Create a Home Server with an Old PC

In the winter of 2021, Microsoft released Age of Empires 4, and as a fan of the saga, I wanted to play it. The problem? At launch, the game was 130 GB, and my laptop didn't have enough space since I was storing all the channel’s videos there, once they were edited.

So I had to look for a solution, and that was to create a server.

1 - Create a home server with an old PC

The process was straightforward and fairly cheap; I used a computer I already had at home and wasn't using anymore.

My original idea was to not only use it as a server but also to play games or install certain apps. However, that didn’t really work out—it was far too laggy.

To use it, I bought two 2TB hard drives to put them in RAID with fault tolerance, and for now I still have the same drives. But for next Black Friday or during upcoming sales, I plan to upgrade—either to 8TB or 12TB drives, probably the 12TB ones.

The ones I bought are Western Digital Red Plus.

I also bought two adapters to be able to mount the drives inside the tower case.

They fit perfectly.

Recently, I was gifted the Synology DS420+, which is now my current server.

1.1 - Operating system for a home server

Once you have the hardware, you need to install some software. To be honest, it will work with Linux, Mac, or Windows. My first home server was simply the Windows that came pre-installed, plus the extra drives, and that’s it. Honestly, you don’t need anything else.

But if you want to go a bit further, there are Linux distributions designed for this, like TrueNas.

As I mentioned before, I originally used Windows. Now, with Synology, it has its own Linux distribution. To be honest, if I were to start from scratch now, I'd have installed Linux instead of sticking with the Windows it came with.

1.2 - Hardware requirements for a home server

Everything depends on how you plan to use it, but generally speaking, applications don’t use a lot of resources.

If you’re using Windows or Mac (or an operating system not designed to be a server), you’ll need more resources. But if you’re using a dedicated server OS, 2GB of RAM and a dual-core processor are more than enough.

Personally, my Synology has 2GB of RAM and a dual-core CPU. With all the apps I mention below, I use a bit more than 1GB of RAM and CPU usage rarely exceeds 10%, only reaching 20% when streaming media through Plex.

If you plan to run a game server with hundreds of users, then you’ll probably need something more powerful.

1.3 - Synology vs old tower

I transitioned from using an old tower as a server to a Synology, and both options have their pros and cons. You have to choose what best suits your needs.

For me, noise and size matter—a Synology is much quieter and, of course, is a much smaller box compared to a tower case.

As for price, the Synology is quite expensive (around 400 euros), but it’s only expensive if you don’t already have a spare old tower to use as a server. If you have to buy the case + processor + RAM, etc., the price will be very similar.

Note: If you use an old PC, make sure it has a good network card.

On the other hand, if you need a powerful machine, a tower is a much better option since you can easily upgrade or replace modules if they become outdated. For my usage, the Synology DS420+ is more than enough.

2 - Uses of a home server

Now let’s look at what I use the server for. On it, I run several applications through Docker (with docker-compose). You can find this file on this GitHub repository; feel free to leave a star ⭐.

2.1 - File server

My main use for it is as a file server.

I store all the channel’s videos and information, as well as personal photos and other documents, like invoices, etc.

To access the files, I’ve tried several methods—both Nextcloud and FileBrowser, which basically act as cloud systems on your own server and can replace Google Drive—especially Nextcloud. But personally, that wasn't what I was looking for, since it’s just two users: me and my girlfriend.

For our case, it’s much better to access files via the network address in the file explorer, that way it acts just like a regular network folder.

If you want a nice way to view photos, if you have a Synology, it comes with its own app for that purpose. If not, you'll need to install one of the aforementioned apps.

2.2 - Home media server

The second main use is as a media server. Even though I still pay for Netflix, HBO, Prime, etc., not all the content I want is there. So, sometimes I get content by other means.

Of course, all totally legal.

The first thing you’ll need for a media server is an application to play media;

Personally, I’ve tried Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, and even the built-in Synology software. My favorite is Plex, since it runs much better on Synology (without straining the CPU). With Jellyfin I had some random playback interruptions—nothing terrible, but still annoying.

If you have a Synology, the best option (in my opinion) is Plex, since you don’t need Docker—it has a fully compatible version in the Synology app store, and it just works better.

That said, it's not cheap—there’s a monthly subscription of 5 euros or a lifetime license for 120 euros, though you only need it for the mobile version.

Besides the app itself, you’ll need to acquire your own content. For that, I have many of the -arr apps set up, like Prowlarr, Sonarr, Radarr, and Readarr, along with Transmission for torrents.

• Create your own home Netflix

2.3 - Password manager on a private server

It’s very important that you don't reuse passwords for different sites, but just as important is to NOT use your browser to store passwords. If you do, and you get a virus, your passwords could be exposed.

Personally, I use Vaultwarden (BitWarden). There are others, or you could use Vault, but Bitwarden has a browser extension, which Vault does not have.

If you don’t want to install a password manager on your own server, I recommend one of the cloud-based options, such as NordPass. But please, don’t save passwords in your browser.

• Note: There will be a post dedicated specifically to password managers.

2.4 - DNS server and tracker filter with Pihole

For this, I use Pi-Hole. While it’s mainly intended to block ads on websites, I’m not usually bothered by ads (unless they’re overly intrusive). What does bother me are trackers.

To combat trackers, there’s a site called Firebog where you can get lists of things you want to block.

Then, you either need to point your machine or your router to your server’s IP so that all traffic routes through Pi-Hole before going to the internet.

• Note: We’ll have a post on what you can do with Pi-Hole.

2.5- What else to do on a home server

In addition to what’s listed above, you can do plenty of other things with your home server, like having your own website—which is great for learning or for using as a test lab before deploying to a VPS.

In the future, I plan to control home security—install cameras outside and have them connected here. If something happens, it’ll automatically sync to the cloud.

If you’re into gaming, you can set up a server for whatever game you’re hooked on at the moment.