When people think “homelab,” they picture rack-mounted servers humming away in a closet. Me? I went the opposite direction with a tiny Dell OptiPlex 7040 Micro running Open Media Vault.

Why This Machine?

The OptiPlex 7040 Micro is one of those perfect homelab finds—enterprise surplus hardware that’s powerful enough to handle real workloads but small enough to disappear on a shelf. It’s whisper-quiet, sips power, and has enough horsepower to run everything I need.

The Specs

  • CPU: Intel i5-6500T (4 cores @ 3.1GHz) — low TDP, plenty of punch
  • RAM: 32GB — because why not?
  • OS: Debian 11 (bullseye) with OMV on top
  • Kernel: 6.0.0 — running newer than stock for better hardware support
  • Shell: zsh — because life’s too short for bash

What It Does

This little box handles network storage, Docker containers, automated backups, and whatever random services I decide to spin up. The beauty of OMV is that it gives you a clean web interface for managing storage while staying out of your way when you want to get your hands dirty with the underlying Debian system.

Best part? The entire thing draws less power than a light bulb and takes up less space than a stack of books. Perfect for homelab setups where silence, efficiency, and a small footprint actually matter.