this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2025
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ISO Project Ideas For Wyse 3040 & 5010 Thin Clients (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago by irmadlad@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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So, a buddy of mine dropped off a box of 18 Wyse 3040 & 5010 thin clients. I believe they all run W10 embedded, but doing some research, I think I can also run a lightweight Linux OS like maybe Tiny Core. The 5010 can run SuSE Linux Desktop 11, ThinOS, or ThinOS PCOIP acording to Dell.

So, the burning question I have today is 'If you were gifted a box of 18 Wyse 3040 & 5010 thin clients, what would you do with them'? I want something I can incorporate into my already established homelab.

Inundate me with ideas!

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[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 9 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I had 15 of the 2013-era 5010 thin clients. Most of them have had their SSDs and RAM upgraded.

They've worn many hats since I've had them, but some of their uses and proposed uses were:

  1. I did a 15 node Docker Swarm setup and used that to both run some of my applications as well as learn how to do horizontal scaling.
  2. After I tore down the Docker Swarm cluster, I set them up as diskless workstations to both learn how to do that and used them at a local event as web kiosks (basically just to have a bunch of stations people could use to fill out web based forms).
  3. One of them was my router for a good while. Only replaced it in that role when I got symmetric gigabit fiber. Before that, I used VLANs to to run LAN and WAN over its single ethernet port since I had asymmetric 500 Mbps and never saturated the port.
  4. Run small/lightweight applications in highly-available pairs/clusters
  5. Use them to practice clustered services (Multi-master Galera/MariaDB, multi-master LDAP, CouchDB, etc)
  6. Use them as Snapcast clients in each room
  7. Add wireless cards, install OpenWRT, and make powerful access points for each room (can combine with the above and also be a Snapcast client)
  8. Set them up as VPN tunnel endpoints, give them out to friends, and have a private network

Of the 15, I think I'm only actively using 4 nowadays. One is my MPD+Snapcast server, one is running HomeAssistant, ,the third is my backup LDAP server, and one runs my email server (really). The rest I just spin up as needed for various projects; I downsized my homelab and don't have a lot of spare capacity for dev/test VMs these days, so these work great in place of that.

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Most of them have had their SSDs and RAM upgraded.

Their RAM has been upgraded, but these were office equipment, so sans SSD, but that's not a big hurdle.

Ooooo....Docker Swarm. That sounds intriguing. Never had one. Snapcast sounds cool too.

'presh

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

The only reason I gave up on Docker Swarm was that it seemed pretty dead-end as far as being useful outside the homelab. At the time, it was still competing with Kubernetes, but Kube seems to have won out. I'm not even sure Docker CE even still has Swarm. It's been a good while since I messed with it. It might be a "pro" feature nowadays.

Edit: Docker 28.5.2 still has Swarm.

Still, it was nice and a lot easier to use than Kubernetes once you wrapped your head around swarm networking.

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I've yet to dip into Kubernetes or Incus yet. From what I have read, it is a bit overkill for a homelab application. Of course, that's dependent on what you use your homelab for. That is not to say, I'll never do Kubernetes or Incus, it's just that I really haven't plumbed the depths of Docker yet.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yep, that's why I haven't messed with Kubernetes either; way overkill for a homelab and especially so since I downsized due to soaring electricity costs here.

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

I'd still like to learn Kubernetes tho, at the very least to have a working knowledge of the topic.