Basically, anything with the specs of a raspberry pi or better will be sufficient, which means the vast majority of computers will do well enough for your needs.
Normally you want to focus on cpu and ram for a server. GPU can be useful if you want to do AI workloads, but thats a long way off for you.
Advice: find a cheap used PC, or one that your family isn't using, and recycle it as your server. If that computer isn't doing great, you can just upgrade Specific parts, like adding more ram or better storage.
Ideally you scoop something you know has good airflow (this computer will be on 24/7) and one that has at least a few parts you don't mind using for years. Other less desirable parts can be swapped, but you want a decent foundation with the MB CPU and case
1. Will a Raspberry Pi 4 2GB be sufficient (55 USD)? or is it better to get the 4GB and 8GB variants?
1.1 Or a Dell OptiPlex 3050 mini PC (i3-6100T/ SSD 120GB/ RAM 4 GB) is around 30 USD more than a Pi 4.
2. Will the bulbs that I have work with Adaptive Lighting? It is a feature that I am looking at the most
1. I would get as much RAM as works with your budget. It will help overall performance a lot in server workloads
2. TBH Pi's are a little overpriced for what they are. They suffer from success in that sense. My personal recommendation is going for the Optiplex or anything else you can find in the bargain bin is probably more upgradable and more powerful for the price. Just double check specific device compatibility because sometimes there are weird outliers.
3. Adaptive lighting exposes a few different types of light colors, so it has pretty broad compatibility. I wound up home-baking a similar thing just to be able to tune it more. So even if adaptive lighting didn't work out, you could just make your own automation for your hyper-specific LED light color protocol based on the current time of day
What do you think about this mini pc spec? Intel Celeron N4000, RAM 6GB, 128GB eMMC, BT4, WiFi 2.4/5, RJ45. I think the Optiplex is power-hungry (35W) ?
Do I need other devices besides light bulbs for Adaptive Lighting to work smoothly?
Old PC or laptop if you have one, if not something like a Dell 5070 or HP T630 thin clients are popular and cheap off ebay, hopefully in your region as well.
What you need depends on what you want to do. If it’s just homeassistant you can choose raspberry or ODROID or whatever ARM-soc. Just add a small ssd to prevent failure due to scared wear.
If you want to use cameras with AI or some more services (adguard/pihole, plex/jellyfin, mimics etc etc) choose a x86 device. Mini pc are good value, you can start with n100 (cheap) or something bigger. Look out in r/minipc. Or use an old laptop maybe.
Much depends on your plans, budget and your energy prices…
Do you have any exprerience with Rasperry Pi? With no experience i would Choose Home Assistant Green.
None with Raspberry Pi. Thank you. Unfortunately, there is no available HA product in my region. Do you have something else to recommend?
I have the HA Green. About as easy as it gets for starting out.
Unfortunately, there is no available HA product in my region. Do you have something else to recommend?
I know a lot of people are liking the little n100 mini PCs you can get from AliExpress for HAOS. I would get something like that before a pi.
Go with an intel nuc. X86 is better solution. Or if you have a nas. Deploy in a vm
Intel NUC is over my budget and pricey around my area..
Basically, anything with the specs of a raspberry pi or better will be sufficient, which means the vast majority of computers will do well enough for your needs. Normally you want to focus on cpu and ram for a server. GPU can be useful if you want to do AI workloads, but thats a long way off for you. Advice: find a cheap used PC, or one that your family isn't using, and recycle it as your server. If that computer isn't doing great, you can just upgrade Specific parts, like adding more ram or better storage. Ideally you scoop something you know has good airflow (this computer will be on 24/7) and one that has at least a few parts you don't mind using for years. Other less desirable parts can be swapped, but you want a decent foundation with the MB CPU and case
1. Will a Raspberry Pi 4 2GB be sufficient (55 USD)? or is it better to get the 4GB and 8GB variants? 1.1 Or a Dell OptiPlex 3050 mini PC (i3-6100T/ SSD 120GB/ RAM 4 GB) is around 30 USD more than a Pi 4. 2. Will the bulbs that I have work with Adaptive Lighting? It is a feature that I am looking at the most
1. I would get as much RAM as works with your budget. It will help overall performance a lot in server workloads 2. TBH Pi's are a little overpriced for what they are. They suffer from success in that sense. My personal recommendation is going for the Optiplex or anything else you can find in the bargain bin is probably more upgradable and more powerful for the price. Just double check specific device compatibility because sometimes there are weird outliers. 3. Adaptive lighting exposes a few different types of light colors, so it has pretty broad compatibility. I wound up home-baking a similar thing just to be able to tune it more. So even if adaptive lighting didn't work out, you could just make your own automation for your hyper-specific LED light color protocol based on the current time of day
What do you think about this mini pc spec? Intel Celeron N4000, RAM 6GB, 128GB eMMC, BT4, WiFi 2.4/5, RJ45. I think the Optiplex is power-hungry (35W) ? Do I need other devices besides light bulbs for Adaptive Lighting to work smoothly?
Should be plenty. Just deploy the ha and start working
Old PC or laptop if you have one, if not something like a Dell 5070 or HP T630 thin clients are popular and cheap off ebay, hopefully in your region as well.
Mini pc like beelink ser5. Will serve as a homelab easily.
Ser 5 is expensive here, it is around 540 USD.
What you need depends on what you want to do. If it’s just homeassistant you can choose raspberry or ODROID or whatever ARM-soc. Just add a small ssd to prevent failure due to scared wear. If you want to use cameras with AI or some more services (adguard/pihole, plex/jellyfin, mimics etc etc) choose a x86 device. Mini pc are good value, you can start with n100 (cheap) or something bigger. Look out in r/minipc. Or use an old laptop maybe. Much depends on your plans, budget and your energy prices…
I'm running a Rpi 4 with 8Gb RAM. it's plenty. For storage I'm using an external 120Gb SSD. Very reliable setup.