I'd suggest checking out ServeTheHome, which has been reviewing tons of mini PCs or CNX Software or Liliputing which cover all the SBCs and minipcs that get announced/launched. There are way too many options to list and it largely depends on your exact needs.
Personally, I bought a cheap fanless Chinese (Topton) router (N5105, 4xi225v3) system from AliExpress running OPNsense that's worked flawlessly for the past year or so, but I'd recommend ordering your minipcs through a vendor where you can easily return it (like Amazon) if it's DOA or otherwise doesn't meet your expectations. I'd also skip the small Chinese vendors if warranty support is something you need. Go with a manufacturer that has a local office/support.
Also, depending on what you want your server for, if you want ECC, your minipc options will be extremely limited (a couple Xeon options when I looked). Personally, I went with an desktop Ryzen + ASRock Rack mini-ITX board in a slim case that was still pretty small since I wanted ECC for ZFS.
Running one of those same routers myself, been great. Setting up a friend with a topton N305 box that will host proxmox, about half resources going to OPNSense for routing, while also running pihole and wireguard... it may also share a usb connected HD for file sharing if/until he gets a separate nas.
I do wish there were one of them that included even two 3.5" drive bays so it can run as a forbidden home server doing all the things.
I found NUC+monitor+mounting inexpensive compared to the alternatives about a decade ago. The NUC could be mounted on the back of the monitor, which made mounting cheap and simple. Two cables from the ceiling, one device fixed to the wall, done.
We use them as servers to be honest, so we've never had to worry about additional hardware. We deploy infrastructure on them as portable machines to take to conferences/demos etc which previously was done using in-house built ATX computers.
NUC and their ilk were a game changer and I'm glad to see a way for them to continue.
I’m a big fan of the ASRock deskminis for low power servers - dual 2.5” SATA bays, some have dual NVMe too.
Very nice little platforms with low power draw, and low noise!
I’ve got one of the DeskMini X300 on my desk atm with a 5750GE in it - 8c16t of Zen3 in 35W. It’s competitive with M1 Pro for performance and power draw.
I’ve gotten used Lenovo ThinkCenters for $30 on eBay. Sure they’re used and have a 3rd generation i3, but it’s the best budget home server option out there! They can easily replace whatever done on a pi and even more.
Got to love used office equipment! I’m a big Optiplex fan and I use one as my daily personal pc for everything. I use ThinkCenters for most of my Homelab due to the fact that I’ve found them the cheapest, but I use Optiplexs when I need something stronger. But I’ve never used an Elite Desk in a homelab, how do they compare to Optiplexs and ThinkCenters?
I've never been a big fan of HP, but they seem to be roughly equivalent to the Optiplexes. The lab I used to work in had dozens of them and they seemed to run just fine without complaints.
That’s good to know, I guess that the shitty HP build quality only applies to consumer intended products. Just another example of why refurbished or used enterprise equipment is the way to go.Thanks!
Used NUC, optiplex or others from eBay. If you need just "a" server for home, look for one of those small PCs on the used market. They often appear at very low prices after some company refreshes their office desktops. Replace the storage with something decent and you've got a perfect server.
Depends on your needs, I've been using a Minisforum HX90 for a couple years now. AMD 5900HX, 32gb ram, 2tb nvme drive. Runs great, relatively low power in standby.
