A cheap used office computer with a good CPU and decent RAM can far exceed the power of a Pi. That's been my strategy. I just Frankenstein it a bit with leftover parts from my gaming computer and load it up with disks.
There's good deals on lenovo m900s or dell optiplex that are great for this. New enough to have low idle wattage and decent performance for VMs and containers, and old enough that they're cheap.
A cheap used office computer with a good CPU and decent RAM can far exceed the power of a Pi. That's been my strategy. I just Frankenstein it a bit with leftover parts from my gaming computer and load it up with disks.
Ditto. My current server has the MoBo + CPU of a friend's old all-in-one, the case of an old HTPC, RAM from a trashcan, and big fat platters.
There's good deals on lenovo m900s or dell optiplex that are great for this. New enough to have low idle wattage and decent performance for VMs and containers, and old enough that they're cheap.