Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!


RPIServers - What would you like to see?
New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.

All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.

RPIServers - What would you like to see?

DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

https://www.rpiservers.com/ - RPIServers
So we are wanting to ask the community as we are looking to expand and add in more RPIs.

What type of RPIs would you like to see?
What Size of RPIs?
Other ideas?

Side note: We have a few of these available at the moment.
Raspberry Pi 4 - 4GB Ram/16GB Drive
https://my2.dataideas.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=18

«1

Comments

  • lentrolentro Member, Host Rep

    Tbh, not 100% sure. Always seen RPIs as a fun tool to play around with, and I think hosted RPIs are pretty cool.

    On the other hand, the slow ARM CPUs aren't too good for computing, and no access to GPIO pins makes those useless. For web servers, I'd personally rather go with a VPS that uses RAID protected drives rather than a single SD card (had two corrupt in my basement cluster so far. Not the best experience).

    The drive colo is p cool (maybe I'll get that one day) but I think overall, there isn't that much to expand on.

    I certainly see a big market if you compete against Kimsufi, so maybe add support multiple drives for RAID along with easy reinstalls (not sure if you have this already)?

  • Like said above, a Kimsufi competitor would be very cool, I’m sure lots of people here would be interested. Maybe an option or plan for additional hard drive storage?

    Thanked by 1yoursunny
  • it's time to provide RPI Colo at affordable prices

  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2021

    At the moment if a user wants to send me their own exeternal ssd/hdd/thumbdrive by all means.
    $1.75* - Thumb Drive
    $3.50* - Small External (USB Only)
    $7.00* - Big External (USB & Power Needed)

    Just trying to figure out what would the people want.
    @lentro @Moofie Yeah VPS is indeed faster and cheaper but with the RPIs its truly dedicated to you. The Kimsufi I only see VPS and X86 stuff.

    @fbmy said:
    it's time to provide RPI Colo at affordable prices

    I do. :)
    https://my2.dataideas.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=65

    Thanked by 1fbmy
  • Cool idea. I've got my OWN RPI and want to use it for a website but I don't want hackers getting into my port forwarding

  • just one of those peeps that wanna see BGP ;)

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    I think storage is the achilles heel here - even an external drive is USB-powered and a SPOF. Maybe some kind of network CEPH storage or similar that can be mounted?

  • I'm very curious on the use case here. I would assume that the primary motivation to use a Pi is to save power. If one starts to add hard disks (and their power adapters) to the mix, what is the real use case for this? Isn't it a relative power drain (and loss) to the provider/colo/rack?

    Wouldn't you be better of with the usual virtualization setup which I assume offers much better density and performance-per-dollar (not to mention redundancy etc.)

  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2021

    @nullnothere Well my thinking is it is cheaper storage. A USB 14TB HDD is "fairly" cheap even though as @raindog308 pointed out as a "single point of failure". But for some people they might just use to as a cheap cloud storage or a PLEX server.

    I do agree as a network storage would be very ideal!
    I've thought about buying some "cheap" externals but at the moment that would probably add too much complexity. Now if someone wants to use their own. Then more power to them!
    Either you can send it to me via from Amazon or let me know what you want and I can get it.
    I'm always open to helping out.

    Thanked by 1nullnothere
  • ErisaErisa Member
    edited January 2021

    I am very happy with the state of it right now but I agree with the points about storage, those microSDs are absolutely not ideal for doing anything serious. Even network storage on a (redundant?) HDD would be a huge improvement.
    One advantage of booting from network storage would be the possibility to reimage the server without having to send a ticket, though its only a minor advantage.

    I will admit I didn't think it through very much but I found the extra drive options to be confusing and wasn't sure of what options were available to me (Especially since I live in Europe and cant ship anything to Texas without paying a ton), so what you're saying here is helpful for me to hear.
    Not sure how effective it would be from a provider point of view but maybe some quotes for extra drives supplied by you (Likely with steep setup fees I imagine) so its more clear to those who want a better drive but have no idea whats going on? Reminds me of some providers that allow you to insert arbitrary usb sticks into dedis that they supply.

    Another thing that may be tricky to implement, some form of control over the power state of the server for force reboots and etc? I am sometimes scared something that I run might lock up and bring the system down meaning I would have to go through a ticket to revive it. Though I will admit that hasn't happened yet!

    Overall service is good and unique, all this is suggested improvements on top of that :smile:

    Thanked by 1DataIdeas-Josh
  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

    @Erisa If you want to do an external hdd/ssd/thumb drive we can get that for you as well. Just let us know what exactly you are looking for.

    Thanked by 1Erisa
  • Maybe you could also provide those USB-drives with usb-power and external power as one time payment since cost for posting those can be quite high for many countries

  • brueggusbrueggus Member, IPv6 Advocate

    Out of curiosity: Do these use TF cards as system disk?

    I have a few Pis running 24/7 hand have to replace one or the other card every few months. Is that an issue for you?

  • @DataIdeas-Josh said:
    @Erisa If you want to do an external hdd/ssd/thumb drive we can get that for you as well. Just let us know what exactly you are looking for.

    Gotta be honest I looked at your site and thought 16gb rpi unit looks good but I want a 1tb "storage" option and looking round got confused .... I live in the UK so shipping a drive "feels costly" .... I'd like a nice tick box /drop down and let you deal with the "how" .... and just get a sparkly rpi with some extra storage added/mounted/network attached

    Chip

    Thanked by 1Erisa
  • @chip said:

    @DataIdeas-Josh said:
    @Erisa If you want to do an external hdd/ssd/thumb drive we can get that for you as well. Just let us know what exactly you are looking for.

    Gotta be honest I looked at your site and thought 16gb rpi unit looks good but I want a 1tb "storage" option and looking round got confused .... I live in the UK so shipping a drive "feels costly" .... I'd like a nice tick box /drop down and let you deal with the "how" .... and just get a sparkly rpi with some extra storage added/mounted/network attached

    Chip

    UK here also!

    Yeah it was a little unclear, the information in this thread at least is clear - its likely most cost effective to name the drive you want or find it for sale somewhere that lets you ship it to them, I aim to do that when I'm less busy.
    Would be nice to see something similar on the website perhaps! Good to see I am not the only one who was confused by it

    Thanked by 1chip
  • EddingEdding Member
    edited January 2021

    i think RockPi 4 or Odroid C4 are better options they support Crypto extensions to accelerate aes and such.
    https://hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-c4/

  • or other small form factor servers.
    is it like Intel Nuc?
    what is maximum dimension?
    And what is the allocation of watt power?

  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

    @atomi said:
    Maybe you could also provide those USB-drives with usb-power and external power as one time payment since cost for posting those can be quite high for many countries

    @chip, @Erisa
    I'll add that in where you can do a one time payment for a drive. We can also give you the shipping address as well if you ship from say NewEgg/Amazon or some other company.
    Also you can submit a ticket in if you are looking for a specific size/type and well send you an invoice for that size of a drive.

    @brueggus said:
    Out of curiosity: Do these use TF cards as system disk?

    I have a few Pis running 24/7 hand have to replace one or the other card every few months. Is that an issue for you?

    We have had very good luck with our SD cards. I've personally been using SanDisk Ultra SD cards and haven't had any issues. (knock on metal)

    @Edding said:
    i think RockPi 4 or Odroid C4 are better options they support Crypto extensions to accelerate aes and such.
    https://hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-c4/

    We'll look into those

    @fbmy said:
    or other small form factor servers.
    is it like Intel Nuc?
    what is maximum dimension?
    And what is the allocation of watt power?

    I'm not sure what the power requirements of a Nuc are. (I know can change depending on cpu,ram,drive(s))
    Dimensions - Really no bigger than a NUC.
    Power - 60 Watts or lower. (0.5Amps at 120Volt)

    Thanked by 4brueggus fbmy Erisa atomi
  • The price to rent a Pi is listed as the same as the price to send your own to colo... Maybe a promo so that if someone sends their own to colo, they can add a 2.5" USB HDD for free? I'd totally be down for that.

    What bandwidth allowance is given for colo'd RPi's?

    Thanked by 1Erisa
  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

    @Quartermaster said:
    The price to rent a Pi is listed as the same as the price to send your own to colo... Maybe a promo so that if someone sends their own to colo, they can add a 2.5" USB HDD for free? I'd totally be down for that.

    What bandwidth allowance is given for colo'd RPi's?

    Yes, the price is the same but mostly due to how its in the rack and space.

    Tell ya what.
    We'll allow someone to send up to 4 (there are 4 usb ports on a standard RPI. (NO USB HUBS(without extra cost)) (2.5" USB HDD/SSD)/Thumb drives at no extra cost.
    The port will be 100Mbps. 1Gbps port extra.

    I'll make adjustments for the port and adding more drives.

  • codelockcodelock Member
    edited January 2021

    I think the most common use for these would be bandwidth heavy application that require almost negligible cpu usage. I was wondering how much would you take to colo a pi zero? If i purchase(ship) a pi zero sd card and micro USB to ethernet adapter (maybe even power supply) with say your minimum 8tb bandwidth/month rpi zero consumes half the power of a pi 4 not that it matters?

  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

    @codelock said:
    I think the most common use for these would be bandwidth heavy application that require almost negligible cpu usage. I was wondering how much would you take to colo a pi zero? If i purchase(ship) a pi zero sd card and micro USB to ethernet adapter (maybe even power supply) with say your minimum 8tb bandwidth/month rpi zero consumes half the power of a pi 4 not that it matters?

    Well a pi zero will need power some how. :tongue:
    As far as colo costs. It will all be the same.
    I'll post on here when it's setup properly.

  • jmgcaguiclajmgcaguicla Member
    edited January 2021

    Any chance of netbooting and remote power control for easier reinstalls?

    I kinda feel guilty every time I send in a ticket requesting to burn an image into the Pi's SD card (primarily because I personally know how annoying it is).

    Thanked by 1darkimmortal
  • @brueggus said:
    Out of curiosity: Do these use TF cards as system disk?

    I have a few Pis running 24/7 hand have to replace one or the other card every few months. Is that an issue for you?

    My raspberry pi 3B+ running for about 1.5 year. Total power on time will be more than 300 days. My 16GB SanDisk microsd card running just fine.

  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

    @jmgcaguicla said:
    Any chance of netbooting and remote power control for easier reinstalls?

    I kinda feel guilty every time I send in a ticket requesting to burn an image into the Pi's SD card (primarily because I personally know how annoying it is).

    We don't mind as far as burning a custom image.
    We are working on getting netbooting and power cycling into some kind of panel for you.
    Got big plans and awesome new systems coming for this year.

    @Hakim thats awesome!

    Thanked by 1jmgcaguicla
  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

    @DataIdeas-Josh said: What type of RPIs would you like to see?

    What Size of RPIs?
    Other ideas?

    Anyone. Got other great ideas from ya'll but would y'all like to see the 2GB or 4GB version?
    OR just start to make the rest of them ALL the same?

    Side note: got 2-4GB RPIs available.

  • @DataIdeas-Josh i love this idea but your pitting a low cost device against a continual rental essentially.

    I’d love some pricing where I pay for the pi up front from you at a discount as I’m never going to collect it from you then just rent the colo space essentially. I would more than likely send two small usb thumb drives and set the SD as read only with one drive the data and one a backup. In a perfect world a NetBoot would be offered so I wouldn’t have to worry about that SD card.

    If I’m being frugal ideally that whole set up would be less than $5 a month (plus initial Pi cost based on ram).

    I run about 10 sites that are all very low traffic and the pi would be ideal for it.

    Thanked by 1Erisa
  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2021

    @nickweb said:
    @DataIdeas-Josh i love this idea but your pitting a low cost device against a continual rental essentially.

    I’d love some pricing where I pay for the pi up front from you at a discount as I’m never going to collect it from you then just rent the colo space essentially. I would more than likely send two small usb thumb drives and set the SD as read only with one drive the data and one a backup. In a perfect world a NetBoot would be offered so I wouldn’t have to worry about that SD card.

    If I’m being frugal ideally that whole set up would be less than $5 a month (plus initial Pi cost based on ram).

    I run about 10 sites that are all very low traffic and the pi would be ideal for it.

    I mean $5 for the cheapest PI is doing pretty good as I have to hope that the hardware doesn't die on me as well.

    We will be adjusting our prices here soon.*
    *Current clients will not be effected.

  • I am also interested in RPi Zero hosting. Also, I would love some images of them working in the data center.

  • DataIdeas-JoshDataIdeas-Josh Member, Patron Provider

    @default said:
    I am also interested in RPi Zero hosting. Also, I would love some images of them working in the data center.

    Here's you an older picture. Have to wait till I get get you another.

    Thanked by 3kwaralala atomi default
Sign In or Register to comment.