Hey r/homelab,

My budget-friendly ZimaOS node has been running smoothly for over a month now!

Everything in this setup, including the access point and an old HDD pulled from a 2013 PC! was completely salvaged from my basement. It’s amazing what you can build for 0 dollars using spare parts.

Hardware & Core Specs:

• Laptop: hp elitebook 840 g3
• CPU: Intel Core i5 Processor
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: 500 GB SSD (plus the old 2013 HDD for extra storage)
• OS: ZimaOS
• Power Draw: mostly at 2.0W (ZimaOS) / 5.6W (btop tool)

Current Application Stack:

• Pi-hole + Unbound: Combined in one container for secure local DNS.
• Jenkins: Auto-deploys to ZimaOS on GitHub repository pushes.
• Nginx Proxy Manager + DuckDNS: Remote access for some services.
• Uptime Kuma: Uptime and container health monitoring.
• Immich: photo management and backups.
• Stremio & Jellyfin: Media streaming and entertainment.
• Omarchy Linux on ZVM: Running inside ZimaOS Virtual Machines just for fun.

For those running ZimaOS long-term on salvaged hardware, what are your favorite must-have apps or storage expansion tips?