large capacity or other compatibility issues). After three days of struggle, I returned the computer to the seller and got my money back.

Second Attempt: Dell 7040

The next ideal candidate for a home server was the Dell 7040. The computer was listed for 60 PLN, lacking RAM, a processor, and a hard drive. This story is much shorter, though the circumstances were also frustrating—since the offer was a bargain and the seller was in a hurry, I went to Marysin on a Friday after work (during the worst traffic peak). A quick purchase—and at that price, I didn’t take the time to disassemble the computer to inspect it closely. When I got home from this trip, I was convinced I was cursed—the system wouldn’t boot, as if it didn’t detect the installed processor. It quickly became clear that the socket was damaged.

Of course, I let it go because going back to Marysin and haggling with the seller over 60 PLN was beyond my limits. At this point, I was ready to abandon the idea of a server; I had a terrible weekend and was honestly fed up with computers.

Third Attempt: HP 600 G3 SFF

This time, I bought a case for 99.99 PLN, also without RAM and a hard drive. Before purchasing, I did extensive research on HP products, servicing, and compatibility—which ultimately ended as it should have from the start. The RAM worked, the processor did too, and the hard drive operated quickly and efficiently.

Costs

I omitted the cost of the 1 TB SSD, which I already had (a new one costs about 200 PLN).

Summary

Once I got past the hardware stage, everything started to function reasonably well—but I won’t hide the fact that my technical troubles made me question whether it was worth saving money. Indeed, my setup was built low cost, but the hours wasted, the frustration, and the trips to Marysin make me question the value of this endeavor. Sure, everything works now as I wanted, and I can record TOK FM and automatically cut out the ads—but let’s be honest, it doesn’t compare to the time I wasted on nonsense.