So I am brand new to homelab using a laptop from 2010 that I am running proxmox with VMs (home assistant, virtual desktop and docker container utilizing portainer). I think scraping by is an understatement. I want to find a mini pc that I will set up the same way (boot into proxmox), and would like to add NAS. I do not care on model, but would like to spend around $100-150 for something use. Are there minimum system requirements that I should look for so that I don’t need to update in a year or so?
I keep scooping up Elitedesk 800’s for 100$ all day and then you can bump the ram to 32gb for the other 50. That gets you at the top of your budget for a pretty decent lil low power proxmox box
So what specs should I look for in a machine?
I would look for a hp z240 with no hds and as much ram and processor as you can afford.
There are enough hdd slots to run a small nas or play with proxmox or both especially if you get to 32gb of ram or so. And in my experience the sffs upgrades are cheaper than the micros because right now that micro sodimm is pricey.