I want to move from my RPi4 to a mini server, for example Beelink Mini s12 Pro (N100+16GB DDR4 Ram) or Blackview Mini Pc MP80 (N95+16GB LPDDR5 RAM). Currently I run Homeassistant+Paperless NGX and I want to run a Linux Distro additionally in the future.
So, this processor type only supports up to 16GB (officially). Will this be enough for Proxmox? Or should I switch to a Ryzen CPU to get 32GB+?
And also, should I choose LPDDR5 instead of DDR4 RAM? Most mini-pcs offer DDR4 ?!
Sorry, but the amount of different configurations of mini-pcs is so overwhelming.
I have 3x n100 16gb ram as proxmox cluster. Have bunch of VMs, containers going. So far, 3 months in and not one single issue. And all 3 going at full tilt still uses less power then my previous single server setup. One of these n100s even have 3x proxmox virtualized where I tinker with cluster, ha, ceph, zfs and other stuff … Like sandbox, before I move to live.
Depend on how much you spin the VM, with 8GB ram you can spin 2-4 VM. In 16 GB maybe 4-8 VM.
The memory limit on Intel Ark is wrong. They support 64GB IIRC but largest module available are 48GB.
You should also pick DDR5 edition since it basically doubles the throughput and DDR4 single channel is already bottlenecking the CPU.
It all boils down to what you want to use it with. 16GB is plenty for what you are describing right now, plus more in the future if you keep your installation tidy.
Would I limit myself with a max 16gb system? Probably not, unless I was certain my usage for that device is fixed or another external factor (e.g., I got a huge deal on that device)
Also keep in mind that N95/N100 are more power efficient than a Ryzen.
16gb is fine, but you’d probably want to stick with containers. I had an S12 Pro with 32gb working just fine.
Proxmox itself uses about 1GB, so other than that you have the rest left over for everything else.