I’m in the process of transitioning to Ubiquiti and setting up a network rack server in my garage. My goal is to create a sleek, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing setup. I’m planning to avoid the typical Intel NUC for hosting Home Assistant and am instead looking for a rack-mounted server that would blend well with my Ubiquiti equipment.
Here’s the current setup:
Ubiquiti Network Gear: Switching to Ubiquiti for all networking needs.
Home Assistant: Will be the primary application running on the new server.
Frigate with Coral TPU: Already running efficiently on a separate Intel NUC.
Synology NAS: Handles all Plex requirements and will remain unchanged.
What I need:
Rack-Mountable Server: Preferably 1U or 2U that fits well in a standard network rack.
Aesthetic Compatibility: Ideally, it should match or complement the design of Ubiquiti equipment.
Future-Proofing: While initially for Home Assistant, I may consolidate other services onto this server in the future.
Any recommendations on hardware that meets these criteria would be greatly appreciated. I’m open to various configurations and brands, provided they align with the Ubiquiti aesthetic and offer reliable performance.
Buy a rack server for specs / performance, not for looks. Any rack server released the last 10 years or so will be more than sufficient for HA. I would recommend using a hypervisor so you don’t “waste” all your hardware on HA only. Be aware that most rack servers are built for being tucked away in a datacenter and therefore can be quite noisy. In general, the older they are the more power they consume. my 2020-ish Dell 740xd draws around 110-130 watts. On a sidenote I run a pretty similar setup as the one you are describing.
Dells are nice but the disk setup can be a pain and hardware is not so off the shelf. Hardware is really nice however
I buy used from eBay or look around and you can find a school or business auction.
I replaced fans with Noctua on both unifi and server. It makes huge difference I’m sound and temps didn’t change much. I had server in my bedroom for years. Strategically Mounted vertically in closet behind hanging clothing to cut noise. No hum noise except during reboot when fans spun up.
Paint chassis if you need match but do not buy for looks.
Consider firewall like opnsense instead of unifi router. Long terms it’s far more upgradable at lower cost. Also better processing for lesser cost. When my USG failed for 3rd time, I had dell server laying around and tried Opnsense. Best decision ever.