I want to use a Pi4 8GB as an arm64 build host so I'm going the USB SSD route there. But adding on additional hardware ultimately seems like the "stone soup" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup) version of setting up a server.
Furthermore I'm hesitant to rely too much on the arm ecosystem in general. If one pops a drive with a Linux installation into any amd64 machine, it straightforwardly boots. Whereas just making an arm device boot can be its own tinkering session of figuring out its own bespoke partitioning scheme, firmware files, and U-boot image. Many times you're stuck using a non-mainline kernel since that's what the embedded developers hacked on to get something running. Devicetree compiler what? And sure, using a purpose-built distro can hide much of the complexity, until that distro decides your device is too old and drops support.
Heck, I've even moved my wifi AP's over to low power amd64 machines instead of the popular answer of OpenWRT/DD-WRT. When I want to upgrade to a new wifi standard, I'll just pop in a new wireless card. The same machines also run Kodi for the TVs (which used to be separate RPis).
I've gone this route as well. I had good luck with certain SD cards, and earlier versions of the Pi for small things. But I've tried to use them as wireless APs, and they fold under any real use. Wireless firmware hangs requiring a full reboot to fix. Pi4s have given me a ton of trouble, and I've been on the losing side of the SD card roulette and had USB drives fail under load. There is always some kind of IO or sagging voltage problem with a power supply wigging out or I got a bad one.
Moved to using low power thin clients on liquidation for similar pricing, and it's all been a breeze. I get real disk IO. I get a real wireless card which runs an AP night and day better. I get a real USB power budget with a much more trustworthy OEM power supply. Power profile and size is about double, but it's a very worthwhile trade. I like the 1L system profiles and lean to the HPs.
I don't mind ARM in the cloud, but at home I just want real hardware.
Furthermore I'm hesitant to rely too much on the arm ecosystem in general. If one pops a drive with a Linux installation into any amd64 machine, it straightforwardly boots. Whereas just making an arm device boot can be its own tinkering session of figuring out its own bespoke partitioning scheme, firmware files, and U-boot image. Many times you're stuck using a non-mainline kernel since that's what the embedded developers hacked on to get something running. Devicetree compiler what? And sure, using a purpose-built distro can hide much of the complexity, until that distro decides your device is too old and drops support.
Heck, I've even moved my wifi AP's over to low power amd64 machines instead of the popular answer of OpenWRT/DD-WRT. When I want to upgrade to a new wifi standard, I'll just pop in a new wireless card. The same machines also run Kodi for the TVs (which used to be separate RPis).