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Looking to build a K8s cluster, what are your strategies for finding affordable hardware? (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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I currently run all my self-hosted apps either on Podman in a VM or in LXCs on Proxmox. For hardware, I'm using a Chinese-made mini computer with an Intel N150 and 16GB of DDR5 RAM that I bought before the whole AI hype started. I also have a Synology NAS that I use mainly for media and photo storage.

I've been thinking about tinkering with Kubernetes in my homelab for a while now (I already use it extensively at work, so I'm quite familiar with it), and I started looking around for used hardware to use as bare metal nodes. Nothing fancy—I'm looking for 1 or 2 mini servers or SFF with at least 16GB of memory and a decent CPU (4–6 cores). But with current prices, even decently priced used hardware (~200–250€) is quite difficult to find in Europe, and most of it is HP stuff with Lenovo being a rare breed around here. I won't even get started on newly bought hardware...

If you've bought hardware in this market recently, how did it go for you? Or are most of you holding out for now, waiting for better times?

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[–] 4 points 5 months ago (6 children)

@irmadlad @moonpiedumplings Enterprise drives w/ bad sectors and a 5yr warranty? Me (raises hand)!With snapraid and backups and the warranty, I'm perfectly happy to use enterprise drives where the drive errors aren't increasing. Worst case, I lose some of those linux distributions and have to re-download them. I wouldn't use one without a warranty though (and I certainly wouldn't waste my time on a 500gb drive, the last hdd I bought w/ sector errors was 14TB for $140).

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago* (5 children)

    14TB for $140).

    Link me up, Scotty

    (raises hand)!

    Really. I would have never guessed. I mean, I've always viewed bad sectors as a sign of a failing drive. Just a really bad day in the future, marked as an appointment.

    What kind of millage on the average do you get out of something like that?

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    When people say that linux adds a second life to bad hardware, they don't just mean making 8 gb of ram usable again. They also mean stuff like this, using dying hardware to it's last breath.

    Related: https://lorenz.brun.one/dealing-with-bad-ram-on-linux/

    You can mark the failing parts of ram as explicitly bad so Linux avoids them, just like with hard drives. Another way to get more lifespan out of this hardware.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    You can mark the failing parts of ram as explicitly bad so Linux avoids them, just like with hard drives. Another way to get more lifespan out of this hardware.

    I love this. I am being schooled. I honestly have never heard of what you speak of. But by golly I'm going to spool up on the topic.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    @irmadlad I can't tell you averages (I'm not running massive storage servers with hundreds of drives here), but I ordered this particular one in Oct 2025. It's still going strong. There's another one that I bought back in 2019 or 2020 that I used for a few years before replacing it due to needing more space. Meanwhile, I've used plenty of consumer drives over the years that were a lot less reliable, so I have different rules for consumer drives (toss 'em at the first error) vs enterprise drives.

    An order confirmation email from GoHardDrive (10/1/25), showing a purchase of a Western Digital Ultrastar 14TB 7200RPM drive (refurbished - grade B) w/ 5yr warranty. For $139.99.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    @irmadlad Also, I would think that companies offering long warranties on refurbished drives are playing the odds in a way that makes them money. It probably wouldn't be profitable if they sold drives w/ bad/reallocated sectors and the majority of them died within the warranty period.My assumption is that all drives will die (or suffer corruption) at the worst possible time, so do proper backup/scrubbing. Then look for deals where I can.

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