Newer Pi's do support booting to USB drives (flash or SATA adapter) and I think the firmware update enabling that on the 3/3b/4/4b allows SATA hats and others t

Newer Pi's do support booting to USB drives (flash or SATA adapter) and I think the firmware update enabling that on the 3/3b/4/4b allows SATA hats and others to work but I haven't read into or tested any of them. Booting to USB protects the install better, allows easier access or setup on a PC, and I have more of them around to set up random OS or systems to test. I have several pis around and each that can boots to USB including the pihole systems at my parents place and grandma's apartment. Plus, the SD copier tool in Raspbian works with USB drives (and VHDs) so I set up the pihole for my grandma, cloned the usb drive, then sent both drives to her with the pi and called to walk her through plugging things in then used my existing remote tool on her laptop to finish set up. Now she has a backup USB drive that may need updates but is ready to go if the existing USB fails with pihole ready and everything. Plus once I update the backup drive I can clone it to the corrupt USB and she can store that as backup. I know many people have hard lines for supporting friends/family. I've taken it in stride with super useful setups for relatives (pihole and a remoting tool if I set up their laptop/desktop) and beer or similar cost for friends. One recently spilled warm garlic sauce in their laptop so I pulled it apart while they scrubbed and wiped and some local beer is cheaper than a new laptop any day.