New Raspberry Pi 4!

So  I read today that there is a new version of Raspberry Pi out, Raspberry Pi 4!  Not only is it more powerful and capable than the other versions, which were pretty capable of themselves, it now boasts specs pretty close to the old CPUs I use for various severs!

Most headlines I have seen focus on how you get more power for the same $35 price tag, but this glosses over probably the biggest feature I see with ver. 4; that it comes in 1GB, 2GB or 4GB of RAM versions!  The 4GB version tops out the price but $55 is still not bad for what you get!

This quite largely addresses the largest weakness I found in using the Pi.  The chip and RAM update with the 3B+, Wi-fi and Bluetooth sold me on the version but this takes that and makes it even more palatable.

Naturally, this starts getting me thinking about what kind of projects I want to do that warrants purchasing a new Pi!

What's it got?

It shouldn't be hard to find the specs, but here's a listing.

• 64bit Quad-Core ARM CPU (1.5GHz)
• 1-, 2- or 4GBs of RAM
• Ports
• 2 x  Micro-HDMI (yes.. can handle 2 monitors!)
• 2 x USB 3
• 2 x USB 2
• Gigabit Ethernet (no PoE from what I've seen)
• Wi-Fi (dual-band)
• Bluetooth

 

NextCloudPi replacement

I set up a Pi 3B+ with  NextCloudPi to run a NextCloud server for all of the family members. It works wonderfully and I took the suggestion to throttle the upload speed when initially synchronizing files to the server so you don't end up doing DDOS on yourself.

The Raspberry Pi 4 with a gigabit Ethernet and more RAM than the 3B+ I think will make a huge difference in performance over the 3B+.

Some other ideas

I've had some other ideas, which just seems so much sweeter with the added "oomph" of the 4!

• Thin-client like setup, or ChromiumOS, where it is a desktop for purposes of getting online, or connecting to either a local LTSP server or, even better, to work's remote access.
• PiHole
• Network handling, like local DNS (for accessing local servers) and possibly single sign-on server(?)
• Brains for my 3D printer
• Smart home server (handling multiple camera feeds)
• Minecraft server (it may not be great, but I've run on less and being portable makes it easy to carry to a friend's house).
• Basic desktop (nothing too strenuous, just browsing/email/chat, etc.)
• I've always been tempted to hack the window fans to read the outside and inside temperatures, direct the airflow appropriately and synchronize the activity of multiple fans (blow out on one side of the house, suck in on the other so air travels between them).
• If it can handle LXD/LXC, then I may be able to run multiple servers in one machine.

What are you going to do with all that extra power?

Referenced Links

NextCloudPi (https://ownyourbits.com/nextcloudpi/) 
NextCloud (https://nextcloud.com/)