When Immich photo processing maxes out a small home server
Immich can push a small ’s CPU to 100% after a large photo upload. The setup uses Unraid on a Lenovo M920q Tiny with an i5-8500T, 16GB of memory, and 2TB of storage. After photos are uploaded, Immich creates thumbnails, detects faces, and prepares smart search.
Those jobs can put heavy pressure on a low-power mini PC. The main question was whether the built-in graphics could take over some of that work from the CPU. The heavier work was later moved to a stronger desktop running Linux Mint and Docker, where a powerful cleared about 800 pending jobs in seconds.
Immich has an official remote guide for running that analysis on another computer.
Key points
- Immich does extra work after uploads, including thumbnails, face detection, and smart search.
- A small can hit 100% CPU during those jobs.
- may help in some cases, but it may not be enough for heavy work.
- Immich supports remote on another computer.
- A stronger desktop with a powerful can clear a large backlog much faster.