OK. I originally installed ROCK with a 256GB Nvme OS drive and a 1TB SATA drive for internal library storage.
However, after an upgrade to my desktop computer I had a 2TB Nvme drive available. I decided to take the opportunity to try Roon on Linux risk free by removing the two drives in the NUC and installing just the 2TB drive and then installing Dietpi on that so, if any problems arose I could easily go back to ROCK.
As a consequence, I have OS and library all on the same drive with about 1.8TB available for library storage.
I choose Dietpi for the following reasons:
- I already had experience with it since I use it on Raspberry Pis to provide three Roon Endpoints around the house.
- It is very easy to administer for someone like me who, whilst not completely inexperienced, is nevertheless not intimately familiar with Linux. There are menu driven scripts to do almost all of the common administrative tasks.
- At least two other people on the forum were reporting a good experience using Dietpi.
Since moving to Dietpi, I have decided that its advantages far outweigh the downsides.
The downsides:
- Not so easy (but not impossible) to move between production and early access builds of DietPi (I created a thread on this issue - the best solution can be found at Roon Server Early Access on DietPi X86 - #3 by MichaIng).
- The OS does not get automatically updated although it is easy to arrange for package updates to be done automatically overnight if you wish. The OS, itself, is updated by using the ‘dietpi-update’ script. The ‘message of the day’ displayed whenever you log in using a terminal tells you when an update is available.
- Administration is done using a command line terminal (I use putty on my Windows computers to manage all of my Dietpi installations). If you are not comfortable with a command line interface this may be significant although, for the most part, it is not a big issue because of the supplied dietpi scripts.
Advantages:
- There are many more tools for monitoring what is going with on on the server should any issues arise (including temperature monitoring - although some have reported issues with that).
- Other services (e.g. Plex, LMS, Tailscale and a host of others) can be run on the same server with simple installation and configuration using the dietpi-software script.
- Regular maintenance tasks (like package updates) can be automated so that they do not get forgotten.