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Comment by loudmax | Hacker News Reader

I also recommend using an old laptop as a server. Benefits include the built-in battery backup, built-in KVM, and relatively low power consumption.

The other major benefit is that if you're the kind of person who's apt to set up a home server, you probably already have at least one these lying around.

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There's just one slightly opaque pitfall, not all laptops have a BIOS setting where you can specify what to do on power-loss and power-resume. So the laptop "server" stays off and you need to intervene manually.

I've had better luck with thin clients ...

Never had power out for long enough that the laptop didn't survive. Automatic shutdown of optional services at 80% battery level might also mean that it survives 2-3x as long, if this sort of thing is likely to hit where you live. Or buy a tiny UPS.

(One of the major advantages of laptops not manufactured in the last 3 years: replacing the battery to make it good as new takes 15 seconds. Click out, click in. They don't make 'em like that anymore :( )

If the battery were to run out: on 355 of the 365 days per year, there will be someone home who can push the button within a few hours.

And if it's one of the 10 other days: email will retry for 24 hours and everything else is somewhat optional for me. I can call someone to get there within a day, or change the DNS records and turn on a VPS to temporarily buffer the incoming SMTP. I considered my contingency options but never got close to needing it.

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