As a complete beginner, what can I do with a raspberry pi 4b?

I’m basically completely new to networking and currently setting up a NAS. I have this raspberry pi 4b that I got but now can’t think of a use case for it…

Any ideas of something that is very useful to host or have running on the pi4b?

Edit: I’m a complete beginner, and will use trunas on another server with jellyfin so my raspberry pi gets blown raspberries atm 👎

  • DonutsRMeh@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    1 month ago

    Pihole+unbound, navidrome for your music. Tailscale for remote connection to your music. Setup your own photo library with immich. An invidious instance

    • mmmac@lemmy.zipEnglish
      3·
      1 month ago

      I’d recommend technitium over both pihole and adguard these days. Its an actual DNS server vs just a sinkholr, had recursive resolving out of the box, Root server mirroring at the click of a button, cluster mode etc

      • 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        6·
        1 month ago

        A DNS service that gets all its DNS data directly from “root servers”, without the middlemen (like your ISP, Google, Cloudflare, etc).

        • non_burglar@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 month ago

          Unbound is just an alternative to bind. Pihole does not handle full-fledged DNS functions like zone transfers and start of authority records.

    • Eirikr70@jlai.luEnglish
      16·
      1 month ago

      I wouldn’t recommend network apps to a complete beginner. They might loose their network for a while and get afraid of tinkering. My 2p

  • fubarx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago
    • Ubuntu desktop - the whole shebang including office apps
    • PiHole ad-blocker
    • Jellyfin video server
    • Minecraft server
    • Local LLMs
    • On-site VPN service
    • Home Assistant smarthome controller

    So many things, and much more…

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    I run Movary on my NAS in a docker container so that my partner has a place to add to our watch-list.

    I also run a personal kbase that I built on top of Docbase and Markdown files.

    And I recently started using HTTP2Shell to throw commands at a local networked device. This is useful to me personally, maybe not for others, because I’ve written my own automations.

    I recently considered adding Home Assistant, but it doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen because we have lamps that don’t remain in an “on” state when unplugged; any devices I might buy to add wifi to them wouldn’t actually turn them on remotely as a result. Shame cause there’s one that’s pretty necessary at night that’s between a wall and a sofa that’s pushed back against it because that’s just the layout of the room. I don’t mind manually controlling the others, but that was the one that would have been nice to trigger from my phone. Our thermostat and robot vacuum would have been on the same system, but they already have dedicated apps anyway.

    You’re only limited by your imagination and curiosity (and wallet).

  • alt_xa_23@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 month ago

    I host a web server and gemini capsule on mine. I previously hosted a Minecraft server, but moved it over to my desktop recently.

  • normalexit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    1 month ago

    Pihole is great, little hardware projects are fun (touchscreen calendar in the kitchen). They also make great emulators for old systems if you want to install a gaming oriented OS like retropie or lakka and get a gamepad or two.

    I personally wouldn’t use it for a server, but it’s a good learning environment to figure out how to run services.

    The beauty of the pi is it is an SD card swap away from doing a different job. You can buy a few fast cheap 16-32gb SD cards and play around with different options and operating systems.

    Or you can do what I do: get it all set up, shut it down, and forget it exists until you have some wild idea.

  • hardcoreufo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    Look into volumio to make a whole home music streaming solution. You can buy various pi Hats to get better DACs than the internal pi one.

  • todotoro@midwest.socialEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    A Pi 4 can do quite a bit. Maybe start off with some Docker apps. Try and host PiHole for ad blocking at home?

  • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    I use them from time to time. Sometimes to tinker on, or have a specific purpose. For instance one runs a display that I can shuffle through all my surveillance cams. One runs a Magic Mirror. Pretty neat little project with useful applications.

    Example Image

  • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
    152·
    1 month ago

    Sell it

    I’m dead serious. They can go for a decent price which should cover the cost of a X86_64 machine

    • OwlPaste@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      1 month ago

      Whats an x86_64 equivalent of a pi these days? I’d love to find one, especially worried if pi goes the way of Arduino

      • B0rax@feddit.orgEnglish
        4·
        1 month ago

        Check out the Futro S740. It is more powerful than the pi, uses comparable power and still quite compact.

        They can be found (in Germany at least) for 40€ with 4gb RAM and about 50€ for 8gb of ram. Ram is upgradeble, so is storage.

        If you want something (much) more powerful, there is the Lenovo tiny line, for example the m710q or m720q (one cpu generation newer).

    • phx@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 month ago

      If they’ve already got a 4B there’s no reason not to use it for one of the many low-power low-profile uses, especially when the cost of PC components is going nuts now

    • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      1 month ago

      idk about a 4b these days but the 5’s are stupid priced. You can get a refurbed 6th gen intel machine with 16gb of ram and an SSD for the price of a 4Gb Pi 5. Add an ESP32 running ESPhome or Firmata and you’ve got everything you could do with a Pi and a lot more.