> It's slightly more cost-effective and usually more power-efficient to build or buy a small NUC ("Next Unit of Computing") machine that has more raw CPU performance, more RAM, a fast SSD, and more expansion capabilities.

But is building some VMs to simulate a cluster on an NUC fun?

I would say, "No." Well, not as much as building a cluster of Raspberry Pis!

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You don’t build a RPi cluster for speed or cost or efficiency. You do it because it’s fun. And that’s okay.