[vineyardmike]

> why would you do this to yourself? Just virtualize on the junky old PC if you really want to have multiple "nodes" of some sort.

An RPI uses as much power as charging a phone. Your old junk PC probably uses an order of magnitude more, and most people don't need the extra CPU power. Why waste electricity? I bought all of mine at MSRP, and at that price its likely covered by the savings on power quickly.

That said, I've also used a few "thin client" PCs to build a cluster when I got the space. As much as I've wanted it, I can't convince the better half to let me install a full server rack in our guest bedroom (or pay for electricity).

On top of all this, it's small, so it can fit anywhere. I ran a few hanging with zipties under the bed frame in my dorm room years ago. My first apartment was 400sqft - I threw out my "server" PC I built and used a few Pis. When not in use they fit in a shoebox or drawer, so it's easy to have extras.