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Server box just died, recommendations for a new one? (self.selfhosted)
submitted 1 year ago by Sekoia to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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My Intel NUC server just died (whenever it's plugged in, it makes a buzzing noise, and the external power LED is off (the internal one is on tho)), so I need a new server box. Any recommendations?

I can salvage the RAM (16 GB DDR4) and hard drive (1TB HDD) off of this one, I believe.

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[-] anzo@programming.dev 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

As others just said, take the challenge of repairing or correctly identify what's broken. It should be fun, and part of the diy ethos.

If, you are still going for a new piece for the upgrades...

Depends very much on your scope. Heck, there's even aesthetics. Do you prefer AMD or Intel? Don't you feel like having an ARM and take the challenge of compatible images? Would you need to check the transcoding compatibility for Jellyfin? Are you going fangless? Is one 2.5gpbs eth port enough? Etc.

That said, check the reviews from https://www.servethehome.com/ they have articles with benchmarks and videos for all the latest nucs and other hardware's form factor servers.

Be aware that Intel discontinued the NUCs iirc.. but Asus or some vendor might have picked up to grab that market segment.

Good luck!

[-] foonex@feddit.de 25 points 1 year ago

Are you going fangless?

I would definitely go fangless. I have been bitten enough times. A bite might also transfer viruses. Nowadays I defang all my computers.

[-] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 year ago

Dude, what the fuck. Defanging is so god damn inhumane. If you want a computer without fangs, you don’t want a computer. You want an SBC.

[-] anzo@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

Actually, only after posting it came to my mind that anyway all intel nukes are fangless. That's their appeal. So that their bytes leave no marks. Long live the vempire.

[-] Sekoia 2 points 1 year ago

Thank you! I'm not gonna try and fix the box itself, but somebody suggested it might be the power supply.

[-] Sekoia 2 points 1 year ago

Well, I fully disassembled it, and I've found some components that are heating up a lot and probably making the buzzing noise.

https://files.catbox.moe/6pazjn.jpg

However I have no idea what they are, if they're the problem or some connected component. The label doesn't return anything, so I think this 'uns a goner :(

[-] UltraBlack@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

ask a repair shop. Since the label is the same on the other things around it, they could use a parts tester to determine what it is and then order that part. If you're in luck, that's the whole problem. If it's some other component that failed they could still probably determine and fix it

[-] Sekoia 1 points 1 year ago

To be honest, I don't think it's worth the bother. This is just an i3-5 something, and I got all the working parts off of it. But it's good a good idea, thanks!

[-] Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
NAS Network-Attached Storage
NUC Next Unit of Computing brand of Intel small computers
PSU Power Supply Unit
SBC Single-Board Computer

4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 13 acronyms.

[Thread #158 for this sub, first seen 23rd Sep 2023, 12:45] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

[-] AceBonobo@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

Did you try another power supply?

[-] Sekoia 8 points 1 year ago

I... don't know why I didn't think of that. I'll have to check if I have another.

[-] rez_doggie@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Might as well repaste it as well

[-] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is the most likely failed part, yes. If you feel adventurous, you can try repairing it like DiodeGoneWild. Looks like the auxiliary power supply (5V 1A independent of others; powers BIOS chips in standby to allow soft power-on) works but the main one does not. Unplug the connectors, connect the black (GND) and green (ENABLE) wires to signal a POWER ON state and check all the voltage rails. Many units use a powerful 12V supply and step-down converters to create the 5V and 3.3V rails, as well as an inverter for the -12V one – if that's the case, you can try backfeeding 12 V from another PSU and see if the rest come on. Once you identify the failed power supply, check its primary transistor(s) (big 3-pin components on a heatsink) for a short or open circuit.

[-] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 6 points 1 year ago

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[-] phillaholic@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

This was the problem with my Synology recently. System would light up and "click" off over and over again. Replaced the PSU was all it needed.

[-] Contend6248@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

If you don't mind it being completely Chinese based, Beelink with their new Intel 12th gen mini PC were my upgrade from the last Shuttle device I've used.

Dual Intel 2.5G NIC plenty of USB and an extremely efficient Intel Alder Lake-N100 with a great price to performance closed the deal for me.

EQ12-N100 is what i went for, to be exact, there are more powerful options too, if needed.

[-] yuuki@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Do you notice any slight problem on EQ12-N100? I was worried about single channel RAM performance.

[-] Contend6248@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

Not at all, i use it as a firewall, so i wouldn't notice anything. I can't imagine it being a problem, it's still DDR5

[-] rambos@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

+1 for repair. Its most likely PSU and if you are happy with nuc performance its a shame to throw it away.

[-] UltraBlack@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I don't know how well your box performed, but I recently snagged a fujitsu esprimo box with an i5-6500. It has 5 sata connectors and two m.2 slots. There's space for two hard drives and there's like 5 low profile PCIE slots (2x x16 and 2x x4 I believe)

I think they're a great deal (if you get the right CPU). Apart from the weird OEM PSU and motherboard, it's a pretty bonkers box, and I got mine for 40$, which was very lucky

[-] tuff_wizard@aussie.zone 3 points 1 year ago

We’ll what do you want to do on your server? Why not just get the same one again?

[-] Sekoia 6 points 1 year ago

I got this one for free because a company couldn't be bothered to reinstall windows

[-] nutbutter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

Do NUCs not have LPDDR RAM, that is laptop RAM?

[-] Sekoia 3 points 1 year ago

Yes, it's laptop RAM

[-] nutbutter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

You can get a second-hand, that is, used laptop and use that as a server. The hard drive can be connected using an adapter through USB.

this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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