3 ms·

I run all my stuff off a 15+ year old laptop someone threw out. Start there. :-)

ohgr 2y ago
Slightly newer one here (Lenovo T470). The battery still works so it’s got a built in UPS. KVM comes with it too! All it does is scrape jobs really. I was running it on a VPS but that requires a modicum more effort to keep secure. This thing is a rotting unpatched Debian 11 and is behind a NAT with no service ports exposed on public interface.
neilv 2y ago
This was something I considered very recently (when I realized my only remaining VGA monitor didn't support the oddball frequency put out by an old Supermicro server on which I was still running something important). Some pros of laptop servers: * Quiet. * Low-ish power consumption. * Doesn't take up much space. * Built-in secure console. * Built-in UPS. Some cons: * Limited in what drives you can put in it. Some laptops only support one drive, so you can't even do RAID mirroring. A real server will usually let you put at least a few high-capacity 3.5" drives in it, on SATA or better. * Many laptops will overheat if run with the lid closed. * If you get a burglary, a laptop is very likely to be stolen. (In a rack in a city apartment, I bolted down the servers with security head screws, and there was no way they were taking the whole cabinet, with a huge APC UPS anchoring it down.)
- wltr 2y ago
  What about laptops with broken screens? Solves the overheat issue and potential robbers too, more likely.
- lantry 2y ago
  I use a few old laptops like this, but I opted to remove the batteries due to the risk of spicy pillow. The benefits of the "built in UPS" didn't seem worth it to me because if my power is out, my internet is down anyway, and I don't run anything that needs that much uptime anyway.
  - 542354234235 2y ago
    Hard shutdowns can cause data corruption. So, it doesn't need to be about server uptime as much as just not having a program's database get destroyed because the power went out for 10 seconds.
chneu 2y ago
Been using old laptops since HS. Remove the suspend on lid close and throw that thing in a closet. You can always find free/cheap laptops.

ohgr 2y ago

Slightly newer one here (Lenovo T470). The battery still works so it’s got a built in UPS. KVM comes with it too! All it does is scrape jobs really. I was running it on a VPS but that requires a modicum more effort to keep secure. This thing is a rotting unpatched Debian 11 and is behind a NAT with no service ports exposed on public interface.

neilv 2y ago

This was something I considered very recently (when I realized my only remaining VGA monitor didn't support the oddball frequency put out by an old Supermicro server on which I was still running something important). Some pros of laptop servers: * Quiet. * Low-ish power consumption. * Doesn't take up much space. * Built-in secure console. * Built-in UPS. Some cons: * Limited in what drives you can put in it. Some laptops only support one drive, so you can't even do RAID mirroring. A real server will usually let you put at least a few high-capacity 3.5" drives in it, on SATA or better. * Many laptops will overheat if run with the lid closed. * If you get a burglary, a laptop is very likely to be stolen. (In a rack in a city apartment, I bolted down the servers with security head screws, and there was no way they were taking the whole cabinet, with a huge APC UPS anchoring it down.)

wltr 2y ago
What about laptops with broken screens? Solves the overheat issue and potential robbers too, more likely.
lantry 2y ago
I use a few old laptops like this, but I opted to remove the batteries due to the risk of spicy pillow. The benefits of the "built in UPS" didn't seem worth it to me because if my power is out, my internet is down anyway, and I don't run anything that needs that much uptime anyway.
- 542354234235 2y ago
  Hard shutdowns can cause data corruption. So, it doesn't need to be about server uptime as much as just not having a program's database get destroyed because the power went out for 10 seconds.

chneu 2y ago

Been using old laptops since HS. Remove the suspend on lid close and throw that thing in a closet. You can always find free/cheap laptops.