Best cheap hardware to run Nextcloud on?

Hi. Has anyone tried this: https://www.seeedstudio.com/ODYSSEY-X86J4105800-p-4445.html …? It gets a good review on ExplainingComputers :slight_smile:

I really like Nextcloud…but I’m trying to run it on a first generation RPi B+, and the spec isn’t up to the job :frowning: The client-side user experience is very laggy, and htop shows processor usage pinned at 100% as soon as you actually do anything(!)

I was looking at the 8GB version of the current (4th gen) RPi, which I’m sure would be much more capable, particularly now that USB/ethernet contention is no longer an issue. But then I saw the Odyssey board. It’s x86 rather than ARM - which is a different beast, I know - and it’s perhaps pushing the definition of “cheap”(?) But the processor compares favourably with that of the Pi, and connectivity is very good: true SATA (no USB adapters required), M.2 SSD and NVMe etc. Plus it has two (Intel) Gig ethernet ports, which I could bond/team together for greater throughput and failover.

What do people think?

P.S. For reference, this is for a home install that’ll serve ~5 clients, though rarely more than two simultaneously. I have a fast connection to my ISP, and a reasonable network configuration (decent router running dd-wrt etc). In terms of local storage, speed and reliability are more important than capacity: I have a separate NAS box that serves files to the LAN via NFS. Thanks for reading :slight_smile:

Hi, I guess for this price is the Intel NUC Kit NUC7PJYH a better choice.
Greetings!

Hi szaimen, thanks for replying :slight_smile: Yes, it’s a good comparison (I saw this, for instance). A barebone NUC would come with a case, of course, but no RAM. The connectivity isn’t as good, though, I think: no NVMe, one ethernet port etc.

EDIT: There’s also the Odroid H2+, which, again, has multiple ethernet ports (2.5G, actually). Though comparing it to the Odyssey is a bit unfair, maybe: it’s not really an SBC as such, 'cos it doesn’t come with memory.

Hi all ,

I want to share my experience with the Odroid H2+ (https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-h2plus/).

I recently moved from Raspberry Pi 3B+ (which I used for about 3 years) to this one and I am really satisfied.

I have 8 Gb RAM and 128 SSM Module so its about 200 €.
I also installed a Sata SSD so I can make a backup for Harddisk Errors.

I moved cause of the x86 Architecture so I can use the integrated Only Office which works great (although I am not so conviced with the license model - it does not matter for me, as a single user)

I use phonetrack a lot (with about 20,000 points) and now it does not timeout or break anymore. With the raspberry I had to limited it to about 1,000 points in one refresh cycle of 15 seconds.
Now (with the same internet connection) 20,000 points and refresh cycle 90 seconds it loads perfectly fine.

Apart from phonetrack which gave me the “woh” effect - all other apps are loading much faster now.

I do not have experience with others but I can say after reading specs and searching for about 2 years, the timing (OnlyOffice, Talk) and the specs (intel x86, 2 SATA ports (for RAID if necessary), highly customizeable) where perfect.

So I definetly recommend this one.

Cheers,
Florom

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Hi Florom. Thank you, that’s really helpful! :slight_smile:

Do you mind if I pick your brains with a few questions?

  1. Load: How many clients does that serve - just one? (You said “single user”)
  2. Software: Have you had any problems with updates? (According to HardKernel you need to install a driver for the Realtek RTL8125B)
  3. Network: Have you tried bonding the two ethernet ports for an aggregate 5Gb connection?
  4. Hardware: Do you use a cooling fan? And have you found a decent case for it? (I don’t particularly like the HardKernel ones, and the only other one I’ve found is this)

Thanks in advance

I had a similar experience when running Nextcloud on a throwaway i7 tower computer. It suddenly synced tons of photos off of an ipad within 15 seconds that would normally take minutes on a Pi 3. The performance difference was insane.

No major problems with the Pi 3 overheating (that would be the 4) but ethernet was tied to the USB bus + only 1gb of ram, so not a good option. Glad you found the article helpful :wink:

Please do. You can join https://t.me/nextcloudpi to locate the wiki and documentation team. Main reason I have not updated the article… is I have not bought these new devices for testing. :slight_smile:

Hi t-cubed,

Actually two (contacts, calendar) but my user is the only one which really matters (File Sync through various devices, massive use (before lockdown) of phonetrack, now massive use of Only Office)

I did not have problems but it did not work out of the box for me. I use debian (not ubuntu) and I had to manually install this driver which is kind of uncomfortable without internet connection (you have to use usb sticks). After that I did not have any issues.

No, I did not. I use the ethernet ports separatly with two different IP Adresses for various reasons. For me aggregation would not be neccessary.

No, its warm but not hot at about 50 degrees. I heard (but I could not find the source now) that SSM and SSDs are healthier in warm environment. I have to add that I explicitly chose this one cause there is no fan necessary (power consumption is low too)

I am satisfied with the case hardkernel provides. What do you criticize about it especially? Maybe I overlooked anything.

Cheers,
Florom

Hi Florom.

Re: Installing drivers via USB sticks -

I’m familiar with this kind of thing. It’s an annoyance, definitely…but a minor one, I think :slight_smile:

Re: Fan -

50 degrees? Is that idling or under load?

Re: case -

The HardKernel cases look OK, I guess…but the KKSB one looks a lot sturdier.

Thanks again - I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions :slight_smile:

Hi t-cubed,

50 degrees is a hand-measured value. It’s on max 5 % CPU load. I almost never encountered it more than that even when loading 20,000 points in phonetrack and I think if I do not use face recognition it won’t increase.

Yeah, KKSB looks sturdier.

You are welcome.


So, the new $65 Odroid HC4 is coming out in a few days, including clear case. 4w idle and 15.6w with two drives. Power supply in addition.

  • Dual bay with SATA III over Pci-E. Big upgrade from old usb bridge.
  • 64-bit Arm with 4gb ram.

Looks to be a solid gigabit device. Includes usb 2.0 port. Details here. Discount codes also on that site for a couple bucks off.

On latest Selfhosted Show podcast, it is mentioned for those willing to skip warranty in favor of cheap disks:

  • $170 Seagate 10tb external contains Barracuda Pro disk
  • $199 12tb WD Easystore contains quality helium disk (red disk with white label added).
  • 10tb WD easystore contains crappy smr drive.

Keep an eye out for these to be on massive sales for Black Friday - Cyber Monday.

Hi All,

A few things I add:

I add that with new debian the driver for LAN is now in the kernel. No USB and manual installation requiered anymore.

Unfortunatly the board is discountinued cause of the chip shortage.

Based on my experience with hardkernel (Hardware and support) and the Board itself (2 Years 24/7 working) I would definitly recommend a successor if there is one in the next couple of years.

Hi!
i used Odroid HC1 for home cloud and its working fine since 3 years.

Hi @sanfe ,

does it support Only Office and Document Server Community?

You’ll need a 64-bit device with at least 4gb of ram to support an office suite alongside Nextcloud. Do not expect fast performance, even for just one user. It will be bare minimum.

At this moment, onlyoffice is not working in ARM64 yet…

For home/small business use:

I prefer to get a used/refurbished business PC (Lenovo Think Centre or similar from other brands) from eBay or directly from a refurbish company, put in a new SSD for the system and a new HDD (e.g. Seagate Ironwolf 4 TB) for the data.

This strategy can be adapted well to the budget. For 200-300eur you get pretty good used PCs, for less you get older models, but anything gives plenty of power for Nextcloud (much more than a Pi or so).

I think used business PCs give the best power and reliability for the money. They are also much more energy efficient than used/old servers or workstations.
Of course Arm devices are even more energy efficient, but they lack the computing power.

Handling big amounts of data is no fun on Arm. E.g. storing pictures and viewing them in the browser: Generating hundreds of thumbnails will be painfully slow if the machine is not fast enough.
Also compressed/encrypted backups (restic!) will be very slow if the machine is not fast enough and 100+ GB of data needs to be processed.

Hello,

For my personal use, I find any old low powered CPU based laptop (for example Intel Pentium Quad Core or ultra low powered i3 chips) to be best suited. Saves a lot in long run for electricity bills & comes with its own built in massive battery for healthy long hours of backup in case of any electrical outage. Using snap and it’s backup features should mitigate the issue of no RAID. Lastly, it’s cost effective & helps you to recycle an old hardware.

However, if the user count is high, these low powered CPUs really struggle. For these type of use case, one should try to find better CPU, like for example i5 or higher.

But when it comes to business use case, where data is valuable, active RAID protection is must. There, selecting a desktop based system makes sense to use RAID setup. I personally prefer consumer grade mass market hardware as finding spares in long run becomes really easy & cheap.

Thanks

Hey all, we’ve started a new wiki topic for putting together hardware suggestions.

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Hi All,

I wanted to let you know that there is a new Odroid available.
Since I had and still still making very good experiences with the older model (see my older post)
I am suggesting the new model to all who are looking for cheap good hardware:

@just please add it to the list in your established wiki. It does meet the requirements if configured accordingly.

Feel free to edit the wiki as you see fit. Worth noting the H3 and H3+ require you buy memory in addition.