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60 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
60 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: post
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title: "Host System"
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tag: "home server"
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---
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_This post was supposed to be published in December 2023, but due to technical dificulties I didn't do it at the time.
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It's remained an important part of my server writeup, even though some of it is no longer representative of my setup._
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This is part one of my server writeup.
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I'll go through the hardware choices I made so far and the operating system and core software components.
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I'll also briefly mention how I started out as well as what upgrades I'm planning to make.
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I didn't want to buy something new because of budget concerns, so my choice was dictated by what I already had.
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# The RockPro64
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As the main platform running my home server, I choose the RockPro64, with 4GB of onboard memory.
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In [part zero](https://derisis13.github.io/2023/12/08/statusquo.html) I already spoke about the hardware I'm replacing, this single-board computer should be more powerful than both combined.
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I also experimented with a Chinese motherboard and an Intel i7-2670QM (a 2nd gen mobile i7) but I didn't find the extra performance to be useful ([benchmark](https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/16451184)), and the power draw was too much for my taste.
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While my old setup used 20-21W combined, the x86 setup drew 35-36W on average while the RockPro64 drew 17-18W on average; all of them with two HDDs.
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If I ever feel like running out of CPU performance I can still try overclocking the RK3399, I haven't experimented with this yet, but I hope the stock 1.42 GHz was a conservative choice.
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I bought this SBC in 2021 to experiment on (in some sense this computer taught me to use Linux), and sat abandoned since the end of the 2nd COVID wave in a cardboard box.
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I ran it first in this cardboard box with two HDDs, but that couldn't be the permanent solution, so I adapted it to some ITX mounting holes (with a piece of FR4) and placed it inside the biggest case I could find at home.
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This time I also included a bigger PCIe SATA card based on the ASM1166 and added two extra hard drives in RAID-6 (I'll talk about this decision in the next chapter).
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Currently, the disks are 2x2TB and 2x1TB of spinning rust (for a total of 2TB pooled), but once the migration is complete it'll have 4x 3TB for 6TB usable storage.
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These parts are all spares I had lying around, they have bad sectors and they have strange read/write errors at the filesystem level that I attribute to them overloading the power supply.
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This is a salvaged unit I pulled from a set-top box (same as [this one](https://ha5kfu.hu/2023/04/05/vfd-kijelzo-ujrahasznositasa/) I used in another project) and it can officially provide 1A@12V.
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It was good enough when I started, but it seems I hit its limit.
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I already ordered a USB-C PD charger with a trigger board that should give me 3x as much power and not be a shock- and fire hazard.
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The biggest limit of this setup is memory.
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4GB is just not enough to run Linux, docker containers and spin up at least one virtual machine.
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To make it just a little less critical (avoid the OOM killer) I added a 16GB microSD card as a swap partition - I have no idea how long it'll hold but it's cheap to replace.
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# OpenMediaVault
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On my x86 server, I used TrueNAS Scale, and while I was satisfied with ZFS and how it handled SMB shares, the way it complained as soon as I tried to touch the CLI was off-putting and I couldn't get used to its docker UI at all.
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Additionally, it's not available on ARM as far as I know, so I couldn't use it even if I wanted to.
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So I installed Debian Bullseye and OpenMediaVault 6 on top (just like when I first bought the system).
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Many in the self-hosting community find OMV a lesser, unprofessional experience (as opposed to TrueNAS or UnRaid) but I really like the balance it strikes between ease of use and how similar it feels to the CLI tools I'm used to.
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With all of its plugins it offers a complete experience, and what's missing can be added from docker.
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I currently have the plugins for system backups, borg backup, tgt (iSCSI target), wireguard, docker-compose, cputemp (installed by default), flashmemory (folder2ram, installed by default because I boot from eMMC) and kvm (although I no longer have a use for it).
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All in all it's a solid experience, OMV only adds to stock Debian and takes none of it away.
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I think this pattern is not appreciated enough.
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# Summary
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I run a RockPro64 SBC with 4GB RAM, supported by some swap.
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The performance is just enough for my use case, but it leaves not much space for future expansion, I have it pretty much maxed with the software I'll write about in the next parts.
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Storage still needs to be upgraded (I still have to purchase the drives) and the PSU is at its limit, but a new one is on its way.
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I installed OpenMediaVault and I love how it only adds to Linux and takes nothing away.
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It's a solid foundation for my storage and other services and I find it more convenient than TrueNAS Scale.
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In the next part, I'll write about the storage setup, from hard disks to folders.
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