For all the Bitcoin / Lightning node or Nostr relay, runners out there. If your Rasperry Pi system isn't quite cutting it lately, check out all of the refurbished Dell Optiplex units floating around.

A refurbished Dell Optiplex 7040 Micro will run you about $200-300 (CAN) and it comes with an Intel i5 processor, 8-16 GB of RAM and a internal 256/512 SD drive. (Specs vary based on model).

I was running a Rock Pi4 w/ 4GB RAM, but the RAM/Swap was always maxed out and I had to prune back what I was running.

I purchased the 7040 Micro because it was a small Pi style form factor and has the ability to add a m.2 SSD drive too. The current setup is running so smooth and uses a steady 50% (8GB) of RAM with fairly standard load out. Oh, part of the reason the ram is so high is that I turned off swap and put it all to ram so I'm not adding extra wear to the SSD. The unit is on a UPS btw ;).

You can find them on Amazon, NewEgg, Dell Refurb and many other places.

I'm kinda thinking all the offices shutting down over the past two years must have created a bunch of overstock? Maybe it's just businesses doing their usual upgrading, but either way, it's good for us.

Hopefully this post will help someone out. I'm sure there are a bunch of people in the same boat.