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I set up Proxmox on one of my Pi 4s (using an external SSD) and am quite happy with it. Runs four different LXC containers (one of which is a public-facing Acti

by rcarmo 4y ago

I set up Proxmox on one of my Pi 4s (using an external SSD) and am quite happy with it. Runs four different LXC containers (one of which is a public-facing ActivityPub server for testing) and gives me zero headaches, so am currently looking for a beefier alternative that has a proper M.2 slot and at least 16GB of RAM... I do wish that alternative boards had better OS support (especially the Rockchip ones, which tend to have weird kernel builds, etc),

lostlogin 4y ago
It’s a bit of a sledgehammer approach, but a Nuc with Proxmox is pretty excellent. You can even use 10gbe via thunderbolt (or the pci slot on the larger Nucs).
- doublepg23 4y ago
  This is the way. An x86 NUC/Mini PC/Thin client smokes the ARM SBC market.
  - radiator 4y ago
    Are there any boxes without a graphics card or at least with a primitive one? So that they would be more economical in case you only need them for the role of a server?
    - Saris 4y ago
      Pretty much all of the small boxes just use the iGPU.
      - lostlogin 4y ago
        And that iGPU is great for a Plex server for transcoding, especially if it has QuickSync for hardware acceleration.
    - TheCoelacanth 4y ago
      None of them have a dedicated GPU, just a low-powered one built into the CPU. Using a CPU without an integrated GPU would only shave a few dollars off the cost, so I don't that is a common choice.
      - lostlogin 4y ago
        The weird extreme range (not really Nucs in my view) have a pci slot, seemingly for a large graphics card. They’ll take an SFP card though, and that’s a excellent, though probably the most expensive mini server one could buy.
    - lostlogin 4y ago
      All the small Nucs just use an iGPU. Boxes like the Nuc 8 have a bit of a cult following as the iGPU is surprisingly powerful. It’s probably beaten by newer models now. The newer ones have lots of cores, and when fully loaded with memory make a handy little box for VMs.
  - sliken 4y ago
    Dunno, got some numbers to back that up? So far I'm pretty impressed with my Rk3588 board, 8gb ram, and dual 2.5gbe. It's a bit more than half as fast as my quad core/8 thread xeon desktop, but that's abotu where I'd expect one of the cheaper x86 NUC/Mini PC/Thin clients to land.
djhworld 4y ago
I moved from a Pi setup to a second hand Lenovo M900 tiny PC, with 24GB of RAM and nvme drive and it works great. The power efficiency is obviously not as good as the Pi but it's a reasonable trade off
- flyinghamster 4y ago
  Tiny PCs are a good option, too - especially ones based on mobile processors. I just built up a barebone Asus PN50 (Ryzen 7 4700U equipped) and I'm quite impressed at what this little box can do. The 4700U is kind of weird - it has SMT disabled, so it kind of slots between the usual Ryzen 5s and 7s. No matter though - builds on it are quite fast. But it's still x86...
daneel_w 4y ago
The beefier alternative you're looking for is possibly the Radxa Rock5B, which has proper M.2 slot and comes in a 16GB version. Hardware support for it isn't entirely mainlined yet, but a lot of development is happening week by week. Debian runs well on it.
- sliken 4y ago
  Or any of the Rockhip 3588 boards. Better CPU, better PCIe, some have dual 2.5gbe, 4, 8 or 16gb ram, etc. I got the NanoPi R6s. Seems silly to save $25 on the slower CPU and half the ram.
  - daneel_w 4y ago
    The Rock5B is an RK3588 SBC, with up to 16GB RAM. Might not be the most "pimped" such.
kryptocannon 4y ago
Is there an official Proxmox build for the Raspberry Pi or are you using a third party?
- geerlingguy 4y ago
  Most likely Pimox
  - rcarmo 4y ago
    Yep, Pimox.
pella 4y ago
> has a proper M.2 slot and at least 16GB of RAM... Orange Pi 5 16GB RK3588S (8 Core 64 Bit, 2.4GHz Frequency), PCIE Module External WiFi+BT,SSD Gigabit Ethernet Single Board Computer,Run Android Debian OS (M.2 PCIe2.0!) https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/OPI-5/1553371_40000002877445.html https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/OPI-5/1553371_4000000... ( via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33739176 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33739176 ) Review: """ "Orange Pi 5 Review – Powerful, No WiFi" https://jamesachambers.com/orange-pi-5-review/ https://jamesachambers.com/orange-pi-5-review/ Pros: - 4 GB and 8 GB RAM variants cost under $100 - M.2 slot supports high speed NVMe storage - RAM options from 4 GB all the way up to 32 GB available Cons - No WiFi or Bluetooth included (requires either adapter for the M.2 slot or a USB adapter to get WiFi/Bluetooth capabilities) - No eMMC option - PCIe speeds are limited to 500MB/s (PCIe 2.0, benchmarks show closer to 250MB/s write or PCIe 1.0 performance) — this is slower than SATA3 """

by rcarmo 4y ago

lostlogin 4y ago

It’s a bit of a sledgehammer approach, but a Nuc with Proxmox is pretty excellent. You can even use 10gbe via thunderbolt (or the pci slot on the larger Nucs).

doublepg23 4y ago
This is the way. An x86 NUC/Mini PC/Thin client smokes the ARM SBC market.
- radiator 4y ago
  Are there any boxes without a graphics card or at least with a primitive one? So that they would be more economical in case you only need them for the role of a server?
  - Saris 4y ago
    Pretty much all of the small boxes just use the iGPU.
    - lostlogin 4y ago
      And that iGPU is great for a Plex server for transcoding, especially if it has QuickSync for hardware acceleration.
  - TheCoelacanth 4y ago
    None of them have a dedicated GPU, just a low-powered one built into the CPU. Using a CPU without an integrated GPU would only shave a few dollars off the cost, so I don't that is a common choice.
    - lostlogin 4y ago
      The weird extreme range (not really Nucs in my view) have a pci slot, seemingly for a large graphics card. They’ll take an SFP card though, and that’s a excellent, though probably the most expensive mini server one could buy.
  - lostlogin 4y ago
    All the small Nucs just use an iGPU. Boxes like the Nuc 8 have a bit of a cult following as the iGPU is surprisingly powerful. It’s probably beaten by newer models now. The newer ones have lots of cores, and when fully loaded with memory make a handy little box for VMs.
- sliken 4y ago
  Dunno, got some numbers to back that up? So far I'm pretty impressed with my Rk3588 board, 8gb ram, and dual 2.5gbe. It's a bit more than half as fast as my quad core/8 thread xeon desktop, but that's abotu where I'd expect one of the cheaper x86 NUC/Mini PC/Thin clients to land.

djhworld 4y ago

I moved from a Pi setup to a second hand Lenovo M900 tiny PC, with 24GB of RAM and nvme drive and it works great. The power efficiency is obviously not as good as the Pi but it's a reasonable trade off

flyinghamster 4y ago
Tiny PCs are a good option, too - especially ones based on mobile processors. I just built up a barebone Asus PN50 (Ryzen 7 4700U equipped) and I'm quite impressed at what this little box can do. The 4700U is kind of weird - it has SMT disabled, so it kind of slots between the usual Ryzen 5s and 7s. No matter though - builds on it are quite fast. But it's still x86...

daneel_w 4y ago

The beefier alternative you're looking for is possibly the Radxa Rock5B, which has proper M.2 slot and comes in a 16GB version. Hardware support for it isn't entirely mainlined yet, but a lot of development is happening week by week. Debian runs well on it.

sliken 4y ago
Or any of the Rockhip 3588 boards. Better CPU, better PCIe, some have dual 2.5gbe, 4, 8 or 16gb ram, etc. I got the NanoPi R6s. Seems silly to save $25 on the slower CPU and half the ram.
- daneel_w 4y ago
  The Rock5B is an RK3588 SBC, with up to 16GB RAM. Might not be the most "pimped" such.

kryptocannon 4y ago

Is there an official Proxmox build for the Raspberry Pi or are you using a third party?

geerlingguy 4y ago
Most likely Pimox
- rcarmo 4y ago
  Yep, Pimox.

pella 4y ago

> has a proper M.2 slot and at least 16GB of RAM... Orange Pi 5 16GB RK3588S (8 Core 64 Bit, 2.4GHz Frequency), PCIE Module External WiFi+BT,SSD Gigabit Ethernet Single Board Computer,Run Android Debian OS (M.2 PCIe2.0!) https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/OPI-5/1553371_40000002877445.html https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/OPI-5/1553371_4000000... ( via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33739176 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33739176 ) Review: """ "Orange Pi 5 Review – Powerful, No WiFi" https://jamesachambers.com/orange-pi-5-review/ https://jamesachambers.com/orange-pi-5-review/ Pros: - 4 GB and 8 GB RAM variants cost under $100 - M.2 slot supports high speed NVMe storage - RAM options from 4 GB all the way up to 32 GB available Cons - No WiFi or Bluetooth included (requires either adapter for the M.2 slot or a USB adapter to get WiFi/Bluetooth capabilities) - No eMMC option - PCIe speeds are limited to 500MB/s (PCIe 2.0, benchmarks show closer to 250MB/s write or PCIe 1.0 performance) — this is slower than SATA3 """