







My "Basement Find" ZimaOS Homelab on HP EliteBook 840 G3
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?