How many Raspberry Pis do you have and what are they used for?

WoZZeR · 29 Oct 2021 at 14:54

I now have 4 Raspberry Pi's. The 4th arrived today unexpectedly, a free Zero 2 W from Magpi Magazine.

Pi Number 1: 8Gb PI 4 which is used as a desktop computer/talking to headless Zero machine.

Pi Number 2: 2Gb Pi 4 running Apache and I am using it as a server to test my web programming on.

Pi Number 3: Pi Zero W which is running headless and used to photograph Hedgehogs in the feeding station.

Pi Number 4: Pi Zero 2 W, which is sitting in an antistatic bag waiting to be found a use for.....

All these Pi's and I do not even have a wispy beard or strong spectacles.

jrwagh333 · 29 Oct 2021 at 15:04

WoZZeR said:
I now have 4 Raspberry Pi's. The 4th arrived today unexpectedly, a free Zero 2 W from Magpi Magazine.

Pi Number 1: 8Gb PI 4 which is used as a desktop computer/talking to headless Zero machine.

Ever come close to the 8GB limit? Running around 10 docker containers on my headless Pi and I've never seen it go over 2.5GB

WoZZeR · 29 Oct 2021 at 19:58

I haven't a clue how much memory it actually uses, it has performed flawlessly since last Xmas though, I was tempted to swap them around and use the 8Gb Pi as the Apache server but never got round to it.

Cyber-Mav · 3 Nov 2021 at 15:47

Got a pi pico now but not sure what to use it for. Lol

Frozennova · 3 Nov 2021 at 21:54

Cyber-Mav said:
Got a pi pico now but not sure what to use it for. Lol

I bought one, and also have 10 of the RP2040 ICs too.

I found the whole system far too immature to use meaningfully. I didn't go down the Arduino ecosystem environment with it because I prefer to work at a low level but I found the SDK, it's documentation and the hardware documentation quite poor

Cyber-Mav · 3 Nov 2021 at 22:37

I was planning on some things like gamepad controller for arcade but then thought of an mw radio build and just keep getting side tracked lol.
Then i saw someone do a nes emulator on the Pico pi and now im confused.

Baggins_451 · 10 Nov 2021 at 09:58

I put pihole on a zero 2 W over the weekend which is working a treat, probably put a usb Nic on it then move it to the comms room (cupboard under the stairs).

Just started playing with home assistant on a pi4 which is fun, setting up a shelly power monitor atm.

Another pi4 hooked unto the tv in the bedroom.

All good fun

spaceman · 11 Nov 2021 at 11:56

pi zero wh - running Pi-Hole
pi zero w + camera - running MotionEyeOS - built as a camera to watch my bird bath, but the quality isn't good 6ft away through double glazing. Will probably add a power bank and turn it into a nature cam at some point and put it much closer

Rainmaker · 16 Nov 2021 at 20:06

Pi 3B running AlmaLinux (RHEL) with log2ram, and no GUI. It's run everything from Raspian to Ubuntu server to Debian to Arch before now. I find Alma/RHEL the best mix of speed and simplicity for me, and it's solid. I used to run AdGuard Home on it but that got moved to Oracle Cloud (Ampere instance), as it's (1) free and (2) faster.

The only thing it does these days is run my WireGuard node, so I can jump back home when I need to and access LAN resources. I also sometimes use it as a proxy for my general Internet traffic when out and about, if needs must and Mullvad won't do for some reason.

I really should find it a new job to do. It's so cheap to run it's not worth turning off (and moving the WG server over to the NAS), but it's a waste to only have WireGuard connected once or twice a year. I need to re-read this thread for inspiration, but most of my stuff runs on the NAS (Docker) or on Oracle Cloud now.

jrwagh333 · 16 Nov 2021 at 20:20

Rainmaker said:
Pi 3B running AlmaLinux (RHEL) with log2ram

Do you think log2ram is worth it?

Rainmaker · 16 Nov 2021 at 20:27

jrwagh333 said:
Do you think log2ram is worth it?

I've had a couple of SD cards die (SanDisk and Samsung), so given it's so small/light and easy to install... Why not?

Grimley · 23 Nov 2021 at 18:30

Grimley said:
A Pi3 1st generation bought a couple of years ago. It sits in the drawer doing nothing & I use it sometimes when I'm bored.

Fast forward a couple of years & I got a Pi4 for my birthday. I bought a DAC hat for it & installed volumio onto a card for Music streaming. Does the job.

FlailingNinja · 28 Nov 2021 at 21:22

All PI3, all headless.

ras01 - Unifi controller
ras02 - nagios, a bit overkill for my network but more of a learning experience. Realised I went to far when I got an an email saying a light switch was turned off so dialled it back since.
ras03 - Flightaware/PiAware, Flightradar, Radarbox

Previously had a pi hole up and running but I'm work from home mostly, and seemed to introduce issues as a g-suite user. Could probably resolve through whitelisting but lack of motivation meant it just got decommissioned.

Running my intranet using WordPress on a linux VM as performance was poor on a PI3, but have 4gb PI4 sitting dormant. Not sure if I should consolidate 1&2 onto this or try and move my intranet...

gpuerrilla · 28 Nov 2021 at 21:26

Not thought of clustering them all @FlailingNinja and using docker containers to run your apps?

FlailingNinja · 28 Nov 2021 at 21:35

Yeah, played around with the option using a guide from from Andreas Spiess on youtube but it blew my mind a little and never revisited.

Thinking ras01 & ras02 could probably benefit from this onto the PI4, and maybe the intranet as well but want to see how this performs on it's own on the PI4 first.

Given the nature of the ras03 (aerial attached), I think i'm happiest knowing this is solo.

edit: given all the logging on ras01 & ras02, consolidating onto a PI4 with a spare SSD also appeals instead on the constant writes to SD.

gpuerrilla · 28 Nov 2021 at 21:43

Beauty of the pi's is you can do with them as you wish and very versatile. If I can source a solar panel and battery setup I have plans to use one remotely on a project, just dont have the time lately with my two youngest being a handful.

FlailingNinja · 28 Nov 2021 at 21:50

Agreed, had lots of fun with them since the first board was released (and have quite a collection at this point). Time is exactly the issue though, i don't have kids and still struggle to sit down and progress with them as much as i'd like but good luck to you man, and please share your idea's and fingers crossed results!

Semple · 28 Nov 2021 at 21:52

Baggins_451 said:
I put pihole on a zero 2 W over the weekend which is working a treat, probably put a usb Nic on it then move it to the comms room (cupboard under the stairs).

Just started playing with home assistant on a pi4 which is fun, setting up a shelly power monitor atm.

Another pi4 hooked unto the tv in the bedroom.

All good fun

Are you sticking the Shelly behind a plug socket?

Baggins_451 · 29 Nov 2021 at 14:33

Semple said:
Are you sticking the Shelly behind a plug socket?

I've put the shelly between the meter and consumer unit so it measures total usage (I think), been turning more lights off than usual

Troop · 29 Nov 2021 at 20:33

gpuerrilla said:
Beauty of the pi's is you can do with them as you wish and very versatile. If I can source a solar panel and battery setup I have plans to use one remotely on a project, just dont have the time lately with my two youngest being a handful.

I have one doing this (P3b+), running Venus OS for solar and batteries. A grid tie is turned on via Sonoff when I am using power from the battery at night time.