verstra

Lemmings, what's your self hosted server power usage?

https://programming.dev/post/10600898

Lemmings, what's your self hosted server power usage? - programming.dev

I’ll just come out and say it: 50W. I know, I know an order of magnitude above what’s actually needed to host websites, media center and image gallery. But it is a computer I had on-hand and which would be turned on a quarter of the day anyway. And these 50W also warm my home, although this is less efficient than the heat pump, of course. What’s your usage? What do you host?

Feb 26, 2024 at 3:11pmWeb
Show threadverstraFeb 26, 2024

Ok, so most of you also use normal PC processors for your setups. So my power usage is not that high in comparison.

But still, a RaspberryPI would use much less and would still be performant enough.

Show threadtburkholFeb 26, 2024

5W vs 50W is an annual difference of 400 kWh. Or 150 kG CO2e, if that’s your metric. Either way, it’s not a huge cost for most people capable of running a 24/7 home lab.

If you start thinking about the costs - either cash or ghg - of creating an RPi or other dedicated low power server; the energy to run HDDs, at 5-10W each, or other accessories, well, the picture gets pretty complicated. Power is one aspect, and it’s really easy to measure objectively, but that also makes it easy to fetishize.

Show threadBizarrolandFeb 26, 2024
At $0.13/kwh 100 watts 24/7/365 will cost you $113.88 a year, or roughly $10 a month. Little things add up.
Show threadStatic_RocketFeb 26, 2024
0.12kWh but I’m also running 6 HDDs in raid10 so the spin down time is not optimal.
Show threadvzqFeb 26, 2024
That’s energy, not power. If that’s the energy consumption per hour, then that’s 120W, which is high but not outrageous with a full size computer with 6 disks.
Show threadAshyFeb 26, 2024
I really don’t know much it’s actually using but my NAS has a 550W power adapter …
Show threadatzanteolFeb 26, 2024
So you know - that’s the max power output rating of the power supply. The NAS can be using anything “up to” that amount. Likely well below it.
Show threadAshyFeb 26, 2024
Yeah, that’s how power adapters usually work. Thanks.
Show threadatzanteolFeb 26, 2024
Sorry - I thought you didn’t know rather than were just offering completely useless information on purpose.
Show threadAshyFeb 26, 2024
Well, I don’t know how much it’s using but I suspected it was somewhere between 0 and 550 ;)
Show threadKISSmyOSFeb 26, 2024
Thank you for your valuable contribution.
Show threadverstraFeb 26, 2024
I recommend buying one of these things for finding this out: ae01.alicdn.com/…/EU-Plug-Digital-Voltage-Wattmet…
Show threadTeppicFeb 26, 2024
My main issue is I'm not shutting down my Pi-Hole, home assistant, NAS etc etc just to plug in something like this in, and then 24h or so later shut them all down again to retrieve it again. That said I basically have a collection of Pis (passively cooled and this silent) and a Synology disk station so the power use is pretty low.
Show threadAtemuFeb 26, 2024
I use an Intel SBC with 10W TDP CPU in it. With a HDD and after PSU inefficiency, it draws about 10-20W depending on the load.
Show threadBearOfaTimeFeb 26, 2024

That’s impressive.

What do you use the system for? And services like PiHole or media server?

Show threadAtemuFeb 26, 2024

Oh, sorry, forgot to add that bit.

It’s mainly a NAS housing my git-annex repos that I access via SSH.

I also host a few HTTP services on it:

github.com/Atemu/nixos-config/blob/…/default.nix#…

The services I use most here are Paperless and Piped.

Mealie will be added to that list as soon as the upstream PR lands which might be later this evening.

My Immich module is almost ready to go but the Immich app has a major bug preventing me from using it properly, so that’s on hold for now.

I do want to set up Jellyfin in the not too distant future. The machine should handle that just fine with its iGPU as Intel’s Quicksync is quite good and I probably won’t even need transcoding for most cases either.

I probably won’t be able to get around setting up Nextcloud for much longer. I haven’t looked into it much but I already know it’s a beast. What I primarily want from it is calendar and contact synchronisation but I’d also like to have the ability to share files or documents with mere mortals such as my SO or family.
The NixOS module hopefully abstracts away most of the complexity here but still…

nixos-config/configs/SOTERIA/default.nix at ee2d85dc3665ae3cad463a3eb132f806651fe436 · Atemu/nixos-config

My NixOS configurations. Contribute to Atemu/nixos-config development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadBearOfaTimeFeb 26, 2024

Makes sense that basic file hosting shouldn’t use much power.

Sharing stuff with friends and family is in my plan, eventually, not sure what approach to take yet, but I’d like to avoid an app for them, if I can (people are resistant to apps, I kind of get it).

I’ve looked at Nextcloud/Owncloud a few times, and it always seems like a lot more than I need, though I also want to move my calendar, contacts, etc, to my own hosting. Not sure what the right answer is, lol.

Show threadAtemuFeb 27, 2024

My setup already goes quite a bit beyond basic file hosting.

There is no self hosted service I could imagine to need that I’d expect not to be able to host due to CPU constraints. I think I’ll run into RAM constraints first; it’s already at 3GiB after boot.

Show threadironhydroxideFeb 26, 2024

~600W. 2 machines: Dell 730 8 disks running multiple Minecraft servers. Supermicro 16 disks in raid 10 running multiple VM for various functions. All on a 6kva ups (overkill I know)

Luckily I have a large solar array.

Show threadnaviFeb 26, 2024
My R710 is begging to be replaced.
Show threadDecronymFeb 26, 2024

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters NAS Network-Attached Storage PSU Power Supply Unit SBC Single-Board Computer

[Thread #545 for this sub, first seen 26th Feb 2024, 15:35] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

Decronym

Show threadBearOfaTimeFeb 26, 2024

120w continuous. Working on bringing it down, because that’s $1/day.

I’d rather spend that money on new hardware every year.

Show threadjevans ⁂Feb 26, 2024

My current setup uses ~180W, which is a lot, but WAY better than my previous one, which was ~600W. Power is cheap where I live, so I’m not too worried about it.

180W homelab:

  • N6005 fanless mini PC running pfsense
  • mikrotik CRS310-8G+2S+IN switch
  • TP-Link AP225 access point
  • Server running proxmox w/ AMD 5900X, RTX 3080, 128GB ECC RAM, LSI-9208i w/2x10TB drives, and dual SFP+ NIC

600W homelab:

  • Aruba 24-port PoE gigabit switch w/ 4xSFP+ ports
  • Dell R720xd fully kitted out w/ 12x 6TB drives, 2x 512GB SSD, 2x 32GB SD cards, 100-something GB RAM, 2x whatever the best CPU was for that unit
  • Dell R710 w/ 6x 6TB drives, 1x 256GB SSD, 100-something GB RAM, 2x whatever the best CPU was for that unit.
  • TP-Link AP225 access point
Show threadpacketlossFeb 26, 2024

370W average.

3 x Lenovo x3650 M5 (Proxmox Nodes)

  • 1 x Xeon E5-2697A v4
  • 128GB DDR4 ECC
  • 2 x 960GB sATA SSD
  • 3 x 900GB SAS3 10K RPM HDD
  • 1 x nVidia Quadro M2000

TP Link TL-SG3428X switch

Raspberry Pi 3B+ (physical Pi-hole server)

Generic Mini PC Intel N3150 (OpenVPN client)

Dell Optiplex (OPNSense firewall)

  • Intel i5 4590
  • 8GB
Show threadScipitieFeb 26, 2024

Is that 370watt across all of them or per fat server? I ask because three m5 sound like a lot of power drain!.

And thanks for sharing!

Show threadpacketlossFeb 26, 2024
That’s for everything listed above. This is measured straight from my UPS which everything is connected to.
Show threadA MouseFeb 26, 2024

~53 W

Server:

  • AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
  • 4x16 GB DDR4 3200 Mhz
  • 256 GB NVMe as boot-disk
  • 2x256 GB Samsung SSDs for VMs
  • 2x2 TB WD Red Plus HDDs

Mini PC: Beelink S12 N95

  • 16 GB DDR4
  • 256 GB NVMe

8 port unmanaged TP Link switch

I would like to expand my storage, however I don’t have any available SATA ports and I believe adding an HBA would increase the idle draw about 8 W. I might just upgrade the SSDs and split the storage between the HDDs and SSDs than.

Show threadNorgurFeb 26, 2024
6w or so in idle, 50w under load with HDDs and RPi combined
Show threadscarecrow365Feb 26, 2024

Average load for me is about 750W. I run my desktop from one of the UPS units in my rack, so when that’s on it sits around 1.1kW.

The 750W load is across 4 rack servers(1 is the NAS with 12 disks) and 3 switches.

Show threadBizarrolandFeb 26, 2024

Mine is roughly 300 watts, much of which is from using an old computer as a NAS separate from my server server.

However, I put the whole thing in the basement next to my heat pump water heater which sucks the heat out of the air and puts it into my water, so I am ameliorating the expense by at least recapturing some of the warte heat.

Show threadCubbyTustardFeb 26, 2024
hey that’s not a bad idea
Show thread𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏Feb 26, 2024

About 150w total, trying to bring it down since electricity here is pretty expensive.

4 machines: two 4th gen i5, one 6th gen Nuc (Have two more but not set them up yet), and one HP thin client. Also two UPSes, and 3 cameras (previously four, but one was accidentally damaged).

Hosting Home Assistant, Zabbix, Palworld, SMB, Transmission, Plex and a bunch of other misc stuff.

Kind of contemplating moving everything to a 10th gen Nuc, but thinking a Ryzen based mini pc might be a better option

Show threadmlaga97Feb 26, 2024

~120W with an old server motherboard and 6 spinning drives (42TB of storage overall).

Currently running Nextcloud, Home Assistant, Gitea, Matrix, Jellyfin, Lemmy, Mastodon, Vaultwarden, and a bunch of other smaller stuff alongside storing a few months worth of surveillance footage, so ~$12/month in power certainly ain’t a bad deal versus paying for hosted versions of even a fraction of those services.

Show threadmlaga97Feb 26, 2024

I have looked at the ROI for getting more efficient kit and ended up discovering that going for something like a low-idle-power-draw system like a NUC or thin client and a disk enclosure has a return period on the order of multiple years.

Based on that information, I’ve instead put that money towards lower hanging fruit in the form of upgrading older inefficient appliances and adding multi-zone temperature control for power savings.

The energy savings I’ve been able to make based on long-term energy use data collected via Home Assistant has more than offset all of the electricity I’ve ever used to power the system itself.

Show threaddontwakethetrees (she/her)Feb 26, 2024
Don’t have anything spectacular performance wise but my late 2012 i7 Mac Mini Server is reporting ~14w (with my services running and downloads happening) and I saw bursts up to 30w. Not too bad for 12yo Mac running Homebridge, 2 Navidrome instances, Jellyfin, nginx, Transmission, and SMB (looking into Nextcloud to replace that).
Show threadwaldenFeb 26, 2024

Good timing for this thread. I just finished consolidating 2 computers worth of fun into 1 newer computer that can do it all. I sold my wife on the idea with electricity as the reasoning.

In the end, it uses 30 watts less, which is not as much as I had hoped. That’s about $5 a month.

180 watts with an i5-13400, 9 spinning disks, 1 M.2 SSD, no extra GPU, 24 port switch (powers 3 AP’s), modem, Mikrotik router, and a large UPS. I wonder if the UPS uses any power as a trickle charge for the batteries.

Show threadslazer2auFeb 27, 2024
What are your electricity prices that 30w costs €5/m
Show threadwaldenFeb 27, 2024
30w x 24 hr./day *30 days/mo. = 21.6 kWh. I pay about $.25/kWh, so $5.40.
Show threadssdfsdf3488sdFeb 27, 2024
50 watts is maybe halfof one of my 10 gig switches…
Show threadowenFeb 27, 2024
Damn son, what’re you runnung?
Show threadtweiFeb 27, 2024
Damn, your switches are using that much? I have a MikroTik CRS518 and it’s using like 40 Watts on idle (transceivers not included)
Show threadikiddFeb 27, 2024
Probably about a kilowatt.
Show threadStritFeb 27, 2024

Mine is around 10W average.

It runs:

  • Websites
  • my blog
  • Jellyfin
  • Home assistant
  • Nextcloud

And a few other things.

Show threadrambosFeb 27, 2024

35W

DIY PC with 2 SSD and 1 HDD (it used to be 22W with 3 SSDs and no HDD)

Hosting arr stack, nextcloud, immich and many more (~40 services in total)

Show threadPossibly linuxFeb 27, 2024
1.21 giggawats