Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation
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So I am writing this from my RP4 4GB "workstation". It's currently my secondary station in my office, it's used on my standing desk. But the more that I use it, the more that I am convinced that it does an amazing job and I wonder just where would I start to run into issues where I would wish that I had something else. We are in the midst of a hiring blitz, it would seem, and this is a good time for us to be evaluating how to handle staff desktops.
In the past, I've been pretty negative on the RP devices outside of the hobby space, but the CPU and RAM improvements on the RP4, especially the new 8GB model, and the new passive cooling cases really seem to make it plausible to make a great argument for them. The high speed USB means that you can do SSD drives over USB and get a lot of performance. And good built in wifi makes them portable and flexible, while the GigE port lets me plug in and work that way.
My testing, thus far, seems to indicate that the passive cooling is totally effective, even when heavily used. I have no desire for any kind of additional cooling, and the sensors say that the chips even really get hot at all. I keep an eye on RAM use, and I almost never use even a full GB with the default desktop, even with several tabs open, those tabs being big things like our email and chat applications, and Remmina open, and a terminal. Even if I fire up LibreOffice Calc, I'm using just 2.4GB out of 4GB of RAM. If I got the newer 8GB model, I feel like I'd have a crazy amount of breathing room on memory.
And without any overclocking, I feel like I'm getting a good desktop experience. Just using Raspberry Pi OS with the latest firmware updates. So it's not the flashiest of desktops, I'd much prefer if I was running Cinnamon or Gnome 3, but this is very usable. And it handles dual displays easily, too, which is really amazing.
Obvious drawback that I can see include being all but useless for running VMs right on my desktop. There are ways around that, of course, and it's not something that I do often, but it is a nice option to have when needed. And there is no option for Windows (not really, anyway.) But we are all Ubuntu currently so not an issue here. The biggest problem is that Chrome isn't available for it.
However, we do have a terminal server that runs Ubuntu 20.04 on AMD64 with loads of resources and can run Chrome and whatever else odd might come up. Or could run LO with huge files, if that was ever a thing.
Just overall, it's feeling like an excellent computing experience. I'm really happy with the speed, easy of use, silence, low power consumption, low heat, tiny footprint, and overall stability. Then the price comes into play, the one I have here is $78! That means we can roll them out like nobody's business. And they can easily be moved around in luggage or backpacks, that's a surprisingly big deal. And they are essentially portable, so nice to just grab and go when you need to.
What are other people thinking about what feels like a pretty bold move, but just seems like it will do the job so well.
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@scottalanmiller Where is the best places to look for these?
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@jmoore said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@scottalanmiller Where is the best places to look for these?
Amazon has them, sometimes.
Seeed is good... https://www.seeedstudio.com/
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@scottalanmiller Cool thanks. I want to check them out. Might be good for kids I am thinking.
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@jmoore I'm on a Chromebook right now for my soon to be second grader; I may switch to this for his home learning and the Chrimebook to the Kindergartener. Going to order an 8gb one this week.
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If you want to buy many RPIs, look at the electronic component distributors such as Mouser, Farnell, Digi-Key. They have thousands in stock. People use them in embedded applications, that's why.
I've had a Raspberry Pi 4 since they came out in the summer last year. I think as a low end desktop they're fine. I think I made some post about that as well here.
If you're are a power user of any kind, you will have to wait for the computer and not the other way around. So for very casual users and kids...yes, for IT pros and people that work 8h a day in front of it...no.
A low end NUC with SSD will be much snappier - for a relatively small price increase (~$30 if I remember correctly). And you'll get a 3 year warranty.
NUCs have laptop/tablet CPUs so they frugal on power. Idle power consumption is around 5W, compared to 3W for the RPI4. The reason the difference is small is because the RPI4 is using old manufacturing technology (28nm) while Intel's CPUs started with 14nm 2014. Current high-end technology is now 7nm, used for instance by AMD Epyc 2.
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@hobbit666 said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
Looks more like a big heatsink lol
Well it's technically not a case because it doesn't encase the Raspberry Pi PCB. You have exposed electrical connections.
Ideally you'd want some thing that looks like the one in the post I made below.
Inside, the CPU should be in contact with the case. Heat is transferred directly from CPU and other hot ICs to the case itself that is made of metal (alu). Then the heat disappates from the case by convection and radiation. -
@hobbit666 said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
Looks more like a big heatsink lol
That's the idea. It's the perfect mix of things.
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This is a better case. So you don't burn down your house just because someone dropped a paperclip on your RPIs exposed pins.
Akasa also makes fanless cases for Intel NUCs and others and has for years.
There are other similar cases for the RPI as well. Flirc for example works OK, less industrial looking and more "office" like. -
Also of interest....
https://www.jeremymorgan.com/blog/linux/90-days-with-pinebook-pro/
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This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.
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@JaredBusch said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.
I need to order that case. I have the 8GB model just waiting to go into a case AND I have a spare M2 to go into it for it!
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@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@JaredBusch said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.
I need to order that case. I have the 8GB model just waiting to go into a case AND I have a spare M2 to go into it for it!
The second link has an option to get both at once.
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hah but not shipping until the 16th because out of stock.
But you can get the case and add on separate immediately.
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@JaredBusch said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.
m.2 storage connected via USB?
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@Obsolesce said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@JaredBusch said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.
m.2 storage connected via USB?
The RPi doesn’t have provision for any storage outside of USB and microSD, so using one of the USB 3 ports is pretty clever. Opens up a heap of options.
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@Obsolesce said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@JaredBusch said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.
m.2 storage connected via USB?
Yes, USB3 is fast enough to do it. It's done a lot. I've got an external of that right here.
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@scottalanmiller said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@Obsolesce said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
@JaredBusch said in Raspberry Pi 4 as IT Workstation:
This case: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Aluminum-Heatsink-Supports/dp/B07WP8WC3V
Witth the m.2 add on: https://www.amazon.com/Argon-Raspberry-Board-Expansion-ONLY/dp/B08MHYWJCP$25 + $20 = a real sexy workstation case.
m.2 storage connected via USB?
Yes, USB3 is fast enough to do it. It's done a lot. I've got an external of that right here.
Yeah for sure it will work. It's just depending on the type you get (really the only reason I would care to have one), I was thinking the 2k - 3500+ MB/s speeds being limited by the speeds you see with USB3 it's kind of a waste.
On the other hand, if you get a cheapo one, the way it fits together and all is pretty nice.
