cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/24823173

Hi folks, looking for a bit of steer to get off the ground with self hosting. My goals to start with are pretty straight forward:

  • I want to set up Home Assistant to move my smart devices off the cloud and fully contained within the walls of my home.
  • I want to set up my own little Pixelfed server for my family’s use, along with some other federated socials.

From what I was looking at, I think my easiest route to doing both of these things is with a Home Assistant Yellow (built-in Zigbee and Thread system) with a Raspberry Pi 4.

I’ve never done anything like this before but I’m interested in learning. If anyone more experienced has any insight or direction, I’d really appreciate it! Cheers!

  • K3CAN@lemmy.radioEnglish
    6·
    1 day ago

    No reason to bother with a Pi unless you need the GPIO for something. You can do more with a Lenovo Tiny or SFF Dell.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      11·
      4 hours ago

      Can you get those as cheaply though? Can understand getting something other than a pi as you don’t need the GPIO but are there any good alternatives that are cheaper? If not may as well go for the pi

      • K3CAN@lemmy.radioEnglish
        1·
        3 hours ago

        It’s been a long time since Pi’s were competitive on price.

        You can get a used Lenovo Thinkcentre for $50 on eBay. A modern pi is going to cost you that much for just the board, then you still need to buy a case, power supply, SD card, and then figure out some solution for storage…

        • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          0·
          3 hours ago

          Is it fair to compare new to used though? Also how about power consumption, if it’s on for 5 years each watt costs £13, so for something that will be on a long time power is actually quite an important consideration

          • Blisterexe@lemmy.zipEnglish
            2·
            2 hours ago

            as i see it you can get an n100 mini pc with a 6w tdp for as much as a 8-16gb rasberry pi 5 kit

            • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              1·
              56 minutes ago

              Typically how close is the TDP of the CPU to the full system power draw? Can see a few refurbished on ebay that don’t look too bad

              • Blisterexe@lemmy.zipEnglish
                1·
                8 minutes ago

                looks like the total power draw of an n100 mini pc is 8-27 watts total, while the pi is 4-9 watts but it has a faster cpu, better video decode, vastly better gpu and better compatibility, being x86.

                Ultimately the decision is up to you, but i think that outwheighs the higher power costs.

          • K3CAN@lemmy.radioEnglish
            1·
            1 hour ago

            The slightly lower power draw pi5 vs a Tiny will eventually make up for the higher initial cost, but you can save more by turning off lights when you leave a room or skipping a round at the bar.

            In my opinion, the wider software compatibility, better processing power, and expansible RAM and storage options far outweigh the eventual theoretical savings.

            That said, if you need the super small SBC form factor or GPIO pins, definitely go for a pi. They absolutely have their use cases. I have 4 or 5 of the 3B and 3B+, and have used them on-and-off for a variety of tasks over the years.