
Turning the Raspberry Pi 4 into a Mini Server - Abishek_Muthian
https://n-o-d-e.net/node_mini_server3.html
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colordrops
A lot of skepticism in this thread. I've got a pi4 4GB running Ubuntu server,
acting as a SMB file server, Plex media server, Mopidy music server, Spotify
Connect endpoint, video recorder for my two outdoor IP cameras, and a
Minecraft server for my kids, all running simultaneously. And it's not
breaking a sweat, not even getting close to full memory or CPU utilization.

I do use a USB nvme SSD enclosure for storage to be fair, and it's only stable
when using a powered USB hub.

~~~
city41
I find the pi4 is pretty close to being fast enough to be my daily driver. Not
quite, but it's pretty close. I suspect the pi5 will meet my needs. Being able
to just mount a ~$100 computer on the back of my monitor and do my work on it
will be pretty mind blowing.

~~~
bitwize
You may wish to look into refurbished tiny-form-factor PCs for this purpose.
With a relatively powerful x86 CPU it's possible to live this dream today!

~~~
city41
Oh yeah definitely, I've looked into that as well. And there are some small
x86 based maker boards like the Udoo as well. How cheap cpu power and
computers in general are getting is more what I'm amazed at.

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Legogris
Unless you specifically need the 8GB RAM (where Rpi 4 is the only contender in
this range as of right now AFAIK), IMO for server use-cases it'd be better to
consider either Odroid C4 or Rock Pi 4 - both offer better storage interfaces
than USB/microSD natively. Also easier to run vanilla Debian/Ubuntu (or
Armbian, which is very close to vanilla but can be easily built custom for
either board preconfigured with necessary kernel modules/dtbs/boot
loader/drivers/firmware for each board).

~~~
m463
I have many pis, but when it comes to making a mini server, wouldn't it be
worth it to spring for a low end intel machine, or used mini-pcs?

They already come with things like power supplies, RTC+battery, on-off
switches, sata and/or m.2, expandable memory, etc.

~~~
Legogris
Maybe, depends on what your priorities are!

Personally I use ARM SBCs to get physically separate hosts for things like
Consul/Vault/Nomad servers, k8s control plane, some monitoring instances,
workers for loads that don't need blazing single-thread performance, etc. This
way I can run something close to "best practices" HA redundant clusters while
staying low on purchase and electricity costs, and my whole setup can fit in a
suitcase if I need to move.

Some of the things you mention (m.2, RTC, switches) are things that are either
included or cheap and easy add-ons to the boards I mentioned.

Another nice upside is the low power means it's easier to power them via PoE,
so you don't need a power supply in the first place.

I also try to go as far as I can in the direction of libre/open
software/firmware/hardware, which means I try to minimize the reliance on
Intel and AMD CPUs.

~~~
hinkley
I’m using my old Anker charging station to power most of my SBCs.

I think the “it depends” also depends on what you think the next ten years
holds for ARM vs x64. Getting some more hours in dealing with ARM ‘servers‘
might be a decent way to hedge your bets.

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ratiolat
I am waiting for AMD based "NUC", because I don't want to give money to Intel.

The reason I want a AMD based computer is to run vanilla Debian on it.

Vanilla debian does not run on Raspberry unfortunately. Currently I'm running
Odroid XU4, but I need more ram and horsepower.

~~~
LargoLasskhyfv
Maybe not exactly what you are looking for, because larger and more expensive
than most systems in this context, but it comes with anything one needs, with
the exception of CPU, RAM and storage.

[https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMini%20A300%20Series/](https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMini%20A300%20Series/)

~~~
kingosticks
I keep almost buying one but never quite get there. An updated version is
around the corner and although it will support the new 4000 series APUs (when
they become generally available), it's otherwise underwhelming compared to the
updated Intel model.

[https://liliputing.com/2020/08/asrocks-new-deskmini-pcs-
supp...](https://liliputing.com/2020/08/asrocks-new-deskmini-pcs-support-amd-
renoir-or-intel-comet-lake-chips.html)

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thecodeman
I did something similar pi4 500gb ssd POE and small lcd .
[https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/hrp8sl/i_desi...](https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/hrp8sl/i_designed_and_printed_this_case_for_my_nas/)

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tyingq
Used Lenovo Tiny M92p/M93p units make a nicer solution for this, to me. The
enclosure is already there, and no janky USB storage to deal with.

~~~
rumanator
A Lenovo M92p is about 6x the price of a RPi, and the noise/form factor can't
possibly be compared.

If you really want to compare a 200$ desktop with a 40$ SoC then you should
aim for stuff such as those mini PC's/thin clients from Asus, which nowadays
even ship with Ryzen processors.

~~~
test1235
>noise

There's no way you can do much on the rPi4 without active cooling - mine gets
uncomfortable hot doing some basic web scraping, never mind server duties.

~~~
rumanator
> There's no way you can do much on the rPi4 without active cooling.

You'd be surprised. YMMV and of course your local climate and your usage
patterns do dictate how hot your gear runs, but in my experience adding a
small 1$ heat spreader does allow my RPi4 to chug along without going over
60C. Heck, even placing it on the side or placing a coin stack over the
processor is enough to keep it running along without ever throttling.

Of course if you're constantly running 100% CPU loads then you start to need
cooling, whether it's your laptop or desktop or even servers.

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jacobwilliamroy
We've been running a Raspberry pi 3 smb/print server for a few months now. It
was also our wifi access point for a little while. We have it hooked into a
7-port USB 3.0 hub for removable storage.

Raspberry pi is also ideal as a command and control server for IP gadgets
running hacked firmwares such as cameras and doorknobs and ACs and stuff. It
is better to run cameras on on a separate wifi channel/PHY to save bandwidth,
store to local server, rsync over to off-site backup once a day. All of this
can be done with Pi, ethernet cable and a cheap usb wifi interface.

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fossuser
This website is pretty cool, but I can't really find out what it is?

Looks like it's a magazine?

Is there any context, none of the articles have dates or an explanation about
what it is/who makes it.

~~~
ObsoleteNerd
He makes awesome YouTube videos on various small electronics projects like
this, including some more complex ones with custom PCBs and stuff. The website
is more used as a reference/script for the videos, and the videos are much
better if you actually want to see the projects visually.

I’m a big fan of his Casio F91W mods and his Pi Zero projects. His overall
design/aesthetics are flawless too.

[https://www.youtube.com/c/NODEtv](https://www.youtube.com/c/NODEtv)

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tssva
If you don't care about the internal SSD drive than the Argon One case would
be a nice alternative to this. It is a nice looking case which also moves all
the ports to one side. While not the cheapest case it is likely less expensive
than getting all the parts together for this design.

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petejames
Intel NUCs for x86 K8/Docker servers. Used units are very cheap on
ebay/Craigslist.

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mirchiseth
I have a RPi4 with 2GB running Home Assistant which besides connecting all the
smart/iot devices also hosts

\- BitWarden for password manager backend \- AdGuard Home for ad blocking and
local DNS server \- OctoPrint for my 3D printer

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pengaru
I don't understand why you would bother with this when you can pick up a
second-hand Thinkpad for so cheap which brings a builtin UPS and far more
performance, RAM, and IO options.

~~~
WaxProlix
As someone who's grown tired of a flaky rpi connected to an external drive, is
there a generation to shoot for in terms of low price to reasonable
performance?

~~~
mclehman
I was able to swing $230 total for two x230s with the base i5 and ssds last
fall/winter (actually three, but the third doesn't really count (arrived
damaged, seller initiated a refund then ghosted, got a full refund from
ebay)). If you're really lucky, you can find a computraced one for super cheap
($85 in my case) and then coreboot it.

That said, x220s and x230s seem to have gotten more expensive since then, I
haven't seen any similarly good deals lately.

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vaxman
Don’t do it! For (your own) source code or valuables, you need ECC memory and
a capacitor on the power supply for your storage device which, by the way,
should not be prone to corruption when the device is vibrated a little too
hard causing electrical shorts in the SD-card or USB connectors! Backups
aren’t the answer either, in fact backups can trigger RAM errors (especially
with encryption and compression enabled) that may only ever be occurring
during backups leading to..silently corrupted backups.

~~~
jmnicolas
I hear about ECC since 15 years now but I have yet to encounter a case where I
had data corruption (on any machine ECC or not).

It's not that I don't believe, but the occurrence seems to be ultra rare.

~~~
vaxman
The Sun was in a relative quiet period for most of those 15 years. Intel
removed ECC from the consumer products to keep businesses from buying them
--they didn't count on an entire generation of Computer Scientists being wiped
out in the dot-com crash and the replacements getting lucky while not knowing
any better. All of the great masters (cough) know better, such as the
architects of AWS (it is 100% ECC), Microsoft, Apple and other environments
that were less affected by the loss of key personnel to the Crash. But keep
down votin' \--love it!

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mastrsushi
An ARM based server almost sounds like an oxymoron.

~~~
zelly
I got a Raspberry Pi 4 and naively thought that because it was ARM it used
little power and didn't need fans. In a few weeks the board melted and now
won't turn on. Was only running a few programs.

~~~
pmarreck
I just got a Pi 4 and for a year now I've known it gets very very hot. I
ordered this heatsink case for it

[https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWM4J4L/ref=ppx_yo_dt...](https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWM4J4L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Should solve the problem. :)

