2026-09-22 12:06 UTC
Everything is super expensive these days which is why I’ve got all kinds of nodes. I lurk marketplace, kijiji, etc for “broken” or “for parts” nodes. Laptops with broken keyboards, screens, no battery, etc are perfect for me. I7 11th gen was $90 CAD. Works perfectly for a node. Found a cheap tiny with a locked bios. Removed the CMOS battery to reset and I’m good to go.
If you’re not willing to do that, the working tinys are perfect in my opinion.
The working Synology seems extra to me. You could use software like ceph, or diy it. Storage boxes don’t need crazy specs, just sata ports and power. The only reason I’d consider it is if you just want something “simple that works” and you’re willing to pay for it.
Replies (1)
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@buildmylab@lemmus.org 2026-09-22 12:52
That makes a lot of sense. I already have a Synology DS920+, so there’s no additional storage hardware cost on my end. The Tiny form factor is ideal for me mainly due to footprint and low noise, but total cost and idle power are definitely things I’m weighing. Another route I’m considering is picking up just one more Tiny instead of two, and running an external Corosync QDevice directly on the DS920+ (via a lightweight Docker container) for the tiebreaker vote. That gives me a proper 2-node quorum without the hardware cost and power draw of a third physical node. Combined with the DS920+ for shared iSCSI storage, that might actually hit the sweet spot between cost, footprint, and HA.