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Home Lab Hardware — Procurement & Validated References
project: hinata-infrastructuretype: referencestatus: livingcreated: 2026-05-22 Hardware procurement criteria, validated mini-PC / NAS references, and the upgrade roadmap for Hinata's home-lab compute and storage. Read home-lab-doctrine.html first for the philosophical framework and 5 utility domains. Self-hosted application stacks live in home-lab-stacks.html.
2026-05-24 — SBC market crisis (Jeff Geerling)
DRAM pricing has spiked ~7x over 2025-2026 (LPDDR4 shortage attributed to AI demand + foundry allocation). Knock-on for the home-lab plan:
Raspberry Pi 5 16 GB is $300 (was $120 at launch — +150%). 2 GB and 4 GB models also up significantly.
SBC projects are being cancelled by smaller manufacturers who can't secure memory.
Implication for Hinata: buy any planned Pi (
jimmy-pi,squidward-tmm,orochimaru-pi) NOW from existing stock; prices on new shipments will reflect the DRAM surge. Used enterprise mini-PCs (HP G6, MS-01) are increasingly the cheaper-per-GB compute option vs new Pi 5.Rule: if a planned Pi can be replaced by an existing 8th-gen+ mini-PC with QuickSync, prefer the mini-PC; reserve Pi tier for true low-power edge nodes (Pi-hole on Zero 2W, sensor gateways).
2026-05-24 — Pi MicroSD sizing standard
128 GB minimum for any production Pi (jimmy-pi, squidward-tmm, etc.). Breakdown: Debian 12 ~3 GB + Postgres + Python services ~2 GB + 5-10 GB/month logs + 20% free-space buffer. 64 GB works for sub-3-month deployments only.
Brand: SanDisk Extreme or Kingston Canvas Go (A2-rated, fast random access). Cheap cards slow under sustained writes — measurable lag in cron jobs and API response times.
Core procurement philosophy
Self-reliance over renting — prioritise hardware that supports self-hosted services, decoupling from subscription ecosystems.
Performance-per-watt & modularity — favour enterprise-grade, small-form-factor (TMM — Tiny / Mini / Micro) hardware. Efficient, modular, designed for 24/7 service operation.
Lifecycle awareness — avoid obsolete hardware (pre-8th-gen Intel) that creates technical debt (no QuickSync = no hardware-accelerated transcoding).
Hardware selection criteria
1. The 8th-gen rule
* **Minimum:** Intel 8th-gen (i5-8xxx / i7-8xxx).
* **Reason:** Hardware-accelerated video transcoding (QuickSync) is non-negotiable for Jellyfin / Plex.
* **Prohibited:** 7th-gen or older (e.g. i5-6500, i7-6700).
2. Form factor — the TMM philosophy
* **Preferred:** Enterprise Tiny / Mini / Micro (HP EliteDesk Mini, Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny, Dell OptiPlex Micro).
* **Avoid:** Full-tower desktops (space cost), thin clients (Dell Wyse — too underpowered).
3. Value & cost constraints
* **Target price:** <£150 (Budget) / <£200 (Elite).
* **Essentials included:** Listings must include the power adapter / brick. No exceptions.
* **RAM target:** 16 GB. For 8 GB units, factor in the SODIMM upgrade cost.
4. Expansion & modularity
* Prioritise units with **Flex IO** (HP) or PCIe expansion potential for future 10GbE NICs or additional storage.
Validated hardware references
HP ProDesk / EliteDesk G6 (Tiny Mini Micro)
10th-gen Comet Lake T-series. Significant upgrade over G3-era systems for IO flexibility, NVMe expansion, and remote management.
AttributeDetail
CPU architectureIntel Comet Lake (10th gen) T-series — efficient, low power StorageDual NVMe M.2 slots (PCIe Gen 3 x4); M.2 E-key slot adaptable for additional NICs or SSDs NetworkingFlex IO V2 supports 10GbE / 2.5GbE NICs, USB-C, HDMI, or dedicated GPUs (EliteDesk only) Remote managementIntel AMT supported. EliteDesk includes KVM functionality; ProDesk does not ThermalBare-die laptop-style chips + SODIMM cooling. PTM 7950 phase-change material recommended for sustained loads BIOS lockPhysical bypass exists (shorting flash chip pin 2 to ground) — high-risk, experimental, last resort EfficiencySuperior performance-per-watt vs G3-era
Decision: Standardise G6 as the target for future lab expansion. Document Flex IO upgrade path for 10GbE before adopting.
Minisforum MS-01 (portable NAS)
Ultra-portable high-performance build. Use case: portable infrastructure for travel / conference / show readiness.
AttributeDetail
CPUIntel Core i9-13900H NetworkingDual onboard 10GbE SFP+ ports; supports Thunderbolt / USB4 25GbE adapters ExpansionPCIe x16 (x8 electrical) half-height slot — Quadro P1000, RTX 4000 SFF, or storage controllers StorageTriple M.2 slots; ZFS RAID-Z1 supported ThermalBare-die laptop chip — significant benefit from PTM 7950 phase-change material Remote managementNanoKVM (open-source firmware) for virtual KVM-over-IP, power control, remote BIOS access
Decision: Evaluate MS-01 form factor for portable lab. Document NanoKVM + Proxmox / TrueNAS remote-management stack before deployment.
Budget DIY server build (architectural reference)
Original transcript was Ryzen 7 3700X / £300 target — the architectural principles apply to the Intel NUC7i5BNK target build.
LayerChoice
HypervisorProxmox VE Storage VMTrueNAS Scale running under Proxmox Storage strategyZFS RAID-Z1 — single-drive failure protection Core servicesJellyfin (media), Immich (photos), Pi-hole (DNS / ad-blocking) Expansion constraintMotherboard SATA ports primary; PCIe cards as fallback Hardware sourcingReliable used parts for budget; prioritise drive reliability over age
Decision for NUC7i5BNK adaptation: Internal drive expansion is the constraint → ZFS pool requires USB / eSATA external enclosure. Draft Proxmox + TrueNAS VM setup manifest before deploying.
Cables & storage strategy
Cables
* Standardise on **SATA III (6 Gbps) rated** cables (Benfei or equivalent). Passive, industry-standard, fully reusable for future NAS builds.
HDD reliability floor
* **Avoid:** ancient consumer drives (WD Green, low-RPM legacy).
* **Target:** "server pulls" or "refurbished enterprise drives" (Seagate Exos, WD Ultrastar).
* **Cost rule:** raise the storage budget by £5–£10 per drive to move from £10 ancient drives to £20+ enterprise pulls. The reliability difference is exponential.
* **Longevity:** treat storage as a consumable; enterprise pulls offer best TB/£ while maintaining enterprise-grade error correction (MTBF).
Procurement workflow
1. **Source audit** — check inventory across CeX, Back Market, eBay.
2. **Contextualisation** — map candidate against `the-government/information_reference/reference_commander-source-map.md` (originally at `general/resources/reference_commander-source-map.md`).
3. **Audit potential** — assess remote management (Intel vPro / AMT) or whether external hardware is required.
4. **Final decision** — compare specs and price against the upgrade wall below.
Upgrade roadmap — the "upgrade wall"
PhaseTriggerMove
- ValidationInitial budget node (8th-gen mini-PC) running Pi-hole + basic containersHold; observe workload
- Wall hitTranscoding buffer / crash · storage exhaustion · Immich AI index stallUpgrade
- Elite / modularMove to G6+ enterprise nodes · dedicated NAS storage · purpose-built cluster nodesHardware tier 3 / 4 from doctrine | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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