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How reliable/realistic is to use a laptop as a remote file backup server? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by ZeDoTelhado@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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I have an HP pavillion 15-bc235nd that, quite frankly, I don´t really like that much (way too loud of a fan, cannot adjust the fan curve, keyboard and trackpad are terrible, etc).

I was planning to replace with laptop with something else, but in the meantime, I was thinking of something. Instead of getting this laptop in the landfill or give to someone else (no one needs an emergency laptop right now), I could potentially use this has a server machine to be used as an off site backup location.

Right now I am missing the off site backup part out of the 3-2-1 backup strategy. Since this laptop has more than enough horsepower to do the job, it could be a solution. But personally, I am not sure how reliable a laptop turned into a server can be. This laptop would be around 3000km away from me, so I have to be really sure it works at a distance without much problem.

For those who turned a laptop into a server: what is your mileage? Are there any specific considerations about this setup that a regular desktop/server does not have or specific issues?

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[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

If the laptop has a way to limit charging to, say, 70% in order to not turn into a spicy pillow, it would be viable. I have an older HP Elitebook 8440p laptop running as a server of sorts in my cluster, but the battery is no longer capable of holding a charge at all because it's always plugged in. I might get a Thinkpad to replace it as there are modifications for those to limit the battery charge level.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 years ago

If the laptop has a way to limit charging to, say, 70% in order to not turn into a spicy pillow, it would be viable.

Firstly - I love the phrase "spicy pillow".

Secondly - It would probably depend on the laptop and its battery health. But also the OS can limit charging I believe? I haven't looked too far into how it works but I've got my laptop setup to only charge to 90% because I'm nearly always plugged in. I don't know if that relies on any hardware/firmware options though.

[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

tlp has more features available for Thinkpads, specifically, so there's that. I'm thinking more of a laptop form factor but built as a portable server, with the battery specifically designed to be a secondary power source (like a UPS) instead of the primary power source.

Of course something like that would be incredibly niche, so it makes sense that it's not really a thing.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Yeah I figure it's the sort of thing that requires some firmware support at least.

One thing I've always liked about using laptops as servers more than the battery has been the built-in display and keyboard. 😁

[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

Good point, those are nice to have. Most of my cluster has vPro capabilities, so I can just log in remotely regardless of the OS's condition.

this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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