Mini PC
Small form-factor traditional computers have become popular for creating your own personal media server and set-top boxes using Plex or Jellyfin. These are sold by many notable PC manufacturers, such as Intel NUCs or Dell's OptiPlex and Precision series. There are other direct-to-consumer options like System76, BeeLink and GeekomPC.
Great option for hosting a small media server or a cloud solution for your family.
Your experiences
Overview
These computers can be reasonably priced with a traditional x86 processor and expandable storage.
- Price Range: $150 to $1500
- Minimum Specs: 2.5GHz 64-bit 4-core x86 processor; 16GB of RAM; 250GB platter hard disk; 1Gbit Ethernet.
- Recommended Specs: 3.0GHz 64-bit 4-core x86 processor; 32GB of RAM; 250GB NVME SSD; 2.5Gbit Ethernet.
- Where To Buy: BeeLink, GeekomPC, System76, Newegg, and other online marketplaces. Discounted refurbished models are often available.
These types of computers uses the traditional x86 architecture which gives them more processing power at the cost of more power usage. Depending on the model, they may use a desktop or mobile processor and have differing levels of extensibility for add-ons like graphics cards or hard drives.
Many mini PCs come with different connectivity options such as USB, HDMI, 3.5mm audio, optical audio, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Examples
- Media Manager and Server: Host your own Jellyfin media server to stream your media remotely. Personal media managers like Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, Readarr and Bazarr can help keep track of your media, while Prowlarr can aggregate search results for missing media to send to your peer-to-peer qBittorrent server.
- Personal Blog, Website and Wiki: Express yourself with a WordPress blog, build a knowledge base with MediaWiki and host your own personal website or resume.
Your experiences may vary.
Always make sure to test for stability when installing new services.
Review
Mini PCs can work well for a small personal media or cloud server, but lack the power to support multiple users. Many computers in this form factor cannot support a graphics card or additional hard drives. High-speed NVME hard drives are increasingly common, greatly improving performance for basic cloud servers.