A budget NAS-style home server that Mac mini owners can compare against
A low-cost home server was built from AliExpress parts plus reused and second-hand drives. The goal is to run both a NAS for shared storage and a home server for self-s.
The main parts are an Intel Xeon 2680v4 processor, an X99 Machinist motherboard, 32GB , a GT 710 , a Jonsbo N4 case, and a Lian Li 750W Gold SFX . A 128GB NVMe drive is used for booting and fast storage, while bulk storage is split into two : four 1TB hard drives in one pool and two 1TB hard drives in another.
The service stack includes Dockge, Nginx Proxy, AdGuard DNS, Fan Control, Uptime Kuma, System Stats, and Scrutiny. The practical aim is to depend less on and learn by running local services directly.
Key points
- The build combines NAS storage and home-server duties in one budget machine.
- It uses an Intel Xeon 2680v4, 32GB , and a Jonsbo N4 case.
- Storage is made from six 1TB hard drives split into two .
- Tools include Dockge, Nginx Proxy, AdGuard DNS, Uptime Kuma, and Scrutiny.
- The goal is to reduce cloud dependence and learn by doing it.