Hey everyone. I really want to replace Google photos with some sort of self-hosted solution. However, I am getting overwhelmed.
The first thing that came up when I did a little bit of research is buying a NAS. However, I just noticed these devices are so expensive with really weak specs. Feel like I am getting ripped off. Also, I heard that it can be slow? Is that true?
Anyway, I was told it is better to just buy a Resperry pi. However, these things are expensive for the specs. Would a used Intel NUC be better? Can you use any mini pc for that?
I have seen some crazy powerful (compared to the pi) cheap used Ryzen mini PCs, can those be turned into servers?
A NAS doesn’t need to have powerful specs. Serving images is a very simple task. Any background processing jobs are just that, background.
Yeah I’m not a big fan of NAS’s. I agree they’re a bit of a ripoff, you’re paying for convenience. The only reason to go with a NAS imo is if you’re unable and unwilling to learn to use linux. Raspi4 are pretty cheap, 4gb model is like $55 iirc. If you’re paying more you’re probably getting ripped off. It’s definitely going to be lower power usage than a NUC or mini PC. But maybe you can find a cheap used one.
But since you’re only hosting photos, pretty much anything should work.
I don’t know why the Pi is so expensive where I live. It is like $200 USD equivalent.
The only reason to go with a NAS imo is if you’re unable and unwilling to learn to use linux
Other reasons are form factor and power usage. Mini PCs don’t tend to have much disk expandibility, and desktops are bulky and eat power unless you are very careful about part selection.
The last rPi I bought was all of $40. I thought it was a bargain for the specs.
I wish I can find them for that much. They cost way more where I live
Have you looked online?
You could put your photos onto Nextcloud seamlessly from your phone - same as Google does it for you - but you’re in control of your data. Nextcloud is self-hostable or you could get storage space from a reputable supplier. I use Hetzner storage share - £5.50/month (roughly) for 1TB. It’s up to you, you can host other stuff using Nextcloud too- notes, calendars, ebooks etc.
I’ve been doing it now for about a year and it’s interesting and fun. I think free open source software is a go to too. Whichever way you decide to go, good luck.
