New UNRaid homeserver, no idea where to start with hardware

[PlanetGong]

Hi

Thanks in advance for any help here, I am feeling a bit lost!

My 10+ year old HP Proliant Microserver has recently given up the ghost, so I am looking to build a new server. I was running Debian on it with docker containers. However, thinking of moving to UnRaid for the new build.

Main functions will be mediaserver (4k HDR videos), potentially with some transcoding and PiHole.

I've recently split with my partner so figured this could be a decent project to keep my mind busy.

I haven't built anything in over 10 years so am completely lost when it comes to hardware. I don't mind buying new rather than scouring 2nd hand, but would say max budget is £750 excluding drives - I need everything else. I'd like it to be as quiet and power efficient as possible. Can anyone spec me a build please?

 

[PlanetGong]

Thanks all for the replies, given me a good starting point!

 

[PlanetGong]

Until you establish what you want in terms of drives/chassis/form factor it’s just a bunch of people telling you what works for them. They may not have the same usage criteria you do, so that can be very different to what you actually want/need.

I'm pretty much setup hardware wise - does anyone have any USB drive recommendations?

I purchased a couple of Samsung Bar Plus 32gb and neither of them work (I actually can't install any OS using them so think they are dodgy)