Ask HN: Always on low power home server
I think there is an awesome setup that many are overlooking! With a RockPro64 board, you can configure it to use SSD&#x27;s, both SATA &amp; NVMe!<p>RockPro64 boards: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product-category&#x2F;rockpro64&#x2F;?v=0446c16e2e66" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product-category&#x2F;rockpro64&#x2F;?v=0446c16e2e6...</a>
Accessories: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product-category&#x2F;rockpro64-accessories&#x2F;?v=0446c16e2e66" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product-category&#x2F;rockpro64-accessories&#x2F;?v...</a><p>I think these RockPro64 boards are highly underrated. I got one a while back, I was looking for something more powerful than a Raspberry pi. You can get it with 2 or 4 GB RAM.<p>They have PCI-e slots, so the SSD interface cards plug into the board through them. With this setup you will get full performance from your drive, instead of having to rely on a USB connection on raspberry pi &amp; others.<p>SATA: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;rockpro64-pci-e-to-dual-sata-ii-interface-card&#x2F;?v=0446c16e2e66" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;rockpro64-pci-e-to-dual-sata-ii-i...</a>  NVMe: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;rockpro64-pci-e-x4-to-m-2-ngff-nvme-ssd-interface-card&#x2F;?v=0446c16e2e66" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pine64.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;rockpro64-pci-e-x4-to-m-2-ngff-nv...</a><p>I&#x27;ve not set mine up like this yet, as I&#x27;ve not been doing much with my board lately except running pi-hole. But I plan on getting an NVMe interface in the future, and maybe the metal desktop casing. I think this type of setup is exactly what you&#x27;re looking for. The cost is reasonable. If you get a 4GB board, a power supply, and an SATA interface you&#x27;d be all in for ~$103 before shipping.<p>There are lots of accessories, and tons of OS options with an easy installer. I just checked, as of writing this the are builds for (both desktop &amp; minimal) Debian, Ubuntu, Slackware, CentOS, Manjaro, Armbian debian&#x2F;ubuntu, DietPi. Also other stuff like Recalbox, batocera, OpenMediaVault, ChromiumOS, or Android. I not an expert in the entire SBC market, but I&#x27;m doubt many other boards have community support for that many different OSs.