Beginner needs help | Home Assistant | Page 1

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:27 PM

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Hello everyone, I'm a total beginner when it comes to Home Assistant. I have already bought a Dell Wyse 5070 ThinClient | Intel J4105 8GB DDR4 64GB SSD to install Proxmox and Home Assistant on it. Now I have learned, I have to install an SSD M.2 there. In the video I had seen, one with 256GB was installed. The RAM has also been expanded from 8 to 16GB. Now the following questions.

Which SSD would you recommend? For the benefit, I don't think it should be the most expensive.
If I expand the RAM, can I install any one with 8GB, buy the same one that is already there again or take two completely different ones? Again, please give recommendations.

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:33 PM

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Why do you need another SSD if it already has one? For PVE I recommend a used DC SSD. We'd need to know what's inside it right now to recommend memory.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:33 PM

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realistically your not really going to see much differce between ssd's
as for ram: you should use identical sticks where possible

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:34 PM

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D is apparently soldered to an eMMC, which does not allow the installation of proxmox

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:35 PM

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Send it back and get a different one 😄
Calling it SSD is kind of false advertising IMO.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:36 PM

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I bought it for just under 70€, so a few small investments would be feasible.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:36 PM

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that might be the case but eMMC is absolutly not a SSD and review should indicate that

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:37 PM

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I'll unscrew it tomorrow, maybe there's an SSD inside. I haven't touched it so far because I was unsure.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:38 PM

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by the time you update this thing and make it usable you would have been better off getting a new mini pc

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:38 PM

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But even if it were, would 64GB be too little?

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:38 PM

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If it has to be a normal M.2 NVMe one here's a pre-filtered search: https://geizhals.de/?cat=hdssd&xf=16325_3~252_240~4643_DRAM-Cache~4832_3&sort=p&hloc=de&v=e&pg=1

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:39 PM

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sharp stump by the time you update this thing and make it usable you would have been better ...

Hmm, how much do they cost?

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:39 PM

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depends on your country and suppliers etc... look up something like the "beelink s12"

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although to be fair 64 gig and 8gig of ram is probably fine to just install HAOS on directly. if you scrap the idea of running proxmox. although a cheap ssd would definetly make it a better experience

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:40 PM

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That was the video that gave me the idea. https://youtu.be/9VCc9iv0HsY?si=JmBCRlO76M2rwK5L

YouTube

mydealz

DAS kann ein 60€ Mini-Server!

Immer wieder landen Angebote für gebrauchte Thin Clients auf mydealz, welche sich laut den Kommentaren sehr gut als sparsamer Server verwenden lassen. Wir haben uns einen Dell Wyse 5070 für gerade mal 60€ besorgt, um der Sache auf den Grund zu gehen. Dabei testen wir, was man bereits in der Standardbestückung damit anfangen kann, rüsten de...

▶ Play video

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:41 PM

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Personally I'd just get a intel DC SATA one like this: https://www.ebay.de/itm/176793485545
Assuming it has a slot for it. They're german according to their steam profile.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:42 PM

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https://youtu.be/OiwkpJL8g10?si=35Y8gpOEYC0aHrHi And this one was another

YouTube

mydealz

Low Budget Smart Home von AliExpress mit ZigBee & Home Assistant

Wer beim Aufbau seines Smart Homes auf bekannte Marken wie Philips Hue setzt, ist für ein paar Lampen und Sensoren schnell mehrere hundert Euro los. Dabei kann der offene Funkstandard ZigBee grundsätzlich von jedem Hersteller verwendet werden und kommt teils auch bei extrem günstigen Noname-Produkten zum Einsatz. Wir haben für 100€ bei Ali...

▶ Play video

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:43 PM

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loud flax Personally I'd just get a intel DC SATA one like this: <https://www.ebay.de/itm/...

The wyse 5070 supposedly only has connections for m.2.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:45 PM

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woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:45 PM

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sharp stump depends on your country and suppliers etc... look up something like the "beelink...

From 200€ onwards.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:45 PM

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looks like it does have an m.2 slot for an ssd yeah

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:46 PM

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The joys of thin clients. Apparently it has to be a SATA M.2 too. If yes I urge you even more to send it back.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:46 PM

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oh yeah it could be sata m.2 only which means nvmes wont work

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:46 PM

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loud flax The joys of thin clients. Apparently it has to be a SATA M.2 too. If yes I urge ...

Is that a problem?

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:47 PM

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Yes. They are relatively expensive, little choice and of no use for pretty much any other system.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:48 PM

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I had thought about buying a used one else.

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Somehow, I'm happy about your tips, but on the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed right now. Is not what I had hoped to learn.

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:50 PM

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Look at this for example: https://www.ebay.de/itm/306221171622
It's faster, has a 256G M.2 SSD and is cheaper than what you have.
I recommend looking for even better deals, just an example.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:51 PM

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videos like the above really bumped the price of a load of these things and some real junk ones get mixed in too

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its not worth spending a load of money trying to polish a turd

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:54 PM

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loud flax Look at this for example: <https://www.ebay.de/itm/306221171622> It's faster, ha...

It seems to have Windows on it. This means that home assistant will then work without proxmox. Somehow Youtube made me believe that home assistant and proxmox would be the best combination.

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:54 PM

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It doesn't matter what's on it. It will be overwritten during the Proxmox VE installation. I find PVE to be an excellent choice, by the way.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:54 PM

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PVE?

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 9:54 PM

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proxmox virtual enviroment

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:55 PM

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So proxmox definitely needs to be installed?

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:55 PM

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Yep. Proxmox VE is the operating system in this case.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:56 PM

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Okay, I think I understood that.

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@loud flax Lenovo only has 8GB of ram. Is that enough?

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:57 PM

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For getting started yes. Hard to get more for < 70€.

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You can easily expand it though: https://geizhals.de/?cat=ramddr3&xf=1454_8192~15903_DDR4~15903_SO-DIMM

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 9:58 PM

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I had already thought about using the thin client as a media server, for photos etc. But I don't know if both are possible on one device. So I'll limit myself to home assistant for starters.

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 9:59 PM

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It is. Virtualization allows you to run different things and you can fit another 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD in the linked device. Using a USB HDD/SSD works too.
I'd recommend additional storage for storing backups anyways.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 10:02 PM

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Then I'll send the wyse back first and order the other one from Lenovo. Thank you for your help!

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 10:03 PM

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I'd recommend you look a round for other things in the category too: https://www.ebay.de/b/PC-Desktops-All-in-Ones/179/bn_661568?LH_BIN=1&_udhi=100&mag=1&rt=nc
I can't easily find a better choice at the moment but I'm sure there is something 7th gen or newer or at least an i5.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 10:09 PM

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I'll take a look at it to see if I can find something. I'll rely on your tips.

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 10:12 PM

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Every device has their pros and cons. Thin clients are often fanless and quiet but lack expansion. Mini PCs are small but also lack a bit of expansion. SFF or tower PCs are cheaper but use more power and space. Just depends.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 10:15 PM

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I just wanted to start a new hobby. Smart home interests me very much, I also have it to a small extent. I didn't know home assistant before. And yes, I don't want to spend large sums of money on such a PC, whatever in the end.

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I thought 100 to 150€ would be fine for me.

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 10:16 PM

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These small PCs from well known brands usually keep a lot of their worth in case you want to sell them again.

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 10:17 PM

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depending on your actual home assistant use case you could just get a green and call it a day

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 10:17 PM

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loud flax These small PCs from well known brands usually keep a lot of their worth in case...

This aspect does not play a major role.

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 10:18 PM

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sharp stump depending on your actual home assistant use case you could just get a green and ...

What do you mean?

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 10:19 PM

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woven vine What do you mean?

https://www.home-assistant.io/green/

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low power/designed for the job/runs home assistant out the box

loud flax Apr 28, 2025, 10:20 PM

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Lacks expansion too and not suitable for also running a media server.
I also don't like it for... reasons: https://gist.github.com/Impact123/6ee130240bdc6a7fed2d5224616544a0

sharp stump Apr 28, 2025, 10:20 PM

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loud flax Lacks expansion too and not suitable for also running a media server. I also don...

yeah, this is true

woven vine Apr 28, 2025, 10:23 PM

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My first step is to send the device back. After that I would look around again and probably report here again. Thanks again. I have to go to work now.

woven vine Apr 29, 2025, 7:00 PM

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So I decided to keep the Dell after all. I ordered this memory and leave the RAM at 8GB for now. I think that's a good compromise for me.

plucky phoenix Apr 30, 2025, 12:05 PM

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Hi All, was wondering if someone is able to assist in setting up / configuring my zigbee usb dongle and zigbe2mqtt config settings as every guide iv come across is not working for me or the examples dont apply. Thank You

loud flax Apr 30, 2025, 2:59 PM

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Please create your own thread in #1284966617670881350, don't hijack an unrelated one from someone else.

indigo storm Apr 30, 2025, 8:00 PM

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I use a model 5060 for HA, and it's fine. I added a cheap SATA SSD.

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I only have 8GB RAM, and it isn't a problem.

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If you want to run a media server (e.g., Plex), you would need a more powerful host to transcode your video files, and server more than one client at a time.

#Beginner needs help