Hey everyone. I really want to replace Google photos with some sort of self-hosted solution. However, I am getting overwhelmed.

The first thing that came up when I did a little bit of research is buying a NAS. However, I just noticed these devices are so expensive with really weak specs. Feel like I am getting ripped off. Also, I heard that it can be slow? Is that true?

Anyway, I was told it is better to just buy a Resperry pi. However, these things are expensive for the specs. Would a used Intel NUC be better? Can you use any mini pc for that?

I have seen some crazy powerful (compared to the pi) cheap used Ryzen mini PCs, can those be turned into servers?

  • Dr. Jenkem@lemmy.blugatch.tube
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    1 year ago

    Yeah I’m not a big fan of NAS’s. I agree they’re a bit of a ripoff, you’re paying for convenience. The only reason to go with a NAS imo is if you’re unable and unwilling to learn to use linux. Raspi4 are pretty cheap, 4gb model is like $55 iirc. If you’re paying more you’re probably getting ripped off. It’s definitely going to be lower power usage than a NUC or mini PC. But maybe you can find a cheap used one.

    But since you’re only hosting photos, pretty much anything should work.

      • Pretzel
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        1 year ago

        I think they’ve been dealing with some chip shortage stuff for a while now. It seems really hard to just get a plain board with no other stuff that bumps the price up past $100.