Harvs
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 11:58 pm

PiServer - is it appropriate for my use-case?

Mon Jul 01, 2019 10:13 pm

I want to know if I should be using PiServer as a central hub for all my online Pi projects.

I have multiple Pis, all different models/versions from over the years. I also have lots of different SDs of differing specs with my various project installs on them, I find it an absolute mess keeping track of all these half forgotten projects.

When I saw PiServer I wondered if I could use it as follows:
Use and old laptop as the server box, with my various OS installs (Raspbian, OSMC, Ubuntu core, windows IoT, Kali etc) and then my networked Pi's across the house. Could I then provision these Pis from the main server with peesistance between projects.
E.g I have a 3B+ attached to my TV with 3 SDs that I rotate (retropi, steam-link, OSMC), could I use PiServer to switch between those set-ups on the fly and keep all my user data? Would I notice any slow-downs?

TLDR: could I use PiServer to switch between projects as and where I need, and pick up where I left off?

incognitum
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2018 3:34 pm

Re: PiServer - is it appropriate for my use-case?

Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:52 pm

Use and old laptop as the server box, with my various OS installs (Raspbian, OSMC, Ubuntu core, windows IoT, Kali etc)
Piserver is more aimed at classroom setups where a single read-only (Raspbian) OS image is shared with multiple Pi.
Users need to login with their username and password to gain access to a writable home folder on the central server.

If you want all your Pi running different software, and want write access outside of the home folder, Berryboot's iSCSI support may be a better match.
But that does not support Windows iot either, nor Pi 4 (for now).

Return to “Networking and servers”