# Raspberry Pi - alternative found



## Peter2121 (Dec 18, 2022)

I would like to share my (positive) experience 
I've been using Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB) under FreeBSD 13 during several years as my home server (heating management) and as a backup destination for my cloud server (ZFS replication). One day the computer (together with my router) was killed by a strong thunderstorm. I wanted to replace it with the same one, but I was surprised by the price, reached 200+ Euros. So, I decided to search for an alternative solution.
After long searching, I focused on x86 mini PCs, and finally I ordered Dell Wyse 5060 Thin Client (second hand on Ebay, 50 Euros). It is really an excellent solution for someone who needs a low consuming home server under FreeBSD. All the hardware (even GPU and audio card!) works out-of-the-box under FreeBSD 13.1. My probe is here: https://bsd-hardware.info/?probe=c233fa7d25
The power consumption in idle state is about 7W, during a stress test it reaches 20W maximum (I measured it myself). Installing a 'normal' 2.5' SSD takes 10 minutes (a special cable is needed, but I've got it with the PC from a seller). And I could add 4GB of RAM into a free slot (it takes 15 minutes), so I have 8GB of RAM now.
The results of benchmarks are as follows:
Ubench CPU: 613243
Ubench RAM: 1015217
Ubench Average: 814230
Glmark2: 1007
The Enlightenment DE runs smoothly, I can see HD Youtube videos in Firefox without problems.


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## cmoerz (Dec 18, 2022)

Indirectly related - raspberry is reporting improvements on their supply chain:








						Supply chain update - it's good news! - Raspberry Pi
					

For the first time in a couple of years of semiconductor supply chain hell, we've got some good news for you. A bump in single-unit availability this month, and a cheerful outlook from the second quarter of next year onwards.




					www.raspberrypi.com


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## freebuser (Dec 18, 2022)

Peter2121 said:


> ......... I ordered Dell Wyse 5060 Thin Client (second hand on Ebay, 50 Euros). It is really an excellent solution for someone who needs a low consuming home server under FreeBSD. All the hardware (even GPU and audio card!) works out-of-the-box under FreeBSD 13.1.



I have Dell Wyse ZX0 Z90D7 pretty much for the same purpose (internal/external temp monitor, power, water, gas usage monitor and solar production monitor and also our sprinkler controller.

I still have the RPi which served the same before, but found Wyse a much better alternative with so many USB ports and low power usage.

For the SSD, I just dismantled an old Samsung 128GB SSD and directly installed it in the available port.


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## drhowarddrfine (Dec 19, 2022)

My alternative is the decades old Windows laptops people gave me for free when they "upgraded" Windows. I installed FreeBSD on them and they're still purring after all these years.


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## Phishfry (Dec 23, 2022)

I guess I am biased but I thought the whole point of embedded is GPIO.
Which above platforms feature one usable GPIO pin?

Are we now calling embedded any machine that can run as a server?
What exactly constitutes a server? Can 512MB BBB be a server?

Not beefing on anybody but just wondering what yaw consider embedded or Pi-Alt.
Anything headless?


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## forquare (Dec 23, 2022)

Peter2121 said:


> The results of benchmarks are as follows:
> Ubench CPU: 613243
> Ubench RAM: 1015217
> Ubench Average: 814230
> Glmark2: 1007


I'm intrigued!  It's probably my shoddy Googling and not fully understanding benchmark scores, but how does this match against the Raspberry Pi 4?  Looking at this page, the score given is "1860.7" which suggests it's a different benchmark to the ones given in your post.

I'm looking to buy a bunch of lower power computers to make a play cluster at home, was considering Raspberry Pi's, but these sounds better due to their customisable storage and memory.


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## freebuser (Dec 23, 2022)

Phishfry said:


> I guess I am biased but I thought the whole point of embedded is GPIO.
> Which above platforms feature one usable GPIO pin?
> 
> Are we now calling embedded any machine that can run as a server?
> ...



I think it's more of a use case comparison in this thread.

For me originally RPi was an efficient low power alternative for a full size server. I didn't need the server with raids and xeons. But just a fanless noiseless system.

So the comparison here is whether a thinclient provides a better alternative. For me it did because I didn't have to compile multiple arch to upgrade/update the systems, a huge time saving while nearly providing all my requirements (may be slightly high on power).
Cheers


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## richardtoohey2 (Dec 23, 2022)

This was fun/interesting to watch: https://www.servethehome.com/raspberry-pi-cluster-versus-ampere-altra-max-supermicro-arm-server/


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