I’m running a full LAMP stack on a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB RAM. Apache, PHP, MariaDB, Redis, and Let’s Encrypt—all working reliably off an NVMe SSD. The Argon ONE V3 case keeps it cool and tidy, and everything starts on boot. It’s clean, low-cost, and gives me full control over my setup.
The NVMe support on the Pi 5 makes a huge difference. I skipped the SD card entirely. Installed Raspberry Pi OS directly onto a 1TB NVMe, updated the bootloader, and that’s it. The system boots fast, responds instantly, and has all the I/O headroom I need. Apache and PHP 8 run without issues, and MariaDB is handling queries without breaking a sweat.
Redis was the only thing that needed a workaround. I have it bound to a specific IP (192.168.1.212) for my apps. At boot, that IP isn’t always ready in time, so Redis would fail. I fixed it with a systemd pre-start script that waits for the IP before launching Redis. It’s been solid since.
For HTTPS, I used Certbot with Apache and HTTP challenge. No DNS-level integration needed. It renews automatically via cron, and Apache reloads the certs without downtime. Took maybe 10 minutes to set up the first time. Works with wildcard subdomains too, if you want to go there.
I forward the usual ports—80, 443, 3306—through my router to the Pi. Static IP is locked in via DHCP reservation. No need for a dynamic DNS service or tunnels. I point my domains to my home IP, and Cloudflare handles DNS resolution quickly. It’s all stable, and I’ve had no real issues running public-facing apps this way.
I’m not using Docker or containers here. Just native services installed with apt, managed via systemd. It keeps things simple and transparent. I know where every log file is, I can restart services individually, and nothing is hidden behind layers of abstraction.
This Pi 5 runs APIs, a few blog and product sites, handles Redis-backed caching, and hosts some admin tools. All from a fan-cooled, silent setup running off a USB-C plug. If you're comfortable with Linux and want something that “just works,” this setup is worth trying. It's fast, it’s cheap, and it puts you in full control.