For the past 8 years, I've had a nice Supermicro Windows Server in my basement, hosting networking stuff (VPN, DHCP, DNS, etc.), a bunch of linux virtual machines for Asterisk and various home-automation software, and lots of space for file storage.
However, things have changed. For one thing, my files are all in the cloud now, which makes them more secure and takes care of backups, version control, etc. Secondly, modern routers can do all the networking tasks that I need, and Windows Server is overkill for me at this point. Thirdly, the cost of electricity has skyrocketed, and operating a fully-fledged server hardware has become quite expensive.
My question, therefore, is: what are my options for a low-power Linux server? I thought of the Raspberry, but I tried that a few years ago and it didn't have enough power to handle Asterisk well (even if we rarely have more that one connection at a time); we had distorted audio and frequent dropouts. The Raspberry hardware may have become a bit more powerful by now though. If not Raspberry, what are the alternatives? I am OK with spending good money on the server (I can deduct that), but I am more concerned about the running costs and also about the environmental impact of energy consumption. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
However, things have changed. For one thing, my files are all in the cloud now, which makes them more secure and takes care of backups, version control, etc. Secondly, modern routers can do all the networking tasks that I need, and Windows Server is overkill for me at this point. Thirdly, the cost of electricity has skyrocketed, and operating a fully-fledged server hardware has become quite expensive.
My question, therefore, is: what are my options for a low-power Linux server? I thought of the Raspberry, but I tried that a few years ago and it didn't have enough power to handle Asterisk well (even if we rarely have more that one connection at a time); we had distorted audio and frequent dropouts. The Raspberry hardware may have become a bit more powerful by now though. If not Raspberry, what are the alternatives? I am OK with spending good money on the server (I can deduct that), but I am more concerned about the running costs and also about the environmental impact of energy consumption. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!