Patrick from #ServeTheHome with a new TinyMiniMicro video on Lenovo's new generation 2 ThinkStation P3 Tiny ... there's a lot crammed into a tiny 1-liter package!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-xVenrTcB8
#miniPC #1LPC #HomeLab #CouchLab #TinyMiniMicro #ThinkStation
I'm very happy to announce that thanks to a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, I have in my hands a FriendlyElec NanoPi M6 - in this configuration, a tiny fanless desktop #microPC based on the Rockchip RK3588S processor.
I've had my eye on this device to fill the role of ultraportable desktop PC, especially in the event my laptop ever breaks or is lost/stolen, which would instantly render me unable to work if I didn't have a backup.
because of this generous gift, I'll be able to put the #NanoPi M6 to the test, and answer my top-of-line question: just how usable is this device as a light-duty desktop PC running Linux right now, in 2026? how well is the hardware supported? will I have problems getting work done?
I'm looking forward to having answers to all that and more. be sure to keep an eye on the Peertube channel @surfhosting.cc in the coming weeks and months ... and thank you so much to my donor, you know who you are!
this video makes the case that prices and power consumption will continue to fall for 10GbE, but at $200-300 for a 4-port switch and with the lowest-power brand new consumer NICs still pulling 3 watts, probably not yet a great #CouchLab solution.
Patrick did also note that more of these new 10GbE devices should be more likely to autonegotiate with 2.5GbE and 5GbE gear than some older 10GbE equipment apparently was.
@dbtechyt you know what I haven't seen, a comparison of setting up basic networking (SDN simple zones vs old-style Linux bridges) in terms of features and performance.
I'm interested in SDN because I'm doing at least 4 things at once with my #CouchLab: personal "live" boxes including virtualized dev machines; personal 24/7 services which may or may not be exposed to the internet; fedi-related "work" services which are exposed to the internet; and "work" services for a mom & pop Wordpress business I have with a friend. my main concerns are security in the event somebody cracks in to one of the internet-facing services, and isolation such that work on one set doesn't affect the others.
even so, networking is one of my weaker skills and I'm not using VLANs or anything like that (yet) ... that's probably happening soon, but for now it's physical separation and Linux bridges, and I'm just starting to explore SDN. the built-in DHCP service would be another good focus if you do make another video at any point!
I've been haunting the Black Friday threads on #LowEndTalk and finally figured out why my self-managed VPN exit is in internet jail 🚔 on so many sites ... the direct VPS provider and the provider they're reselling from are both known to be shady ... sometimes you do get what you pay for, and in this case I paid like $18 for a year of #VPS service.
it got me thinking though, the money certainly wasn't wasted, in that I have several months experience doing my personal internet stuff on an IP that's on a few naughty lists, and I also now have firsthand knowledge of a couple cheap hosts to avoid. it's more fodder for Surfhosting documentation.
just gonna put this out there - if anybody wants to toss me a few bucks (or @incognet wants to sponsor me 👀) - I'll sign up for the IncogNET Professional VPN product and do a review. I'm gonna be watching up to four (4) cats in different parts of town in the next few weeks and planning to do further testing & development of my setup for working remotely from the #CouchLab, so now would be a perfect time for it...
donate link in bio, CashApp available on request ❤️
after rambling about Arm devices earlier, I did a little poking around and found that the upcoming #GLiNet Beryl 7 "travel router" will apparently be based on the Mediatek MT7987 SoC, which updates the dual A53 CPU in the Beryl AX to a quad A53.
if true, that's very nice to hear. I have zero complaints about my Beryl AX (I'm connected with it right now), but as an always-on VPN user, as bandwidth demands continue to grow, the CPU will eventually be a limiting factor.
it also looks like GLi is in no rush to add 6GHz support to their "travel routers" which is a bit of a bummer, but then I don't have any equipment which supports it yet, and due to attenuation it likely wouldn't be a great choice for wireless bridging beyond a fairly close distace.
I also looked at the Slate 7 a bit more, and I'm not interested; my Slate AX is doing fine as access point & router for my personal network at the #CouchLab, but I learned my lesson: no more Qualcomm SoCs dependent on their closed SDK! mainline #OpenWrt support is going to take forever if it comes at all!
it's kinda funny how many posts I boost about Arm based machines considering I still do most of my computing on x86... the pull of miniaturization and low power consumption is strong when living a nomadic existence and/or building a #CouchLab, despite the fact there are often many more gotchas with Arm gear.
we're starting to see more x86 machines in the SBC size regime, but the fact that AMD just does not make CPUs in the ≤ 6 watt range, and Intel's TDP ratings are infamously "flexible" has a lot to do with the fact there are so few ultra-mini x86 systems.
I have a feeling the future direction of this project, as I start to get into more testing & reviewing of hardware (assuming I get the cash to do so, or people donate hardware), is going to involve a lot of Arm-based gear. and of course, if I have big problems or get stumped trying to get a particular system going due to platform gotchas, that'll be part of the review.
at the moment I have 2 main interests in Arm boxes for use & review:
FriendlyElec NanoPi R76S (for NAS use)
FriendlyElec NanoPi M6 (ultimate miniature fallback device for desktop computing as it's the size of a pack of smokes .. currently I have a much less capable NanoPi M4 in a cardboard box filling this role)
I will be watching a very sassy Manx cat from tomorrow thru Monday, my hope was to have some tests worked out for using my #CouchLab compute stack while away, but didn't manage to get anything figured out. I would like to get SPICE remote desktop working but that's gonna be too complex for the time I have, so I'll just end up connecting to things via ssh and http[s] over Tailscale like usual.
the one main problem I have with this is not having easy access to my music box, right now I do that over SPICE while at the house. but long term I need a way to stream and control #QuodLibet from my phone. I can't really use something else very well because I make extensive use of Quod Libet's query-based smart playlists.
@RationalizedInsanity I'm looking forward to what you can do in terms of Content Creation™ when you don't have a bunch of instability taking up most of your attention. I'm hoping to get back to more of it too this winter once I can churn thru the life backlog of mundane stuff like getting a doctor, getting to the dentist, all the things that have been deferred for a couple years now.
and good looking out on the future couch offer ❤️ I'm short on spare locations for a #CouchLab at the moment
selfhosting.couchsurfing