On the surface, this seems like a pretty nice way to build a cheap DIY NAS.
Pi5 (4GB RAM).-.$60.00
M.2 HAT+ - $12.00
Power Supply - $13.60
Total $85.60
Even after purchasing a case (if you want one) and the NVMe drive of your choice, that doesn't seem too bad. I do wish there were 2 M.2 slots so that there could be redundancy. Is there anything else I'm missing here?
- Somewhat faster multicore performance, identical single core performance
- Disk buses run at full speed
- Runs any standard x86-64 OS and software instead of Pi/Arm specific ones
- Has double the RAM
- Comes with a 256 GB m.2 SSD (unfortunately not an option to buy without), can be replaced if you want more.
- Comes with the case
For slightly more you can get one with 2 drive bays in the factory case instead of having to build some external drive mount solution e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Beelink-4-Cores-N5095-Computer-Ethern.... If you aren't as worried on the CPU performance there are options in the $80 range that still hold these other advantages.
Pi's are fun but they are slightly overhyped in terms of the absolute value for things you can do with a standard PC like build a NAS, host a server, or use as an actual PC. The biggest values are where the 1 GB RAM model can do more than you need and it's a really great value for a non-used device or where the Pi's non high speed interfaces are a benefit like IP KVMs where the GPIO can control the motheboard, the CSI can capture the HDMI output, the USB OTG can act as the USB/CD drive/Keyboard/Mouse, the NIC/Wi-fi make it easy to access, and the size makes it fit inside existing equipment without issue.
Exactly. The Pi is useful for some stuff if.you need a lot of GPIO or legacy hat support etc. or just hate x86 for some bizarre reason. Otherwise I can see literally no benefit to a Pi over an N95 or Nx00 box. I using them all over the place and have been rock solid. And you can get them with multiple nvme sockets, sata, etc.
The Pi obsession truly boggles my mind. I can see it with the RP2040 etc but a regular Pi? Why?
I bought several Pi 4 2GB models for $30 back before COVID hit. At that price point they make sense for running some dedicated things, like my DNS servers, GPS-synchronized NTP server and such.
But yeah, at $85, even with a bit better performance, I'm not seeing it.
For a NAS use case, I'd be more inclined to use one of the PCIe to 4 SATA adapters and use SATA drives (whether spinning or solid-state). Each drive has lower performance than NVMe, but you get redundancy and still a reasonable speed connection.
Pi5 (4GB RAM).-.$60.00
M.2 HAT+ - $12.00
Power Supply - $13.60
Total $85.60
Even after purchasing a case (if you want one) and the NVMe drive of your choice, that doesn't seem too bad. I do wish there were 2 M.2 slots so that there could be redundancy. Is there anything else I'm missing here?