My home setup is growing — lights, sensors, a few cameras — and the old laptop I run openHAB on is getting loud and tired. I am looking at a small mini PC as a replacement, something quiet that can sit on a shelf and run 24/7 without much power.
The minis forum collection has a few boxes that look right for this: small cases, low idle power, and enough ports for a Zigbee stick and an SSD. A Ryzen-based box with 16GB of memory and a couple of M.2 slots should handle openHAB, a database and a dashboard without breaking a sweat, and the built-in WiFi and Ethernet keep the network side simple.
Has anyone here moved openHAB onto a mini PC like this? I am curious about real idle power, whether the box stays quiet under load, and if the USB ports play nicely with Zigbee and Z-Wave sticks. Any tips on which box to pick for a 24/7 server would be welcome.