Window10 on RPI running storagenode

Node Operators
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1

Out of curiosity, is anyone using/tried this setup running storagenode?

I’ve not tried this setup, but…
Is there any gotcha, performance delta, with this combination?

Listing the current known status of Win10 on RPI from youtube (not specific to StorJ)
Works

  • Ethernet
  • 8 GB RAM
  • Built in USB Ports
  • 1 Display Output
  • USB To Audio Jack
  • USB To Bluetooth
  • USB Booting

Doesn’t Work

  • Audio Jack
  • USB To Wifi Dongles
  • GPU
  • Proper SD Card Drivers
  • Onboard Wifi and Bluetooth Module
2

Can I ask why you would even wanna do this? Windows 10 is bad enough running on a Desktop, Why would you wanna do this to a poor helpless rpi?

7 Likes
3

well, similar to “will it blend” idea, in RPI word - “will it run” :laughing:

4

Yeah but just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should especially on a low powered rpi running a storagenode… Is just asking for failure. I can run windows XP, windows 3.1 on my machine and run a storagenode would I? no cause its windows…

Its a great idea for fun and testing but not a good idea for hosting a node that needs to run 24/7.
Its just going outta your way to do something that probably is not 100% supported. Its just easier and better to run what its designed to run debian and linux distros.

5

I agree that low powered rpi2/3 doesn’t make sense.
rpi4 have a huge hw improvement, at least for 4/8G RAM, USB3 and ethernet. it might have a chance here.

so let’s get some sample check point for PC vs. RPI4 (just trying to see rpi4 potential/downfall).

  • is win10 on RPI4 stable -> unknown, no data to support
  • is storagenode supported on win10 (PC) -> yes
  • is storagenode supported on win10 (rpi4) -> maybe, giving it benefit of doubt
  • power consumption PC vs. rpi4 -> winner rpi4
  • disk transfer speed -> winner PC (direct disk), could be similar for both PC and rpi4 using USB3
  • Gigabit ethernet -> yes for both
6

Well lets go though the pros and cons of both shall we?
what is the benefits of running windows 10 on rpi 4 vs desktop
Pros
1.There is none why would there be its not designed to run windows 10.
2.Power consumption- Yes but why would you install windows 10 for this reason.

Cons

  1. Having to compile windows 10 iso to run on rpi4-may take hours to setup.
  2. Everything isn’t stable.
  3. Not designed for windows 10
  4. Not everything runs on a rpi4
  5. x86 apps dont run on rpi4 -would need to emulate this and further degrade performance.
  6. Support for apps to run on rpi4 with windows 10.
  7. Windows 10 doesn’t support arm processors (yet)
  8. Windows 10 runs slow on rpi4.
7

Thanks for listing the cons. :slight_smile:

  1. Having to compile windows 10 iso to run on rpi4-may take hours to setup.
    Agree. but this should be one off effort, although not excluding there might be a need to recompile for future win10 upgrade if the owner choose to do so
  2. Everything isn’t stable.
    need to experiment to find out what is not running, this is context, just need to know if storagenode will run stably or not
  3. Not designed for windows 10
    agree, but it doesn’t block win10 from running
  4. Not everything runs on a rpi4
    need to experiment to find out what is not running, this is context, just need to know if storagenode will run or not
  5. x86 apps dont run on rpi4 -would need to emulate this and further degrade performance.
    some apps can run natively on arm64, x86 apps do need emulation, maybe the question to ask is how much will the storagenode performance degrade. Maybe docker can workaround this performance degradation? Found someone manage to run docker on arm64 (link)
  6. Support for apps to run on rpi4 with windows 10.
    need to experiment to find out what is not running, this is context, just need to know if storagenode will run or not
  7. Windows 10 doesn’t support arm processors (yet)
    win10 do support arm now
  8. Windows 10 runs slow on rpi4.
    from what I saw on this youtube (link), the 720p manage to play, albeit with a little frame drop. This could leave us some space to find out how slow/fast will storagenode run

TLDR; will storagenode run on rpi4? if yes, is the stability/performance acceptable. if no, end of story. XD

8

It most likely isn’t

then run it on a proper PC

are there ARM binaries for windows? Nope, there are not

9

If your use case is running windows 10 on rpi4 to run a storagenode. No

If your use case is running windows 10 on rpi4 to play around with to test it out. Sure why not

If your use case is running windows 10 on rpi4 cause you cant afford to run a desktop running windows 10 and you need to have windows 10 in your life. sure why not.

If your use case is going to be running a storagenode on a rpi go with ubuntu or debian distros Not Windows period.

10

I’m more towards the play around win10 on rpi4, but at the same time curious on feasibility of storagenode on it, either via docker, emulation or natively (if there is one in future).

MS is enabling x64 emulation in it’s insider program, so I’m putting this win10 on rpi4 as data gathering phase. Wondering how will the data looks like in the future if there are adventurer out there.

11

Well if your able to test it out let me know I have a rpi4 but its currently running a node and its only a 2gig model so I don’t want to bring it down to test this. But it does sound like something fun to play around with.