Raspberry Pi, RAM, and Home Labs

by Rian

Most of my Raspberry Pis have been decommissioned. I had used Docker and Docker only on Pis, so much of the effort was on focused compatibility and reliability of single machine (Synology NAS) doing all the work. For the record, Synology couldn’t do everything off the shelves. I had to upgrade the RAM from default 4 GB to 20 GB. And I am running most of the DBs on m.2 drives to ensure faster read and write. The question I have now is simple. What will I do with Pi boards?

The speed of micro SD cards issue aside, it’s the limited RAM and ARM processors that make it less tenable for home lab projects. My old Pi boards only had 1 GB or even less on-board RAM, and these are not upgradeable. It’s good enough for one or two mid-sized projects, if the project in question can even run on ARM. I’ve had some quandaries with Docker images that refuse to work on Pi, even though the GitHub specifically mentions it “should” work on Raspberry Pi.

I can’t speak for all use-cases, especially when the component prices are skyrocketing left and right, but there is something to be said about a latest single board computer that only has 16 GB on-board RAM costs about the same as a mini PC with x86 CPU and 16 GB RAM bundle. I suppose it’s especially true for mini PCs. The price fluctuates wildly. But it’s either no stocks for Pi boards or some stocks with price gouging with mini PCs.

Again, I suppose it’s even more troubling for older boards. What will I do with aging boards? The latest models, even if they are second handed, would see some demands in the aftermarket. But what about the Pi 3 board, for example? Raspberry Pi 3 Model B was released in 2016. Unless the hardware has specific quirks that enthusiasts would be looking out for it, the SBC with micro USB is simply a legacy model at this point. It’s not just the software that has seen some radical changes since 2016, it’s also the hardwares too. And to think the board can’t even be recycled properly, makes me wonder if it ever was sustainable in the long run — perhaps I should try recycling them as exotic mini PC.