Jim,

There are other low cost alternatives than an rpi. Higher kilowatt-hour cost for sure than an rpi, but cheap...

My current 32bit bell labs distro file server is a Lenovo (IBM) m58p small form factor. It has a 3.33 ghz intel core2 duo cpu, upgraded from it's stock 3.0ghz core2 duo. I have also tested it with a 3.0ghz core2 quad cpu, and that works. With AHCI set to native everything works, including multiple cores and built in gigabit ethernet. I boot off a USB stick, and it runs a 512GB fossil from SSD. I bought mine for 60 $US on eBay. I just checked and they are as low as half that now. Tilted on its side it doesn't take up much shelf space at all.

The fossil is backed by a very large venti running under plan9port on a mac that does other things, too.

My auth server is an rpi though, the original, and it sits on top and gets its power from one of the USB ports on the fs, so it's all pretty compact and a single switch.

Greg

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 11, 2016, at 5:33 PM, James A. Robinson <jim.robinson@gmail.com> wrote:

Folks,

One of the things I'm thinking about is setting up a full Plan 9
cluster, meaning one of the components would be a stand-alone
fileserver hooked up to a decent amount of storage.

I was wondering what experience people have had with slower or faster
machines in this role?

I was wondering whether or not it'd be feasible to hook up something
like http://tinyurl.com/jgov5gc (Amazon.com) to something small like a
Raspberry Pi 3, or if the I/O would be too much for that kind of
computer to handle.

Does anyone here run a fileserver on a small computer like a
raspberry pi 3, or perhaps something like an Intel nuc?

I wouldn't be supporting multiple users, just myself moving between
a couple of devices.

Jim