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Anyone used ARM servers before or sell them?
Just wondering since i seen netcup sells a ARM server for cheap like
VPS 1000 ARM G11
6 vCore (ARM64)
8 GB RAM
256 GB NVMe
2.5Gbps port
5.26 Euros without VAT
for example. i know Oracle does this too since i have mine with
4 vCore (ARM64) (Dedicated)
24GB Ram
50-200GB Storage (using 150GB storage for mine)
4Gbps port @ 10TiB (1Gbps per vCore)
Without paying a cent since im on PAYG so $0 USD
what im asking is does anyone know any other providers that sell ARM servers like general (100-1000GB NVMe/SSD ) or storage servers (1-10TiB HDD?) for cheap (Just want to know if arm is going to be more popular in the future since it's cheap to run then x64)
Comments
Hetzner has ARM servers too although they aren't cheaper.
I have a home mac mini server.
Outside of Macs and Hyperscalers you are going to have a hard time finding ARM servers.
OS support is alright. Not great, but alright.
They are fine but for example the Hetzner ones have generally slower performances than the x86 ones. 4 ARM cores correspond to approximately 2 x86 unless you use some ARM optimized applications.
If you just need storage they are more than fine tho.
(Discontinued) scw C1 4c arm32, 2G, 50GB €2.99/m
They used to require vds before you could attach block storage. They were good for on-demand storage node
Netcup's ARM VPS shows that they are all sold out and recommended us to x86 VPS. I guess they will not replenish the stock for the time being. It seems to have the same processor as Oracle Free VPS, Ampere N1, Geekbench5 single-core score is about 800.
As for Hetzner, I think their ARM VPS has no advantage in terms of cost performance.
I've used them. They work the same as x64 as long as you aren't trying to run compiled software that you can't recompile. You can expect that almost all open-source software works - if it doesn't work then it's the rare exception. Sometimes you might have to compile software yourself to get an ARM version, but that's fine.
ARM used to be maybe 10% cheaper than x64, but now it's not, so there's really no advantage if it's going to be the same price and slightly more inconvenient. If you found one that's cheap and meets your requirements, go for it - I wouldn't avoid a good deal just because it's ARM.
I do recommend using oracle free tier for an arm server, I have two.
One for my business and one for personal use.
I could always get more for my family members
I hope you have good backups. Oracle free tier can be deleted at any time.
I am on PAYG, no issues with idle servers at all
It doesn't matter. It's Oracle. They do what they feel is best for them, and they don't care about you. They treat their business and government customers, who spend millions of dollars, like absolute dogshit. Why would they do better for some nobody who's not paying any money?
For now - for a shockingly long time actually - they feel that giving away free servers is good for them because it raises awareness of their brand. One day they will stop deciding that, and all free servers will immediately be deleted, PAYG or not. That could happen any day. Take the free stuff while it lasts, but also be prepared with backups and an exit plan.
I can check those out later
I was planning on getting the Mac mini before. I don't know if they are good though but I'll think about it.
Usually on my OCI arm vps, I was stuck on Ubuntu 22.04 but I'm used to it a lot since I used 22.04 before on my home and vps before I switched over to Debian 13.
I just need storage though I do have a existing 2TiB Storage vps at @DediRock near NY and it's been working fine. I guess I need to mount it remotely over wireguard over ssh later but I'll still check out Hetzner
4c on Ampere N1 works fine since I only run a few docker containers like peertube or a local booru. CPU encoding is very fast though for 1440@60 renders to HLS. It's good enough for me but the only limit is storage atm.
It's mostly open source docker compose files and storage. The performance on my OCI ARM vps is very stable since I haven't rebooted it in 140 days but it's good enough since I know what software can run on it.
Thanks. I had mine probably since like 2022 or 2021
If you don't already own a MacBook, consider getting one. An even more practical approach is to find a stand to prop your MacBook upright—this saves space like a Mac mini while offering greater functionality.
I'm mostly on PC but i still remember back in Highschool where i did use an imac at the library and in filmmaking and 3D rendering class before. i kind of like the 5K res lol but i could get a macbook for work stuff but ill prob get a Mac Mini since i already have a desktop with a 1440@240Hz Display from HP. I was also thinking on a Macbook Air for light tasks like ssh and rdp n such. but yeah. Ill prob start with the Mac Mini.
There are plenty of good deals on used Macs now. Old M1 Mac mini still works well.
Checked ebay and only 1 listing for $1,680 + $26.88 in shipping and prob none on Amazon. On Apple EDU website i could get a Mac mini for $500 that has the M4 chip built in but not today atm but thanks though
I've read a few times that openclaw caused a rush on Mac Mini's so those are probably hard to find at the moment, but in a few months will probably be possible to find again.
I guess it depends on your local market/country. There are plenty of m4 mac mini around $560 on ebay and Microcenter still doing the $499 deal for base brand new m4
Speaking of it...
On Microcenter listing. "Mac mini is perfect for OpenClaw - Save 15% or more on all models"
I checked the apple EDU website and for the base m4 chip model
Hardware
10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
16GB unified memory
256GB SSD storage
Gigabit Ethernet
Two USB-C ports, 3.5 mm headphone jack
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet port
Support for up to three external displays
Accessory Kit
it comes to a total of $550.15 with tax included and i can pick it up at my local apple store today if i brought it. I'm based near the Northern Bay Area so im like 1-2 Hours away from San Francisco and apple main HQ. I don't plan to run OpenClaw anytime soon since im mostly going to use it as a secondary desktop + running docker containers n such
$499 for the Mac mini with M4 chip itself but for tax it comes to $51.15 in my area
Because of sanctions, many Chinese cloud providers are now using ARM servers to sell cloud instances.
For example:
Huawei Cloud is using its owned (HiSilicon) ARM CPUs.
China Telecom Cloud offers Phytium ARM CPUs in some availability zones. (By the way, they also provide Zhaoxin x86 CPUs in some availability zones, which are quite rare compared to the more common Intel and AMD.)
UCloud (they have an overseas site on LET called SurferCloud) offers Ampere ARM CPUs in some availability zones.
I’m not sure if you’re interested in these providers, but they’re not cheap, and they may have limited data center options outside of China.
To get deleted you need to get one first. They seems to be near impossible to get these days.
ARM is much more economical for homebrew servers. The hardware costs are almost nothing (between $15 to $100 ) for arm SBCs), the electricity usage is much less ( 1 to 10 watts). And the there is much more competition between the hardware vendors. For x86 there is no competition apart from AMD and Intel.
ARM is fine if your stack is mostly containers or software you can easily rebuild for ARM. For things like storage nodes or light services it works well.
The only time it gets annoying is when some random dependency is x86-only. Because of that I still keep most of my stuff on small x86 KVM VPS (currently on Cube-Host) and use ARM mainly for experiments.