Introduction
For a long time, I had been running my home server monitoring program on my main PC.
Everything—server uptime, container status, and resource usage—was being checked 24/7 on the same Windows PC I use for my daily work.
This was a problem. I couldn't turn off my main PC.
Whether I was going to sleep or heading out, the PC had to stay on so the monitoring wouldn't stop. It wasn't eco-friendly, and it was a waste of electricity. I wanted to be able to shut down my PC properly before bed.
So, I decided to build a dedicated terminal for server monitoring—one with low power consumption.
I wrote about upgrading my server hardware to the MS-A2 in my previous article. This time, I’m talking about making the "monitor" side independent.
Raspberry Pi 5, why is it so expensive!??
When people think of a monitoring terminal, they think of Raspberry Pi. It’s the standard for low power consumption. Naturally, I consulted with Claude and Codex to decide on the model.
Then, I saw the price and stopped in my tracks.
What is this, why is the Pi 5 so expensive!?
Ah, I see, it’s being hit by the surge in memory prices. I had heard about it, but I didn’t realize it had reached this point.
- Pi 5 / 4GB → 25,000 JPY
- Pi 5 / 1GB → Just under 10,000 JPY
- Pi 5 / 2GB → About 13,000 JPY
That price difference is just for the memory capacity. 4GB is overkill for a monitoring terminal. But 1GB feels a bit risky.
Oh, the 2GB model is about 13,000 JPY. That feels like a decent value, doesn't it? 2GB should be plenty for a monitoring terminal. I'll buy it from Switch Science. Okay, that’s decided.
……It sounds quick when written like this, but I spent half a day just considering this.
Longing for a Case with an LED Display
And there’s one more thing. I’ve always longed for those small cases that come with an LED display.
Something like this. A palm-sized box with a small screen fitted into it, with something running on it. It hits that desire to own something right in the gut.
If I’m going to set up a monitoring terminal, I want it to be this.
So, I spent another half day or so researching, "What’s good?" And then I found it.
A case kit that seems to have everything.
Oh, this is it. A 4.3-inch touchscreen, OLED, speaker, NVMe slot... it has all sorts of things, isn't it great? 9,400 JPY (at the time. It seems to have gone up since, in just half a month).
Alright, let’s go with this.
Assembly and Setup
Once the hardware arrived, it was just a matter of assembling it and installing the OS.
Assembly went exactly according to the manual. For the OS installation, I just followed the procedures as instructed by Lord Claude. I also left the monitoring program setup and the SSH monitoring configuration for the server to Claude, as usual.
There were no surprises here. I’ve written many times about leaving server-related tasks to Claude, and it all went smoothly as expected.
The real issue came after: how to use the screens attached to the hardware.
Turning the OLED into an "Evangelion-style" Monitor
First, the 0.96-inch OLED. A tiny monochrome screen.
What should I use this for? ……The answer was obvious.
I’m going to make it an "Evangelion-style" Normal/Warning/Abnormal monitor.
You know, that look where the status appears in big letters inside a simple frame. You have to admit, it's cool.
So, I asked Claude to "make the OLED display an Eva-style status." It was completed in no time. If the server is fine, it says "NORMAL"; if something happens, it shows "WARNING" or "ABNORMAL." You can tell at a glance.
Hmm, perfection.
The Main Display Became a Video Player
The problem was the 4.3-inch main display.
At first, I had the console displayed there. The one where monitoring logs scroll by constantly. But it felt a bit lackluster to have that displayed all the time……
In the first place, even when error logs appear, most of the lines are just "Normal." It’s not very interesting to look at. It felt like a waste to just fill that nice color touchscreen with scrolling "normal" logs.
So, I changed my strategy.
I decided to just play random videos on the display.
Normally, it plays videos. As long as the server is peaceful, it just plays videos. And only when a warning or abnormality occurs, it switches to the console to show the situation.
This is it. This is the way. The screen goes into "work mode" only when there's an incident. The rest of the time, it functions as interior decor.
A view of normal operation. The OLED on the left says "SERVER MONITOR NORMAL", and the main screen on the right is just playing a video.
It Was a Bit Contradictory, But the Goal Was Met
Here, I came to my senses.
I was supposed to have built this low-power monitoring terminal to shut down my main PC and save energy.
Yet, here I am, playing videos just because I didn't want to waste the display. I'm adding to the power consumption myself. I have to admit, it’s a bit contradictory.
But the result was excellent.
Compared to when I had my main PC on 24/7, my power consumption dropped significantly thanks to the dedicated Pi 5 monitoring unit. The slight increase from the video playback is nothing compared to the massive reduction I achieved. And my main PC can now sleep soundly at night.
The OLED lets me know the status Eva-style. The 4.3-inch screen serves as interior decor and only works when there's trouble. The Freenove case kit was a great purchase for me, too, with all its features.
I achieved my initial goal. The video playback is just a bonus reward. And that's fine.
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