Hopefully you’ve already read my tutorial on getting started with WLED on ESP8266. If not go check it out. This post will probably make a lot more sense.
The reason I made this tutorial is because I am currently transitioning all my VMs on 2 Dell R710s in my “humble homelab” to a fleet of 10 Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (4GB).
| Part | Comment | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi | I am using a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB to run my UniFi controller but it’s definitely not needed. You can absolutely get by with a Raspberry Pi 3 B+. The Raspberry Pi 4 is still sort of hard to come by and you might already have a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ sitting in your desk drawer. | https://amzn.to/2PZezat |
| Micro SD Card | I have been using the Samsung MicroSDHC EVO Select cards for a while. I havent had an issue yet. All of my Raspberry Pis are using either a 32GB or 64GB. They are great for the price. | https://amzn.to/2Q85FXY |
| Power Supply | All of my Raspberry Pis are using a Raspberry Pi PoE HAT but that isn’t a requirement. You just need a power supply that puts out a good amount of power(at least 2.5A). This one puts out 3A and has an on off switch built in. Make sure you select the Raspberry Pi version you are using. All Raspberry Pis use Micro USB except the Raspberry Pi 4, which uses USB Type C. | https://amzn.to/2ZHBPy9 |
| Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway (USG) | My homelab uses a Unifi Security Gateway Pro but both require a UniFi controller to configure these items. | https://amzn.to/2HUMRFj |
| Ubiquiti Unifi 802.11ac Pro (UAP-AC-PRO) | I have one of these inside my house and another mounted on the ceiling of my back patio. I don’t have a single dead zone on my property. These are really great access points. They can be powered via PoE if you a PoE switch. | https://amzn.to/2A0IFzl |
I recently decommissioned my 2 Dell R710s and replaced them with 10 PoE Powered Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (4GB) to save some money on electricity and use less air conditioning. Those 2 servers ran all of my virtual machines in my humble homelab.
