this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2026
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I'm thinking about getting started using Docker and an older Raspberry Pi. I'm already hosting a grafana service on it, so It can't be fully dedicated to ha. So curious what everyone is using.

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[โ€“] harmbugler@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sure. Synology DSM is a Linux distro for Synology hardware. DSM includes Docker CE, so you can just use that from the terminal if you want but they also include a "Container Manager" GUI app. I mostly use the app but need to sometimes dip into the terminal when the app gets stuck on updating container images.

There's not much to mention about Home Assistant specifically, just that you have two options: Docker or the SynoCommunity app. Docker is easier to migrate somewhere else, but with Home Assistant's backup/restore you're not locked in to either option.

Anyway, for the pros: it works fine and has the advantage that it has fast access to my data since it's on the same hardware. It's also a small power footprint at 50W for 5x3.5" disks, 40GB RAM and 4 CPUs, especially compared to my previous setup of 3 Proxmox nodes using the DiskStation as SAN storage over iSCSI. It's not as powerful for compute obviously, but much more efficient.

The main con is that it's Synology, so you are to some extent captive to whatever they are up to. I've looked into alternative distros for DiskStations and there aren't really any options that seemed better to me at the time. YMMV.

[โ€“] ohlaph@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

That's kind of what I was thinking of building out actually, so I'll look into that as an option, thanks!