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my (tiny) new server setup |
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Hardware - Milk-V Duo |
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If you understand the fascination of switching your computing to |
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smaller hardware, you're a bit like me. |
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The limitations of a smaller setup forces you to chose good and |
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lightweight software. Sometimes these limitations reveal that a |
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piece of software is slow/bloated in the first place - while the |
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same software would run fast on an oversized system. |
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In order to make one step towards "smaller" I was looking for a |
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system that is even smaller than a Raspberry Pi Zero but still |
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capable of running linux. |
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Luckily I stumbled across the Milk-V Duo. And I made it my new |
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main server. |
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Linux runs on: |
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- RISCV C906 @ 1.0Ghz (single core) |
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- 256M RAM |
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see the vendor's site |
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Operating System - Alpine Linux (riscv64) |
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For the operating system I'm currently using alpine linux. The base |
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operating system is build with the vendor's toolchain. The userland |
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is then replaced by |
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alpine's minimal root filesystem (riscv64). |
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The whole system (OS + Apps) is only using around 40MB RAM. |
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Applications - frugal yet potent |
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If you think this system Is too small to run actual applications on |
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such tiny server, I have to prove you wrong. |
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Here's a list of some appliactions I run on my new server: |
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My Blog: |
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a) geomyidae (gopher) |
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b) lighttpd (https) |
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c) geopherproxy (cgi) |
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d) vi (busybox) |
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Git-Server: |
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e) git-daemon (backend) |
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f) stagit-gopher (frontend) |
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SSH-Server: |
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g) dropbear |
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IRC-Client: |
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h) irc.c |
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i) tmux |
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Cloud-Gaming: |
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j) [email protected] (via ssh) |
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I'm pretty happy with this frugal yet potent setup. |
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Limitations |
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Allthough I am a big vim-enthusiast I had to admit that vim feeled |
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too bloated and too slow on this system. |
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I'm not an expert on compiling vim, but I think it is possible to |
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compile vim somewhat "tiny". Alpines build details looked rather |
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bloated to me. - Since ncopa doesn't call it vim.tiny I can't blame |
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him. |
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Alpine vim's build details |
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I bet he doesn't use vim. :) |
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Maybe I'll try to build vim more lightweight in the future. |
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For the first time I am happy to have the option to use good old |
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vi. Until I found an acceptable solution for vim, I'll just use |
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busybox vi. It runs amazingly fast. |
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What's next |
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In the future will tinker around more with the vendor's toolchain: |
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official Buildroot SDK |
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Maybe I try to build my own system with buildroot or Rob Landley's |
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mkroot. |
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Building the Simplest Possible Linux System (video) |
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I think hardware-wise the next step towards "smaller" would be one |
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of these: |
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Pine64 Ox64 |
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Luckfox Pico |
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If you have any questions or suggestions concerning my setup, i'd |
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love it if you reach out via irc or mail: |
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my contact info |
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