Services to host on a retired laptop?
Hello fellow hosters,
I recently had to purchase a new laptop because my old laptop(MSI - PS63 Modern 8RC) had its hinges finally give in, so the screen(lid) can barely be opened and closed anymore. The laptop isn't totally outdated yet in terms of specs. I already have a server that hosts most of my day to day apps, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to what i could host on this retired laptop, that I would manage remotely.
Are there any specific services that makes more sense to host on a laptop that would be sitting turned on but put away somewhere? Or should I just tear the PC apart for it's parts and throw the rest away?
Let me know if you have any similar experiences or tips 🌻
If you already have a server and don’t need more resources then just leave it. No need to waste more power “just because”.
That said you could hang onto it until you have a need. You never know when a machine will shit the bed and having a half top is useful.
Yepp, fair point and likely what will end up happening :P
Maybe you could set it up to run for a family member? I'm always trying to recruit more self-hosters.
Syncthing backup server for your important files.
Syncthing isnt a backup. Its just a synchronisation tool. If you delete a file it gets deleted everywhere.
Use syncthing to sync and monitor your backups.
Nothing comes to mind.
One nice thing about using laptops though is the built-in UPS, assuming the battery is still good.
Also assuming the charge circuit is designed for that (usually all modern devices should be). Especially older devices often do not like to be used and charged at the same time, that can lead to swollen batteries which is a fire hazard.
Funny, I used a 2010 netbook like that until last year. Maybe that's not old in your book? But you're right about battery swelling being a risk; just set the battery to never charge past 80-90%, you'll be fine.
It just depends on the model. But yeh i would assume most devices since 2010 should be able to. Was more common back in the day.
If you don't have one already, it could be turned into a linux-based input device for your TV.
I like the idea! Although I do have a Nvidia Shield Pro, but I have a look around and see if there are any specific good TV OS that suits my needs. Thanks!
Librelec. Or just a regular Linux with Kodi.
I always wanted something like SteamOS for media. basically an opensource AndroidTV. is there nothing like this?
Librelec.
No. Librelec is just kodi. I'm looking for something that can start arbitrary applications behind an overlay like SteamOS or AndroidTV. I don't want to use the buggy Plex or Jellyfin plugin for Kodi.
Just to stave off anyone else coming in and going "ackshuallee"... it's true that you could technically do that with libreELEC. It'd be a fool's errand of using SSH to get to the terminal and install all the programs and dependencies, and you'd still need some way to do arbitrary terminal commands from the kodi menu (I think there are plugins for that and for launching arbitrary programs though).
I played around with that myself for a few hours and gave up.
I'd love something actually good, but the closest you'll get probably is running Kodi or whatever media frontend you want on top of a stripped down "normal" OS, with a separate frontend for games/programs like HyperSpin. Find a way to launch one from the other and you'd be set.
You'd still have to deal with Kodi not being able to pull full quality video from streaming platforms too, assuming you aren't just sailing the high seas for your media.
I was planning to look into Plasma Big screen. That looks somewhat promising
Arbitrary applications isn't a TVOS like the original poster asked for, it's a general purpose OS.
You mean like AndroidTV or TvOS?
Can you install arbitrary apps on androidtv or only what is available in the appstore for it without jumping through hoops that possibly involve some command line shenanigans? Similar to how you can install plugins in kodi in libreelec from the official repos perhaps but have to jump through hoops for arbitrary programs? Your real issue then is that libreelec's ecosystem isn't as vibrant perhaps and that it doesn't run on locked down hardware the user doesn't really control so the media companies allow high quality streaming to them?
If you have some services for monitoring your main server like a Grafana/Prometheus setup that might be interesting.
You could also use it for storing backups as in the 3-2-1 backup strategy.
also a good idea!
Tor bridge/relay and i2p node
I use my laptop server for babybuddy so I can take it with me. Then if I find there's a service I really want I the go, it gets loaded there as well.
Mail? Primary or secondary. Dns. Xmpp? Backup (rsync)
That's still a good machine, I'd get some more RAM and make a proxmox server out of it. Even with 8GB it's usable for a few VMs at a time. Use a single disk ZFS pool when installing it.
Why not just repair the hinges?
It's beyond repair state. Also it's the second time it's happened, did actually repair them the first time, but this time it was way worse. Should have attached picture of it maybe, but wanted a new laptop for a while anyways 😋
Always the best reason 😁
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
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