Raspberry pi, more reliable alternatives? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- miguste · 2023-10-10 11:22 I’ve been trying to run Immich (Google photos alternative) on my pi, with a USB HDD attached, and I lose connection quite often, when rebooting the drive isn’t connected at times. Is there a more reliable alternative that doesn’t have the Synology prices? Something in between? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- binaryhellstorm · 2023-10-10 11:31 A small desktop PC or laptop? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- severanexp · 2023-10-10 11:43 Google raspberry pi alternative. Or desktop mini pc. Lenovo is a good brand ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 11:55 This sub is about selfhosted software services. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Winstonwolf1345 · 2023-10-10 12:15 Have you checked if the usb connection is shut down for some(powersaving reason)? Had the same with my ssd drive and dodgy adapter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mystarkfuture · 2023-10-10 12:22 Look into the N100 and N95 mini PCs I remember seeing one for $150 If you include the raspberry, SD card, Power supply, the heat sink - it will cost around $120. For $30 more, you get a more powerful and reliable minipc. Sounds good to me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- trexxeon · 2023-10-10 12:33 Ohh let’s have another “immich is awesome” post shall we ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Porculius · 2023-10-10 12:39 Lenovo Tiny second hand on Ebay. You got many under 100€, full PC compatible and some models even with PCIe where you can fit a 10GB NIC (m920q). I myself use a M710q with Proxmox, bought it 2x8GB ram and a 7400t cpu. Power consumption not too far from RPI. There are also other models from HP that could also fit, or even Dell. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ExoWire · 2023-10-10 12:41 As others already told you, look into N95, N100 small Desktops or an used HP Prodesk, Lenovo ThinkCentre and similar devices. They all have way more power than the Raspberry you are not dependent on a microSD card or USB connection for your data. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 13:03 *Youre right, using the sub for what it is intended has gotten boring. Lets discuss other things instead! Hey i have this weird fungus like thing on my right pinky toe, can i post a picture and you can tell me if i should see a doctor about it?* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- shaftofbread · 2023-10-10 13:03 That's a very basic configuration issue, but go ahead and throw away perfectly good hardware 🤷‍♂️ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Eirikr70 · 2023-10-10 13:12 My setup of Immich on a Raspberry Pi is very reliable. Have you installed a cooling system ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lalcaraz · 2023-10-10 13:20 I’m using old Chuwi Herobox devices and so far working as expected. Low power consumption and good enough to for my use case. Give it a spin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JumpingCoconutMonkey · 2023-10-10 13:22 You keep saying this, but the sub reddit rules do not explicitly say anything against asking about hardware. The content just has to be related to self hosting. We all need hardware to self host. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 13:24 > Self-hosting, as it pertains to the /r/selfhosted subreddit, is any software intended to replace or replicate an existing website, web service, or web app, that the user who puts said software into place has full control over the hosting environment either at the Operating System level or at the level where they fully control all data pertinent to the software being hosted, including data related to the functionality of the software being hosted. > [...] > This subreddit focuses on the software that is considered to be self-hosted, regardless of where it is being hosted. https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/wiki/selfhosted > We all need hardware to self host. We also need electricity for it. So what? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- cleverSkies · 2023-10-10 13:25 Yeah, for many folks buying surplus business/office machines is a good way to go. I use a Dell 9020 micro that is more than capable for most web based services (especially since it's just me, and at most a couple folks accessing). Every now and again I'll see really good deals on xx50 and xx60 dells as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- trotski94 · 2023-10-10 13:26 I've been running Home Assistant off a Pi booting from a USB SSD for 4+ years now with no issues, there's something wrong with your setup ---------------------------------------------------------------------- justageekboy65 · 2023-10-10 13:28 I just bought 3 Dell 9020 SFF from Ebay for $120 each. Intel core i7-4790 (4 cores 8 threads), 16gb RAM, 1TB HD, 3 PCIE slots. Great little box. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- m50 · 2023-10-10 13:31 I got a cheap used business-oriented mini PC from HP, and I use that as my server. Plenty of power despite its low power draw, relatively affordable, and much more reliable than RPi ever was for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- utopiah · 2023-10-10 13:36 What's the actual problem here? Run some logs to identify what the bottleneck is. Immich is pretty demanding for the indexing when you turn computer vision on. Maybe your Pi has no CPU or RAM left. You can check with e.g top. If you "upgrade" with another machine but you don't know what to change you'll make a risky bet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- hdddanbrown · 2023-10-10 13:40 He may seem like the resident ass around here but typically he is correct. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jstevewhite · 2023-10-10 13:56 This is the way. :D SFF desktops are the bomb for homelab stuff. Sounds like the making of a tight little k8s cluster... >:) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JazzyEssy · 2023-10-10 14:02 Exactly something more portable to move around with like small pc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EndlessHiway · 2023-10-10 14:04 Hypocrite. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 14:11 Care to explain? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bleke_xyz · 2023-10-10 14:11 It's hard to get something worse lol ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EndlessHiway · 2023-10-10 14:22 You say stuff that is hypocritical. Hope this helps. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CatWeekends · 2023-10-10 14:24 So report it, downvote it, and move on. If the mods agree with you, they'll delete the post. Easy peasy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 14:27 Genius advice, thanks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mekstr · 2023-10-10 14:28 Running Odroid H3 at home with various containers just fine. It’s x86 based, so you won’t run into a container that doesn’t support your platform. No fan and you can put nvme SSD and it’s small but quite performing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jimselew · 2023-10-10 14:40 Buy a usb hub with external power supply. Attach the hdd there and the hub to the pi obviously. Raspberry pi can’t provide enough (or reliable) power by its own. I had the same issue , now I have 2 HDDs on the hub and I have no problems at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rithotyn · 2023-10-10 14:42 Recently got an HP EliteDeak SFF 800 G1 for £50, upgraded the ram to 32Gb for a further £30. Enough space for an SSD and 2x HDDs. It's been fantastic, would highly recommend. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RumbleStripRescue · 2023-10-10 14:46 We have several original rPIs still running to this day, a decade+ later on their original OS with almost zero downtime. Might be your OS or bad unit… of the dozen or so we’ve only had one 3b fail due to a bad solder. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rjames24000 · 2023-10-10 14:47 I have this intel nuc in a closet connected to ethernet and its very low power and supports intel qsv https://preview.redd.it/1n43q84h1srb1.png?width=1180&format=png&auto=w ebp&s=3c7164fb6f803b412a854325a2cf98519bc65512 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Simon-RedditAccount · 2023-10-10 15:07 Any NUC-sized PC. Cheaper than Pi4, faster, with native NVMe and 2.5" SATA support. [Some models](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1C9Q4WK) even feature 3.5" bays. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve4704 · 2023-10-10 15:31 Have you checked your wifi? I have a newer linksys latest/greatest. My PIs lose connectivity when transferring large files. I don't make any changes except switching to an older linksys (n) wifi and they are rock solid for transferring huge files. Been through linksys support - nothing worked. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Feahnor · 2023-10-10 15:36 A n100 mini PC. You can get it fully equipped for around 120-130$. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- miguste · 2023-10-10 15:39 I don’t have cooling. It does feel hot. I also see that the usb drive (WD MyPassport) sometime acts up (only 20gb storage shown in immich while it’s 2TB. Could this be due to cooling or power issues? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- miguste · 2023-10-10 15:40 And they’re made to be running continuously? How is power consumption? Thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- choomerino · 2023-10-10 15:47 I also want to know. My main reason for using a Raspberry pi over a used desktop is power consumption. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DesiITchef · 2023-10-10 15:59 Soo I didn't see any issues with raspberry pi but just storage same as you. So I decided to get terramaster 5 bay drive, super cheap. Configured raid and exported via nfs to raspberry pi. Using nextcloud haven't had any issues so far especially since I added 2 min timer to start nextcloud post nfs startup. Next is just connecting Nas straight to pi. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- hekermon · 2023-10-10 16:05 Raspberry Pi is overrated, any refurbished mini PC would provide better value than raspberry pi. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Theon · 2023-10-10 16:36 > We also need electricity for it. So what? And if someone discussed electricity in a way that's particularly relevant to self-hosting (e.g. cutting down on power bills, UPSs, etc.) I'd consider it perfectly okay for /r/selfhosted, hope this helps ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CGA1 · 2023-10-10 16:38 I had exactly the same experience, switched to a powered usb case, and never had a problem with the HDD since. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- titanboreal · 2023-10-10 16:42 There isn't any such thing as self host hardware "made for continuous running" only expensive workstations/server may be. In my experience a normal low end pc is better than any raspberry (better power delivery circuits and you can replace any component if any breaks). Running from SD and solder ram is a no go. The only good thing about Raspberry is the lower consumption (and lower price a low time ago), but the lower performance and limited expansion make you think if it really worth it. My ancient i5 server with multiple hard drives, coolers and a lot of ram consumes 50w at normal operations but can do SOOO MUCH MORE than a Pi. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Nagashitw · 2023-10-10 16:43 Slap debian or talos in there and you got a really nice setup ---------------------------------------------------------------------- brand_momentum · 2023-10-10 16:48 The price for the Raspberry Pi 5 + essentials (MicroSD, HDMI, PSU, Case) doesn't make sense anymore, that's why SFF desktops are now better to use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PurpleEsskay · 2023-10-10 17:06 either a lenovo or dell mini pc, they're so cheap on ebay these days and blow the pi away. It's why the thread in /r/homelab has basically every post saying the pi 5 is way too expensive for what is essentially a very mediocre update. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- talent_deprived · 2023-10-10 17:12 I'd look up cheap laptops, they seem to have a lot of horsepower, low power usage and can be tucked away in the corner or behind furniture. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CanuckFire · 2023-10-10 17:16 If you are running small services a tiny workstation or even something like the (dell/Wyse) 5070 will draw minimal power but you can have native interfaces like a 2.5 sata SSD and nvme so you can get a bit better performance out of them than on a pi. The rpi is a great piece of hardware but if you are only running servers or software then something a tiny bit larger can be much more reliable and cost effective long term. I think the 5070 draws like 5-10w idle with the small one? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mrtomd · 2023-10-10 17:17 How many SATA port does it have? Enough to connect two hard drives for NAS usage in RAID configuration? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- therealblownie · 2023-10-10 17:28 Take a look at Zimaboard which can be had for $200. Here is a recent review https://ounapuu.ee/posts/2023/10/09/zimaboard/ I know several people who use it and love it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 17:34 No it doesnt, but thanks for letting me know your opinion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- a_sugarcane · 2023-10-10 17:34 There's zimaboard but it's expensive ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NiBuch · 2023-10-10 17:43 > The only good thing about Raspberry is the lower consumption FWIW, they're pretty good at driving displays for that low power too. They're great for projects like arcade cabinets or basic media centers. > In my experience a normal low end pc is better than any raspberry For selfhosted services where you don't need a display (or GPIO), agreed. You can get a lot more life and usability out of a PC at negligible extra power consumption. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2023-10-10 17:51 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- justageekboy65 · 2023-10-10 17:51 Indeed ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 17:54 Maybe you should look up the definition of hypocrite then. Good luck. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lorax-06 · 2023-10-10 17:57 I have a 2tb m.2 ssd hooked to my Pi4 and it has been rock solid for almost a year. However, I also have one of these, but its doing a lot more than serving photo's https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083JL2FXC/ref=ox\_sc\_saved\_image\ _20?smid=A3RUF4WM0ZIQQN&psc=1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-10 17:58 Okay? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DoTheThingNow · 2023-10-10 18:05 Buy an old NUC off ebay and you’ll have a much better time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- enormousaardvark · 2023-10-10 18:26 The Pi is rock solid reliable, it’s your usb / sata connection that’s the problem, look for a better brand and it’ll be tip top. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytepond · 2023-10-10 18:42 Get a Tiny Desktop. Lenovo has the Thinkcentre tiny, HP and Dell make similar ones too. They can be had for as low as $40-50 and upgrades are cheap, parts are everywhere, and they've got 2.5 inch and even m.2 slots for storage ---------------------------------------------------------------------- slugshead · 2023-10-10 18:50 I'm using syncthing on a pi with a usb SSD. working flawlessly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- miguste · 2023-10-10 18:55 That’s interesting, didn’t think of that. Is the WD MyPassport known as a difficult device to connect to a pi? What I found strange is that it only has one usb port (so no second port to power it). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sonicion · 2023-10-10 19:37 My pi4's all stay connected to USB drives fine. I bet it's your HDD connection. Maybe the cable or the drive controller. Can try a new cable which should be replaceable. Or, you can shuck the drive and place it in a new ext case? For me, at using slightly more energy, A Intel N100 would make a much better server. Could run HA, jellyfin, Immich, and a few others all at the same time without any hick-ups. Most likely a new rig won't fix a drive connection problem though. Good Luck! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- glidecarefullynow · 2023-10-10 19:48 Is the usb drive externally powered? If the harddrive is getting power from the Pi, the Pi might be cutting it out for power saving reasons; might be a setting to configure? I've had my Pi4 running nearly continuously with no connection issues for a couple of years, but the external harddrives have their own power source ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jerwong · 2023-10-10 20:10 You might not be getting enough juice. I'm running something similar wtih a Pi4 8GB with a USB HDD attached. Make sure you are providing sufficient power (I'm using the official USB power adapter). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ninjersteve · 2023-10-10 20:23 Sounds like you have a reliability problem with your HDD enclosure, not so much that it’s the Pi. That said I bought a used supermicro server off eBay (4 cores, ~2.5 GHz, 32GB ECC) for around $300. Five years later I couldn’t be happier. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- miguste · 2023-10-10 20:27 I have not, but I will, thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- migsperez · 2023-10-10 20:27 I bought a Pi 4 a few months ago. The drive it uses, is a SSD plugged in via a simple USB 3 plug. Surprisingly It works great, hugely reliable. Been running non stop since I plugged it in. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07F7WDZGT?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_as in_title Maybe you have a bad USB enclosure or connection. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- aztracker1 · 2023-10-10 20:59 I've been suggesting the various N100 based mini PCs. 16gb ram, 512g-1t storage and 1-2 nics from $155-199 on Amazon. They're very peppy for the price, way faster than RPi. If you spend about 125-150 more, there are N305 options (twice the cores). There are older models that may be faster or slower. There are definitely higher end models. Been using a MinisForum HX90 for a while now as my home server along side my NAS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- aztracker1 · 2023-10-10 21:02 If you want SATA ports, best to build ITX, there's an asrock itx board with N100 on newegg for $129. Only single channel ram up to 32g. If you have the space, cooling and energy is cheap for you. You can always go with used server hardware via eBay. There are some great deals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- aztracker1 · 2023-10-10 21:05 Depends on the drives, but anywhere from 6-15W depending on load, model, os and configuration. Most will idle under 10w on Linux or lower for Windows. At least for the latest and last Gen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mrtomd · 2023-10-10 21:21 I only need 3 SATA ports or 2 SATA + M.2 for the system SSD. I already have QNAP TS251+ NAS, which I absolutely hate and want to replace with a home server. Small Form Factor (SFF) PC sounds like a good option, but I am not sure which ones have enough SATA ports and space for two 3.5" drives, plus one 2.5" SSD or M.2 SSD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- aztracker1 · 2023-10-10 21:40 Most current ITX will have 2x SATA and usually 1 or 2 NVME... would probably go with a Jonabo N2 case with some room to grow. If you want ECC ram, best bet is Asrock MB for AMD. Probably least expensive decent option is Asrock N100 board on Newegg for $129, though single channel ram and the expansion slot is PCIe x4. Asking with an NVME. There's also an N6105 "nas" board for around $250 on Amazon. Mike Boots really slow with SATA devices. Hoping for a BIOS update. Otherwise, if you go with a board that takes a CPU, make sure to get a CPU with integrated graphics, so you can use the expansion slot for SAS/SATA expansion board later. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ExoWire · 2023-10-10 22:01 My Intel Nuc runs at 6-7w 24/7 for over a year and is faster than my Raspberry 3 and 4 together. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- liveyourdreamsmax · 2023-10-10 23:20 Runs great in docker(omv) on an elitedesk 800 g3 I bought for $85. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- audero · 2023-10-10 23:46 Second hand NUC or SFFPC. Unless you need the GPIO pins or other specialised IO on the Pi, Pis aren't the best option. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- srosorcxisto · 2023-10-11 01:17 I can not recommend the Odroid n2+ highly enough as a Pi alternative if 4gb RAM will do. If you need more RAM the Orange Pi 5 is a phenomenal alternative. Both ar2 significantly more powerful. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Aud3o · 2023-10-11 02:14 Yeah, these tiny computers usually have two or three SATA ports. The newer ones, Intel 6th gen and up, can also have a NVMe slot. So it’s usually the logical cheapest step up for a Raspberry Pi. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- elvisap · 2023-10-11 02:59 Use a USB drive that's externally powered, or buy a USB splitter cable that allows you to plug an external USB power supply in. I use RPi devices as mini-NAS devices all the time, but it's critical to supply the drives with external power. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- johngizzard · 2023-10-11 03:02 https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/xfh8p9/the_janklab_v10_seeki ng_advice Check out my janklab Honestly SFFPCs and HDDs don't really mix, but I made it work (mostly to prove I could). Smart thing is to go sffpc + dedicated NAS which is a lot more of a scalable hardware combo. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kmisterk · 2023-10-11 05:01 ## Post Removed Hey, miguste! Thanks for your submission on selfhosted. Your post has been removed due to a violation of the purpose of the subreddit: **Self Hosting** ## Not Self-Hosted When it comes to posts regarding applications in this subreddit, they must feature a self-hosted tool, or a tool that *can be* self-hosted, or some kind of related information, help request, or otherwise related to a tool that is something that one can self-host. If you believe this post *is in fact* relevant to /r/selfhosted, feel free to [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to= /r/selfhosted&subject=Removed For Not Being Self- Hosted&message=[Removed Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/174iqfu/-/\)) with your concerns.