TrueNAS SCALE: Help with choosing the right HW components

TrueNAS General
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1

Hello!

I am planning to set up a home server and currently pack individual running instances into Docker containers and add new services. I would like to put the following services into operation:

  • Home Assistant
  • PV Monitor
  • NextCloud
  • Paperless-ngx
  • Adblock/Adguard
  • Reverse Proxy

I have considered doing this based on Proxmox or TrueNAS SCALE and would like to do it with the latter. Apart from my special case with the “PV Monitor”, everything is included in the TrueNAS Scale App Catalog

But I’m still not sure what hardware I need for this?

Should I do this on the basis of a dedicated CPU such as AMD Ryzen (e.g. 8500G) or Intel (e.g. i5-14500), or is an N100 sufficient?
32 GB RAM should also be enough, right?

Since the system runs 24/7, the primary goal is to make it as energy-efficient as possible.

What are your suggestions?

Many thanks for your expertise!

Best regards,
NehCoy

2

IMHO nothing that you describe sounds CPU-, GPU-, NPU-, or even network-constrained. An N100 is not immediately out-of-line. However…

  1. The NextCloud and Home Assistant platforms start heavy and can be configured out-of-reach if you don’t exercise restraint. (NextCloud more than Home Assistant — unless you start adding camera feeds.)

  2. Most available N100 systems are RAM-constrained and not upgradable. I’d be comfortable with 12GB RAM for all of these together except for NC and HA. Once you add those two, a 16GB system would already make me nervous.

It might be worth considering that some of these are “more 24/7” than others. They vary by sensitivity and by cyclical/bursty workload.

So, for instance: you might consider running your exposed proxy, DNS infrastructure, and PV monitor on a hardened pocket PC with little to no direct storage. Possily ARM-based. Then run NextCloud and Paperless on a sleepy NAS further inside. That one’s Intel, with generous RAM and storage, but a shorter work day.

Home Assistant is a tricky case: it’s a 24/7 mission critical workload, but it’s also too sensitive to park out in public. There are good arguments on either side for which device would be more suitable for Home Assistant.

Just a thought. Try not to overthink it; make sure you’re enjoying the process. Good luck!