Adrian Michalik
Blog

May 30, 2026

A Homelab for Under 500 PLN: How I Chose Hardware for My Own Server

You do not need a rack or a server costing thousands to build a useful homelab. In my case, the best compromise turned out to be a used mini-PC running Proxmox.

When I started planning my own homelab, I quickly noticed that the internet seems to split into two camps.

The first recommends Raspberry Pi boards, small mini-PCs, and cheap used office computers. The second shows racks, disk arrays, Kubernetes clusters, and hardware that costs several thousand złoty or more.

I needed something in between. I did not want to build a home data center, but I also did not want to buy hardware that would feel too limited after a week. My goal was simple: run Proxmox, create a development environment, run Codex CLI, connect GitHub MCP and Linear MCP, and later add a NAS.

Requirements first, hardware second

When choosing hardware for a homelab, it is easy to start by comparing CPUs, benchmarks, and forum setups. That is tempting, but it often leads to buying hardware "just in case".

A better question is: which problems should this homelab solve?

In my case, there were three main areas: development, data backup, and virtualization.

Development: one environment available 24/7

The most important use case was a development environment available from anywhere. I wanted one machine with my GitHub repositories, terminal configuration, developer tools, Codex CLI, and MCP integrations.

This environment needed to work independently of my laptop. If I close the computer, the agent should not lose its session. If I log in from another machine or from my phone, I should land in the same place.

That is why I knew from the beginning that the hardware had to run reliably 24/7, have a reasonable amount of RAM, and work well with Linux.

Data backup and a future NAS

The second use case will be a NAS. It was not the first phase of the project, but I wanted to leave room for future expansion.

Eventually, I plan to use the homelab for iPhone photo backups, document storage, and virtual machine archives. This means the hardware does not need a large number of drives on day one, but it should allow reasonable expansion or external storage.

Virtualization and Proxmox

I planned to use Proxmox from the start. I did not want to install every service directly on one operating system. I wanted snapshots, easy backups, and separation between environments.

This created a few technical requirements:

  • a CPU with VT-x hardware virtualization support,
  • at least 16 GB of RAM,
  • a fast SSD,
  • reasonable power usage, because the machine will run all the time.

Option 1: Dell Optiplex 3020 Micro

The first option I considered was a Dell Optiplex 3020 Micro with an Intel Core i5-4590T, 16 GB of RAM, and a 480 GB SSD.

It is very cheap and easy to find. For a simple Linux server, NAS, or basic homelab, it would still be enough. The downside is the age of the platform: a 2014 CPU, DDR3 memory, and more limited expansion options.

The conclusion was simple: the Dell would probably work, but it was not the best choice for an environment that I wanted to grow together with AI agents and additional services.

Option 2: Beelink Mini S12 Pro

The second option was the Beelink Mini S12 Pro with an Intel N100. It is a more modern platform, with very low power usage and quiet operation.

If I were buying new hardware, it would be a strong candidate. The issue was the price. For my budget and use case, a used mini-PC offered a better price-to-capability ratio.

The Beelink wins on power efficiency and modernity, but not necessarily on value if the goal is a cheap homelab for development, Proxmox, and a few services.

Option 3: Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q

I ultimately chose the Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q with an Intel i5-7400T, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and built-in Wi-Fi.

It is a small used office mini-PC that often appears in homelab setups. It has reasonable performance, supports VT-x and VT-d, uses DDR4, and can be bought for a few hundred złoty.

It is not the newest machine and its upgrade options are limited, but for my scenario it was the best compromise between price, capability, and power usage.

Why the Lenovo M710q?

1. Price

The computer cost less than a new Raspberry Pi with a full set of accessories. Once you add a power supply, case, and storage, Raspberry Pi is no longer as cheap as it often seems.

The Lenovo immediately gave me an x86 CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD. For a development environment and Proxmox, that is a very practical starting point.

2. Performance

The Intel i5-7400T handles Proxmox, Ubuntu Server, GitHub MCP, Linear MCP, and Codex CLI without problems. For my use case, the CPU is not the bottleneck.

RAM, stability, and storage matter more. 16 GB of RAM is enough to start, run the first machines, and learn the real requirements before upgrading.

3. Power usage

This topic is often ignored. A homelab runs 24/7, so power usage matters. I did not want a large server, loud fans, or hardware that increases electricity costs without giving me a real benefit.

A mini-PC fits this scenario well: it is small, quiet, and powerful enough.

First surprise: KVM and BIOS

After installing Proxmox, I saw this message:

No support for hardware accelerated KVM virtualization detected

At first, it looked like a hardware issue. The CPU should support virtualization, but Proxmox claimed it could not use hardware KVM.

It turned out that VT-x was simply disabled in the BIOS. After enabling virtualization, everything started working correctly.

This is a useful lesson: even if the CPU supports virtualization, you still need to make sure it is enabled in the BIOS. With used office hardware, BIOS settings may be far from what you expect.

What does my current setup look like?

For now, the whole homelab is very simple:

Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q
│
└── Proxmox VE
    │
    └── VM: dev-ubuntu
        │
        ├── Workspace
        │   └── GitHub repositories
        │
        ├── Codex CLI
        │
        └── MCP Integrations
            ├── GitHub MCP
            └── Linear MCP

For remote access from my iPhone, I use Termius and Tailscale. This lets me connect to the development machine over SSH without exposing it directly to the public internet.

The entire machine takes less space than most Wi-Fi routers. It does not look like a server room, but it does its job: it gives me a private development machine that runs all the time.

What I did not buy, and why

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi is a common recommendation for beginners. I considered it for a while, but eventually decided against it.

There were three reasons: Raspberry Pi prices are no longer as attractive as they used to be, after adding accessories the cost gets close to a used mini-PC, and the ARM architecture can sometimes make developer tooling harder.

Raspberry Pi still makes sense for many projects. For my scenario - Proxmox, x86, Codex CLI, repositories, and MCP - a mini-PC was simply more practical.

A large rack server

A large server looks impressive, but it would not solve my problems better than a mini-PC. It would mean higher power usage, more noise, and higher costs.

Without real benefits for my use case.

How many resources do you really need?

After the first tests, my conclusion is simple: most beginners overestimate requirements.

My server runs Proxmox, Ubuntu Server, Codex CLI, GitHub MCP, and Linear MCP without problems on an i5-7400T with 16 GB of RAM.

This does not mean that this hardware is enough for everyone. If you plan many virtual machines, a larger NAS, intensive data processing, or local AI models, your requirements will be different. But to start with a practical homelab, you do not need hardware costing several thousand złoty.

Conclusions

The biggest beginner mistake is trying to buy hardware "for the future". It is easy to end up with an expensive machine that is idle most of the time.

It is much better to start with a cheap mini-PC, launch the first services, check your real needs, and expand the homelab gradually.

That is exactly what I did. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q is not the most impressive piece of hardware, but it gives me what I needed: a small, quiet, and cheap server for development, Proxmox, Codex CLI, and further experiments.

What is next?

In the next post, I will show how I installed Proxmox on the Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q and configured the first virtual machine.

This includes network configuration, the KVM issue, first login to Proxmox, and preparing the environment for Ubuntu Server.