The general notion of a computer is a big machine that can run operating systems and software. Even though laptops have gotten slimmer and desktops also come in small sizes without any compromise in power, we never correlate small devices with functional systems. A single-board computer (SBC) is the last thing on anyone's mind when planning to build a dedicated device. I too, thought the exact same thing and never considered them as capable units.

However, after purchasing SBCs and building self-hosted projects, I realized that SBCs teach you something other devices don't. Its minimalistic approach forces you to think wisely about what items to incorporate and how you can build something useful without investing in server-grade hardware or bulky computers. Let's explore how single-board computers forced me to approach a new project with frugality and make the most of available resources.

More power isn't always better

SBCs have their purpose

A laptop or an entry-level desktop is more powerful than a credit card-sized computer. But do you need that much power all the time? That's one of the problems I faced when I was thinking of building a remotely accessible downloading device. Sure, a laptop can do it without any problems. You can connect to it via any remote desktop connection software and then manage downloads from there.

Still, why waste 50W per hour running a device that only needs to write files to a disk? A lot of that power will be wasted on running a consumer-grade operating system and its background processes. Another problem is that if you share the device with someone, it's a real pain to keep the processes undisturbed.

Instead, I used a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with RealVNC to access it and then run downloads via JDownloader2. It's a very basic system that I use even today to download new ISOs and files. I keep it close to my router, and the Pi saves everything to an external hard disk. This small setup barely sips 1W to do the same stuff that my laptop would need more power to do.

A downloading device is just one of the many examples where using SBC changed the way I think about self-hosted experiments. I revived my old hi-fi speakers with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W using moOde Audio OS and a DAC. This combination added Bluetooth capabilities to the old speaker and converted it into an audio streaming device. I don't need to plug the aux cable into my phone or laptop anymore to play audio through it.

So, an SBC comes in very handy in situations where you cannot physically tweak the hardware. I didn't need to solder anything because a dedicated audio streaming OS was available for the Pi, and it took care of all the software stuff. I only needed a USB DAC to connect the Pi’s output to the speaker.

Lightweight over bloated software

Don't need a GUI for everything

Laptops and desktops are powerful because they have to run GUI-heavy apps. Everything needs to be visually appealing, and a puny SBC won't work in those scenarios. Surely, you can use an SBC like Raspberry Pi 5 as a PC with a select few distros, but the experience will be sour.

SBCs aren't meant for everyday computing and blend perfectly with single-use case roles. You can even use them as stepping stones to learn about DIY, networking, and self-hosting before moving to enterprise-grade hardware.

Before using a Raspberry Pi, I didn't even know about terminal-based operating systems or software. SBCs cannot exist without low-GUI or no-GUI software because they don't have much power to spare. It's smart to dedicate maximum power to the software you want to run on the SBC rather than to the underlying operating system.

Distros like DietPi are a perfect example of how you can build a single-purpose device, like hosting a local password manager or running a Pi-hole to escape tracking. These tools are lightweight and perfect for an SBC like the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W. We always think of gigabytes while talking about desktop hardware, but in the SBC world, every MB matters.

DietPi consumes under 70 MB, and you get almost 400 MB to run tools. I would never have thought of micromanaging system resources if it weren't for the Raspberry Pi board. In the SBC realm, OS preference is always lightweight, and most of the tools have a webpage serving as a GUI interface that can run on any web browser.

I don’t waste computing resources like before and try to think of the project's needs first. If it's a small-scale project like running a media server or a toolkit for everyday tasks like OmniTools, I would prefer a Pi or another SBC over a power-hungry device like a laptop. Most projects don’t need multicore CPUs and discrete GPUs.

SBCs make me think proactively

After using SBCs from multiple brands to build small, functional improvements in my home, I no longer think of them as inferior devices. Building the SBC project also improved my command of Linux and gave me experience with terminal-based distros. It’s much more convenient to handle small networking and storage problems. I use Docker to prioritize the services I want to use and stop or remove the ones that don’t serve a purpose currently. Doing all such things with fixed, non-upgradeable hardware helps me plan the route I need to take to make the project work.

I don’t need to worry about power consumption anymore unless I connect multiple external devices to the SBCs. It’s even possible to pool these tiny computers together into a cluster if I need to consolidate all the power for a single project. I won’t hide the fact that there’s a learning curve to SBCs, and it's not for impatient users. You have to learn the intricacies of managing and troubleshooting Linux systems, and that can be challenging.