It’s $400 before tax with no SSD or RAM, so I’d need to get SSD, RAM and HDDs. What’s your thoughts on the specs at that cost? As the other comments point out, its an AM4, so it might make more sense to build something instead!

That’s actually a good call. Does it make more sense for me to look for a AM5 system and future proof with DDR5?

Thanks for the heads up…

• I would go with no RAM and no SSD, install something I buy myself
• Noticed that and it was brought up in a video, is it critical for a home server to have hot swappable drives?
• I’m sure the Mac Mini is probably using over 15W right now, but I don’t know for certain. Any good ways to test outside of buying some hardware?

Most of the videos I’ve seen online are using Proxmox which is my goal. Just trying to decide if $400 before tax without any memory or storage is a good deal or if I should just build a box.

Thanks for the heads up, my Mini’s NIC is totally F’d so I’m using a USB adapter, I’d like to avoid having to do that again, but the WTR Pro does have 2 RJ45 Ethernet ports which is better than the Mini has.

Good call and good to hear you’ve not heard anything bad about the brand. Going to use it as a NAS, few VMs (Debian with Docker and NixOS dev env) and a Plex LXC (might move to Docker), but I aim to move my PiHole to it and want to try more distros in test environments. Biggest reason for an upgrade is the potential to transcode more content, the Mini struggles (fine on Direct Play) and also the NIC is flakey so it’s using a USB adapter right now. I probably borked it replacing the HDD with a SSD, it was a nightmare to open. Not sure if I’m ready to pull the trigger, but if my hardware died, I’d maybe go this route!

Wholeheartedly agree with everyone else on the email. I’ve worked IT in a range of different sized businesses. The hardest one to date was the super paranoid place that insisted on hosting email. It’s an absolute pain to maintain and can be an unnecessary security risk for a few bucks!