Shortlist help! Reviewing options for HA, Frigate, (and a little slow transcoding if I can squeeze it in)

Hardware
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Hi folks,
Hoping for a steer for a small HA (but also Frigate & transcoding) homelab project

Budget:

  • ~AUD$350 / US$230 flexible by say $AU100 / ~US$50 for a better resourced solution but I’m not going to go crazy.
  • I have not looked into running local voice + coral card / Open Vino but understand a little to know I’ll want it for good object detection.

Existing tech:

The NAS runs:

  • Plex (limited on the fly cpu transcoding).
  • A dozen related media management containers

Networking:

  • Behold my exceptionally technical drawing:

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  • I can’t see a reason I couldn’t put the NAS and this project in the office and upgrade the switches, but Dunning-Kruger makes me cautious.
  • I have more space in the office and space where the ethernet terminates is very limited.
  • House is small 160m2 lot, two storey, HA devices on both floors.
  • Routers (current switch) have 1gbe ports. Will upgrade switches.

HA devices:

  • Have an as-yet unused SMLIGHT SLZB-06
  • A few Zigbeem2qtt devices. One Ikea thread powerpoint to kickstart Thread.

Goals:

Primary goal:

  • Home Assistant (HAOS) (likely to deploy about 20 matter / thread devices but slowly and methodically as I learn integrations).
  • Frigate (3 cameras max, am replacing my existing cameras so can get cameras that work best with Frigate).
  • Have enough overhead so resources will not be an issue but not wild amounts.

Secondary goal:

  • Media transcoding (via Tdarr). It does not need to be fast - Plex can transcode live while Tdarr takes longer to ensure subsequent plays do not need transcoding. Will not transcode 4k.

Tertiary goal:

  • Offload Plex transcoding (or just move Plex off the NAS - I have Plex Pass)
  • Lower decibels
  • Energy efficient (efficient as in the difference between NUC vs an old inefficient desktop rather than squeezing a few percent between NUC models)

Hardware shortlist (I am struggling to set the right path here so I went to NUCs as my primary option for their compact size.):

  1. Beelink EQ14 - Intel N150 - RAM 16GB - SSD 500GB - 2.5G LAN/Dual - AU$330
  2. N1 Mini PC - CPU AMD Ryzen 7 5700U - RAM 16GB - NVMe M.2 512GB - 2.5G LAN/Dual - AU$380
  3. Intel NUC (8i3BEH) - CPU Core i3-8109U - RAM 32GB - NVMe 250GB + HDD 500GB - AU$259
  4. Intel NUC (8i5BEH4) CPU i5-8259U RAM 16GB - NVMe 256GB - AU$327
  5. Intel NUC (8i5BEH4) CPU i5-8259U RAM 8GB (free slot) - NVMe 256GB AU$327

I’m open to:

  • Any hardware options within budget well beyond my shortlist and beyond the idea of a NUC:

  • Dropping TDARR if that blow costs out the window.

  • Dropping Frigate for the same reasons (and deploy Thingio firmware on Wyze cam v3s).

  • Buying any brand from anywhere.

What I think I know:

  • Intel Quicksync is a big win for transcoding on the CPU.

  • AMD and Tdarr may not play as nicely as Intel. Not sure if that’s HA, Frigate, or Tdarr as I have done a lot of research and just encountered that. Believe it relates to the benefits of QuickSync.

  • USB passthrough required for HA so the DS1019+ is out of contention.

  • HAOS enables access to add-ons so plan on running that in Proxmox alongside Frigate and Tdarr (but again I suspect this may not be the best - I’ve just read of troubleshooting issues with Docker).

  • CPU is slower at transcoding than GPU, but better quality v file size.

  • Intel 150 NUCs seem to be less effective than the Intel 100 line, but not sure if this is just a myth.

  • Stick with Zigbeem2qtt and add Thread later. The Smlight M1 series is a good choice.

  • Home Assistant will run on a potato, but running Frigate with object detection will demand more resources, as will Tdarr.

Criticise this, me, be subjective, be unwavering, ignore OP and post memes, and do it all with my deep appreciation in helping me sort this out!

Cheers!
Darren

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there is a lot to unpack there, but upgrading switches from 1gbe should be your very last.

home assistant itself generally does not need a lot resources, the n100/n150 should be more than sufficient for HA purposes.

plex and frigate are their own complications, but any of the older intel 7th gen, or newer amd/intel mini pc should generally be sufficient.

if you are going used/cheap, I would by multiple and separate them so you are not putting all your eggs in one basket.

if you are going newer/more expensive, then it makes more sense to keep things consolidated.

1 Like
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You can compare CPUs here. Single thread rating 1200 or more transcodes well. Below 1000 you have hiccups and stutters. This is my observation not a technical judgement but I think the specs will back that up. My current unit is dual core 1500 each and I can transcode multiple 4k without issue. Memory probably comes into play at some point but this is mostly CPU / GPU I believe. This will help with cameras as well if you run those.

Frigate needs Coral TPU. CPU dont matter much but helps a little. If you can transcode you will be fine.

beelinks and nucs are popular and generally have good CPU and long lasting. I would get one of those.

I dont recommend synology. You can buy a regular PC that can hold multiple drives if you need that. I think they are underpowered and overpriced.

You can search this forum and see this answered in depth weekly with recommendations.

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Thank you for such a considered response!
Good to know the NUCs and Beelink are up to the task.
The Synology was a gift that’s presently running as a media server but agree, I’d not buy one!