Choosing memory and storage for your server

Memory and storage determine how smoothly your server runs and how long it lasts. These are the choices that matter.

Memory (RAM)

• How much? 8 GB is enough for a small start, 16 GB for a substantial home server and 32 GB if you run many virtual machines. Memory is the first thing that runs out with Proxmox. Figure out how much you need by adding up the memory requirements of each virtual machine and adding 2 GB for Proxmox itself.
• What type? Check your computer’s specifications: DDR4 and DDR5 don’t fit in each other’s slots, and a laptop or mini-pc uses small SO-DIMM modules. Also pay attention to the maximum amount the computer can handle.
• Two equally sized modules often provide more speed than one large one.
• ECC memory (with error correction) is not necessary for home use, no matter how much some people recommend it. It is nice for a very critical ZFS server.

Storage for the system and your applications

• Use an SSD. The difference compared to a hard drive is enormous: booting, virtual machines and databases feel much faster.
• NVMe or SATA. NVMe is faster, SATA is cheaper and sufficient for most things. Check what your computer supports.
• Wear (TBW). An SSD can only handle a certain amount of writing. Servers that write a lot (logs, databases, virtual machines) require an SSD with a higher TBW. Choose a well-known brand and check the value in the specifications.
• Don’t choose the very cheapest. Cheap SSDs without their own memory buffer become slow as soon as they fill up and fail sooner.

Storage for your files

For photos, movies and backups, hard drives are still the cheapest way to get lots of space. Everything about that, from NAS drives to SMR and SMART, is covered in choosing and maintaining drives. Calculate what you’ll have left with our RAID and ZFS calculator.

For the Raspberry Pi

• SD card: choose a good card from a well-known brand, with class A1 or A2, of at least 32 GB. Cheap cards fail faster. A card for cameras or dashcams (“high endurance”) can withstand a lot of writing.
• Better: a USB SSD. A Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 can boot from a USB SSD. That’s faster and more reliable than an SD card. A Pi 5 can also use an NVMe SSD with an additional adapter.

Backup remains necessary

No matter how good the drive is, it can fail. Make sure you have a backup in a different location.