Thin client

I've written before about the case for ephemeral workstations, and more recently about how I use Ubuntu Server, Herdr, Mosh and Tailscale.

The whole setup is basically what is called a Thin client.

In computer networking, a thin client is a simple, low-performance computer that has been optimized for remote desktop connections to a server-based computing environment.

Why have two computers instead of one?

I always strive for simplicity, so two computers instead of one does not come naturally.

The whole thing started with the simple of long running AI-threads unaffected by my Macbook being on or off.

Now there are many ways around this on a single device. But the setup has proven useful in a lot of other ways.

Tools I have running on my server

• Tailscale (for seamless connection of devices)
• Caddy (for Kirby and static webpages)
• Docker and DDEV
• Linkding (great for storing links)
• Leafwiki (As a place for organized notes). I used Writebook for a while, but Leafwiki is better.
• Audiobookshelf (For audiobooks)
• Plex (For video)
• Excalidash (For rough sketching)
• Minecraft Bedrock server (Server for the kids)
• Many running web site projects that I develop via tailscale url's
• A dashboard of all services, including status of AI usage (Claude), CMS version numbers per project, list of cron jobs, system memory, disk usage etc.
• A finance dashboard (vibed)
• Herdr (for keeping an overview on all ongoing projects in one coherent terminal view)

The server

I got myself a Beelink SER8 as the server. My always-on machine. They are powerful enough for what I do, and way cheaper than Apple products, even the Mac Mini.

At first the plan was to use this machine as my "one and only computer", but I spent way too much time fiddling with Linux OS's to get it how I wanted it. I even tried out Windows for a hot minute, but didn't enjoy that either.

Long story short I ended up repurposing the SER8 as the server in my new "thin client" setup, and thus relieving my ageing Macbook M1 2020 machine of some of its chores.

The "thin client"

My current Macbook is starting to complain. But my god has it delivered.
For over 6 years it has been a true workhorse. It still works perfectly fine. Even the battery is fine. But it is reaching a point where a replacement starts making sense.

Going forward

My current goal is to phase out the heavy lifting my Macbook does, and replace it with the server.

I have already moved a lot of my web dev projects there, and don't use Docker/Orbstack anymore on the macbook. The same is true for Laravel Herd and Valet.

I lean on Apple for Photos, iMessage, Mail and Calendar. I don't plan on moving my whole image library any time soon despite options like Immich looking good.
iCloud and photo-sharing within the family is pretty seamless and nice.

I plan on upgrading my Macbook soon, but because of the current setup I no longer have very high demands from it. That opens up for base-models and the Air models, which is nice for the wallet.

Before upgrading I hope to have mapped out all my actual needs from the Macbook clearly, and do a clean install instead of carrying over all my junk.

This way I will hopefully end up with a lean and ephemeral setup. Any machine regardless of its OS can simply connect to the server to continue work where I left it.