You can add the Fujitsu Esprimo Q910/Q920 to the list of alternatives. There are many cheap options on eBay.
I also run Proxmox, with a few LXC containers and full KVM virtual machines, including a reverse proxy that routes traffic to them —- it’s great!
Re:Ask HN: Always on low power home server
by spiderpug on Sunday February 28, 2021 @09:16AM
(#26293548)
I second that. I'm running the same machine, but without virtualization.
It's mostly idle and very power efficient, which was very important to me cause power is 35c$/kWh. Chose the version with i5-4590T.
Works out great so far.
Re:Ask HN: Always on low power home server
by B5C8ECB24DB47D1 on Sunday February 28, 2021 @01:05PM
(#26295431)
In the same form factor, there is also the HP EliteDesk 800 micro.
I'm booting the Proxmox VM environment and it's currently running a VM and a LXC container, with lots of future opportunities.
Proxmox allows you to reserve a vm's access to the USB ports, which comes in handy if you want to attach a Zigbee stick to a virtualized home automation server.