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Don't get server hardware, use regular desktop/laptop machines as they'll be more than enough for you. Server hardware is way more expensive and won't be of any advantage. If you're looking to buy you can even get very good 9-10th gen Intel CPUs and motherboards that are perfect to run servers (very high performance) but that people don't want because they aren't good to play the latest games. This hardware is also way more power efficient and sometimes even more powerful than any server hardware that you might get for the same price. Get this hardware for cheap and enjoy.
I've got enterprise level hardware, rack moubtable all that jazz.
Between the cost of power, and the heat it generates (which uses more AC and thus power) its not feasible to run it.
I'm looking into clustering some raspberry pis for a more power (and heat) efficient hardware as my next project. Barely scratched the surface of research though.
So hey, if anyone has any tips or links, it would be much appreciated.
Just out today, but probably overpriced: https://www.cnx-software.com/2023/10/20/mixtile-cluster-box-supports-four-rockchip-rk3588-sbcs-connected-over-pcie/
Why not get a few HP / Dell mini computers and cluster them? Small, nice and power efficient (because there are models with "mobile" CPUs).
Cost and a personal bias, also I've seen more helpful communities amongst Linux and FOSS advocates than trying to deal with a big brand.
I've done a lot of IT stuff in my life, even before working in IT.
I've seen too many issues from big brands, and its usually caused by the company.
I have a Pi 2 from way back. I've thrown so many distros at that thing over time, and without fail I don't run into any problems I didn't personally create while learning or through human error.
I understand all too well that those big brands have support for businesses, warranties, etc. It makes them cost effective long term for business. At a personal level I just don't see the benefits outweighing the negatives.
Again, personal bias. Same core reason I avoid apple products, bias, though I mainly dislike apples cost combined with their closed off, well, everything.
Yes but ARM is great but compared to server hardware it is shit when it comes to performance and reliability. If you come from server hardware and you really max it out you're going to have a poor experience.
Also I personally like to avoid the Raspberry Pi and their stuff as much as possible. They've done good things for the community however they've some predatory tactics and shenanigans that aren't cool. Here a few examples of what people usually fail to see:
For what's worth the NanoPi M4 released in 2018 with a RK3399 already had a PCI interface, 4GB of RAM and whatnot and was cheaper than the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ from the same year that had Ethernet shared with the USB bus.
If you don't want those big brands (I only suggested them because they're cheap second hand) build something yourself on consumer hardware or pick a Chinese brand.
Those big brands are cheap though, for 100€ you can get an HP Mini with an i5 8th gen + 16GB of ram + 256GB NVME that obviously has a case, a LOT of I/O, PCI (m2) comes with a power adapter and more importantly it outperforms a RPi5 in all possible ways. Note that the RPi5 8GB of ram will cost you 80€ + case + power adapter + bullshit pci adapter + sd card + whatever else money grab.
Side not on alternative brands, HP mini units are reliable the BIOS is good and things work. Now the trendy MINISFORUM is cool however their BIOS come out of the factory with wired bugs and the hardware isn't as reliable - missing ESD protection on USB in some models and whatnot.
Performance isn't key. But I like performance, lol. I also wasn't aware of their more recent practices. So thank you.
I'll have to check out the HP mini. As I said, just barely scratched the surface on researching this, and its more of a thought than a project at the moment, lol.
I just can't afford (and cool) enterprise level stuff at home. It was free (to me) so no big loss other than buying a better CPU used ~50 bucks. I've spent more on worse ideas lol.
I was just trying to share a bit of my experience, I too have datacenter / server hardware experience and have dealt with a ton of mini computers and those ARMs and Chinese brands aren't what one usually expects at the most fundamental details.