If you have a server running, I wouldn't buy more hardware. They have good example documentation for just such a configuration:

https://docs.pi-hole.net/docker/

If your server already has those ports bound (specifically the DNS port 53) you are going to have to get creative; otherwise it'll work well!

Worst case, a cheapo pi 3 will do the job. At one point I had it running on a pi zero, so hardware requirements are pretty low.

I personally like it on a dedicated Pi simplly because I don't want DNS to die if i'm doing other server maintenance. the Pi is pretty much set it and forget it.

But i guerss you might as well try it on your server first and you can always buy a Pi if you find it to be too much of a pain.

I put it onto my home server and it is working great. I can't tell you about all the options, but it was so easy to start another VM for it that I didn't look at other options too carefully.

if you've already got something running 24/7, you could just put it there. it doesn't need much for resources.

pihole does not need it's own box. it can run as a container (docker instructions in the official docs) or in a small vm.

i have two small vm running dietpi and used that to install pihole. i fully expected to run a few more things on them, that's why i chose dietpi--just have never gotten that far (it's only been like three years now).

Definitely dont bother with buying a pi if you've got other hardware.

I have one physical (a 3b I had no use for anymore), and two running as containers. The containers do most of the heavy lifting, since they are so much faster than a pi they respond far faster, but the physical is nice for when I take down the clusters for maintenance (or when I lose power, the clusters shut down after about 3 minutes, the pi will keep going for a while on UPS).

I have it on my Pi, and it does the job just fine. But if you have a home server with a little more power, do it there instead.

The last thing you want is your DNS to bottleneck. Never had a problem with my Rasp5, but it all depends on how many other services you try to run.

Can confirm. I have 10 year old pi2 that is dedicated to pi hole and even that is not utilizing all of its 1gb of memory

I run mine on a PI 0. Also use it as a samba disk partition for transferring files.

Interesting... And this is not a criticism, simply an observation...

I've a single Pihole instance running on a RPi 4 and have experienced not a single instance of any of the 3 probs you mention. Except, of course, the very few minutes it takes for a reboot which I can schedule and am aware when it's happening...

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Mine never crashed until the latest major update, now it’s down every time I come home. Am mad

honestly don't find it necessary. raspberry OS basically never needs to be rebooted and if you really need planned maintenance you can just use a normal DNS server til you're done.

Huh? Typically you have a secondary DNS entry on your router

If that's what you're happy with and works for you, continue.

Personally, I'm creating an environment in which I'm not dependent on any cloud provider on the front end.

I do have a cloud backup solution for all my data files on the off chance I lose every single on-site backup and closely-held remote backups (read: not in main building but still on property...).

Just trying to get away from reliance on the existence of someone else's computer/datacenter...

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Works for me

Perhaps it's blocked for you.

You can do it with any router by manually configuring devices, but one that lets you advertise the PiHole IP as the DHCP DNS option makes it a lot easier.

OpenWrt with AdGuard Home is one option. Big fan of the former, haven't used the latter

If it's websites that are breaking, maybe you are using some really aggressive blocklist. Also, you can use multiple blocklists and assign clients to them however you please.