Tools · Chapter 9
Homelab Hardware
Six starting points by cost, power draw and what each is good for.
| Option | Cost | Power draw | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 (4–8GB) | £50–£90 | 5–10W | Starting out. Pi-hole, Vaultwarden, lightweight Nextcloud, SearXNG. |
| Raspberry Pi 5 with NVMe hat | £100–£150 | 8–15W | Better storage performance. Good all-rounder for a single-board homelab. |
| Used mini PC (e.g. HP EliteDesk Mini, Beelink Mini S) | £80–£200 | 15–35W | More performance, more storage options, runs a full Linux install comfortably. My recommendation for a capable homelab. |
| Protectli Vault or similar | £200–£400 | 10–20W | Dedicated pfSense/OPNsense router + firewall. Fanless, reliable, designed for 24/7 operation. |
| NAS (Synology DS223, QNAP) | £250–£500+ | 20–40W | Purpose-built for storage. Excellent for Nextcloud or as a Plex/Jellyfin media server. High storage density. |
| Old laptop or desktop | Free–£50 | Varies | Start with what you have. Repurpose hardware you already own. Any modern Linux install will work. |
Reproduced verbatim from The Privacy Diet, Chapter 9 — “Hardware: What You Need to Get Started”. The book explains the reasoning behind each verdict.