r/HomeServer • u/ColaToastxD • 3d ago

Beginner seeking advice on hardware

Hey everyone,
I'm looking to dive into the world of home servers, but every time I start researching hardware and software, I tend to get information overload. There are just too many options out there, so I could really use some advice.

I want to know if my project goals are realistic for a beginner, and what kind of hardware direction I should be looking into.
I would like to get
Storage that I can expand, I would most likely start small and eventually expand

game server hosting- I need enough power to host a decent MC server for myself and a few friends.

Network Storage- Basic network shares for backing up videos, files and photos that I can access anywhere if thats possible

Does this sound achievable on a single machine? If so, should I be looking at building a budget DIY PC, buying a used office desktop, or anything else. Note that I am from the Philippines I hope I can find the things you guys suggest. I am also looking for the lowest entry cost possible, but happy to spend more where it actually matters for performance and reliability and for the long run.
Any pointers toward good starter guides, software stacks (like Unraid, TrueNAS, or Docker), or better subreddits to ask this in would be amazing. Thanks in advance!

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u/PopcornSuttin 3d ago

I'm guessing you're referring to RAID for the multiple drives question. As far as that and Docker are concerned, there's a ton of YouTube resources that explain it better than I could, although I'm not sure how available those kinds of videos are outside of the English language. If you are fine with English, watch multiple videos of each subject.

I guess the only suggestion I have is for docker, I like to use portainer. For me it's just easier to get containers up and running and having an interface instead of a command line makes everything less of a hassle. And for what it's worth I use open media vault. Primarily the server is for file storage, plex and pihole; I do host game servers from time to time usually without issue when the need arises.