Big Little Server Models
Business Insider article about the memory shortage
The Register article about Hetzner price increases
TechRadar article about Alibaba Cloud prices rising

Stop Renting Compute. Run Your Own Server.

... and no, your laptop is not a server.

New hardware is being pulled into clouds and AI factories. Used office PCs are still everywhere: complete, upgradeable, often cheaper than one serious monthly VPS bill, and honestly fun to turn into your own little server.

Explore models
Currently only withdrawn Lenovo models are covered. If this site is useful to you, tag or DM @im_ilchik on X; I’ll prioritize newer Lenovo, Dell, and HP models next.
Amazon listing for a renewed Lenovo ThinkCentre M920q
Marketplace listing for a Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 4
Marketplace listing for an HP EliteDesk 705 G4 Mini

My Little Story.

Ilchik

Ilchik, the guy who built this site

“I upgraded RAM because Docker, dev servers, and coding agents were eating my main PC alive. Then it clicked: my PC should be the control panel, not the worker. A tiny server can run Claude Code, Codex, background jobs, custom scripts, APIs, and sandbox projects 24/7 in isolated VMs, reachable from any device through Tailscale. It solved the resource mess, the VPN mess, and the always-on agent workflow in one move. And that is only one case I found. Honestly, I just like telling people I have a home server and what I do with it. It is fun to set up, fun to explore, and this site is me sharing that with you.”

My parts got expensive.

I built my PC in 2023. A few years later, a simple RAM and SSD refresh started looking like the price of an entire used tiny server.

So I bought the whole server.

2023 parts

2023 parts Archived 2023 Amazon SSD listing

Archive snapshot showed a 500 GB NVMe at $58, sometimes discounted to $30. Mine was €79.

RAM
16 GB DDR4, €52.49
SSD
500 GB NVMe, €79.00
Total
€131.49

2026 parts

2026 parts 500 GB NVMe SSD for 114.99 euros
RAM
16 GB DDR4, €169.94
SSD
500 GB NVMe, €114.99
Total
€284.93

Lenovo M920q

Lenovo M920q
RAM
16 GB DDR4, upgrade to 32 GB
SSD
256 GB NVMe + SATA expansion slot
CPU
i5-8500T
Total
€180
Big Little Server logo

This little guy found his new home.

The price is nice, but it is not the main thing I love. The real win is flexibility, isolation, and reachability: spin up the environment the job needs, keep projects from stepping on each other, route one VM through one VPN and another through something else, and leave the whole setup online so it is always there when I need it. SSH in, connect through Tailscale, open a UI, run an agent, forget about it. It feels less like a cheap PC and more like a little piece of infrastructure that is actually mine.

P.S. I developed this site on it.

Okay, but what about VPS?

A VPS can absolutely serve the same purpose: always-on compute, remote access, and a clean place to run services. The problem is the bill. Once you compare CPU, RAM, storage, and yearly cost, the math gets ugly fast, and cloud prices are not trending down either; they rise with hardware costs.

Hetzner

CPX32 AMD

CPU
AMD EPYC-Genoa @ 2.40 GHz
Cores / threads
4 shared v-cores / 4 threads
RAM
8 GB
Storage
160 GB local NVMe SSD -37.5%
Geekbench 6
1962 single -0.5%
6060 multi -0.6%
Cost / mo
$50.81
Cost / year
$609.72 +$329.73 vs own hardware 2.2x the M70q price
DigitalOcean DigitalOcean

CPU-Optimized Premium Intel

CPU
Intel Xeon Gold 6548N @ 2.80 GHz
Cores / threads
4 dedicated v-cores / 4 threads
RAM
8 GB
Storage
50 GB NVMe SSD -80.5%
Geekbench 6
1846 single -6.3%
4166 multi -31.7%
Cost / mo
$109
Cost / year
$1,308 +$1,028.01 vs own hardware 4.7x the M70q price
Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 3

ThinkCentre M70q Gen 3

CPU
Intel Core i3-12100T, 2.20 GHz base / 4.10 GHz turbo
Cores / threads
4 cores / 8 threads
RAM
8 GB, upgrade to 16, 32, or 64 GB
Storage
256 GB NVMe SSD, add up to 8 TB 2.5 inch SATA SSD
Geekbench 6
1971 single baseline
6098 multi baseline
One-time cost
$279.99 pay once, resell later Complete working equipment with adapter included

Good jobs for a little server.

Remote dev server

Keep Docker, databases, search indexes, and preview apps off your laptop. One Linux box becomes the clean place where projects run.

Laptop offload

Let a MacBook or weak laptop stay cool while the server handles builds, test runs, downloads, package caches, and background jobs.

AI coding agents

Run Claude Code, Codex-style CLIs, repo indexing, long sessions, and language toolchains without tying up the daily machine.

n8n

Host private workflows, webhooks, cron-like jobs, browser automation, and small databases without renting a larger VPS.

Gaming

Run private servers for Minecraft, Valheim, Factorio, and other small multiplayer worlds without keeping your main PC awake.

Proxmox

Split one box into Linux VMs, LXC containers, databases, monitoring, router labs, and disposable sandboxes.

What to look for.

Start from the bottleneck: CPU for responsiveness, RAM for concurrency, storage for databases and logs, I/O for the desk setup, network for how the box joins the house.

CPU

For single-thread hungry cases (game servers, interactive apps), look for 1,500+ Geekbench single. For multi-thread work (VMs, builds), aim for 6,000+ multi and 8+ threads.

RAM

8 GB is the bare minimum for a single small app or script without VMs or heavy services. Aim for at least 16 GB in one slot for later upgrades, or 32 GB+ if you can.

Storage

Use 256 GB NVMe as the floor. Look for an empty M.2 slot or 2.5 inch bay when you want cheap slow bulk storage.

I/O

Check front and rear USB before buying. Optional ports can matter for displays, serial, external disks, or USB boot drives.

Network

1 GbE is standard. Filter specifically for Wi-Fi, 2.5 GbE, 4x1 GbE, 10 GbE, or PCIe expansion if the network is the project.

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