Homelab parts compatibility database and API #5
Description
Goal: a user experience similar to PCPartPicker, but optimized for the homelab builder rather than a custom desktop PC builder.
PCPartPicker nails all the parts you'd need for a desktop, like hard drives, motherboards, cases, power supplies, etc. but does not include several categories of hardware that homelabbers are shopping for, much less helping establish whether parts are compatible with each other, like:
- whether a selected power source has enough wattage and the right connectors to power a provided list of SBCs, host boards, physical drives, cooling solutions, etc.
- whether an SBC has support for certain technical features (NVMe storage, PXE/netboot, UEFI, PCIe 2.0 vs. 3.0, etc.)
- physical dimensions of an SBC or host board to understand how it would fit on a rack (both DIN rail and traditional server rack units)
etc etc.
Starting with a quality database and API with all the necessary data points is essential, and optimizing the process of importing data from various manufacturers and retailers (sigh using LLMs might help here). Then, expanding out from that, a UI that makes it easy to consume and combine the data, conveniently linking out to affiliates/partners for purchasing the parts.
Jeff Geerling was also mentioned as a valuable partner for a project like this, as he has collected some of this data already, and would also be a great person to test the project out with as it fits his projects and audience perfectly.