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Building a home lab.. Where to start?
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Building a home lab.. Where to start?

stefemanstefeman Member
edited December 2017 in General

What are the bare minium of a homelab?

I get 100/10 with 1 public IP via cable to a router.

I figured I'd need:

rack holder/4-8U box
1U switch on top connected to router
2U 200-300 USD server from ebay
1-2U UPS with ~1000VA

Am I missing anything else?

«1

Comments

  • What's your power cost/rate and monthly consumption before you start tripping breakers?

  • A time machine to travel back to the 90s when this was how it was done, rather than a couple thin pcs and NAS/SANs hidden in the corner of a closet.

    Thanked by 1NanoG6
  • Waste of money.

    I have a Dell R210 II on its side in my closet running Pfsense next to a tiny 150g 5 port switch and a modem for it. Unless you live in a 3rd world country, I don't really see a reason for a UPS because the chances of your power going out are incredibly slim.

    I think my setup is even a bit OP with the Dell R210 but it was cheap so I couldn't resist.

  • stefemanstefeman Member
    edited December 2017

    @doughmanes said:
    What's your power cost/rate and monthly consumption before you start tripping breakers?

    4,95 cents/kWh (€)
    2800 kWh /year right now.
    

    I live in 58 square meter apartment alone.

  • @stefeman said:

    @doughmanes said:
    What's your power cost/rate and monthly consumption before you start tripping breakers?

    4,95 cents/kWh (€)
    2800 kWh /year right now.
    

    I live in 58 square meter apartment alone.

    Which European country are you living in? That is extremely cheap for electricity. Sweden?

  • My 120v/12A sawzaw will dim the lights when I fire it up.

  • MikeAMikeA Member, Patron Provider

    @6ixth said:
    I don't really see a reason for a UPS because the chances of your power going out are incredibly slim.

    I dunno.. have you been to Texas?

  • stefemanstefeman Member
    edited December 2017

    @6ixth said:

    @stefeman said:

    @doughmanes said:
    What's your power cost/rate and monthly consumption before you start tripping breakers?

    4,95 cents/kWh (€)
    2800 kWh /year right now.
    

    I live in 58 square meter apartment alone.

    Which European country are you living in? That is extremely cheap for electricity. Sweden?

    Finland, but that price excludes transfer fees, which make my electricity cost 50-60€ per 3 months right now.

  • @MikeA said:

    @6ixth said:
    I don't really see a reason for a UPS because the chances of your power going out are incredibly slim.


    I dunno.. have you been to Texas?

    Michigan as well. Fricken wind blows and my power is gone.

    Thanked by 1flatland_spider
  • @MikeA said:

    @6ixth said:
    I don't really see a reason for a UPS because the chances of your power going out are incredibly slim.


    I dunno.. have you been to Texas?

    In Europe, power lines etc are under the ground usually and not overhead like America so power doesn't drop out. Once or twice a year at most usually.

  • stefemanstefeman Member
    edited December 2017

    @doughmanes said:
    My 120v/12A sawzaw will dim the lights when I fire it up.

    I get 400V/25A to my personal switchboard.

    Its 230V/50hz on the wall though.

    Thanked by 1doughmanes
  • Ever heard what a server room sounds like?

  • @doughmanes said:
    Ever heard what a server room sounds like?

    Signs point to "No".

  • @doughmanes said:
    Ever heard what a server room sounds like?

    No, unfortunately. How bad is it?

  • LeeLee Veteran

    doughmanes said: Ever heard what a server room sounds like?

    I have a couple of Dells racked in a cupboard, had them years. If the noise stopped I would feel like something was missing in my life.

    Thanked by 1stefeman
  • edited December 2017

    @6ixth said:
    Unless you live in a 3rd world country, I don't really see a reason for a UPS because the chances of your power going out are incredibly slim.

    Or live in an area with aerial powerlines, trees, or squirrels.

    @stefeman said:

    @doughmanes said:
    Ever heard what a server room sounds like?

    No, unfortunately. How bad is it?

    >

    Get about 4 US, or 10 EU (because the metric system), vacuum cleaners, set them in your living room, turn them on, and enjoy.

  • deankdeank Member, Troll
    edited December 2017

    I had 5 2U servers in basement installed in a 14U rack once. Those had those mindfuckingly fast RPM 40mm fans. They put vacuum cleaners to absolute shame.

    It's um oookay during day. But at night you might get complaints from neighbors.

  • @deank said:
    It's um oookay during day. But at night you might get complaints from neighbors.

    Do what you have to do. Then hide the bodies.

  • magicvpnmagicvpn Member
    edited December 2017

    https://reddit.com/r/homelab This subreddit can help you, for me that looks like all you need.

    Thanked by 1sithrebel15
  • You might need some noise-cancelling headsets...

  • Watch dexter?

  • doghouchdoghouch Member
    edited December 2017

    @AuroraZ said:

    @MikeA said:

    @6ixth said:
    I don't really see a reason for a UPS because the chances of your power going out are incredibly slim.


    I dunno.. have you been to Texas?

    Michigan as well. Fricken wind blows and my power is gone.

    Same for us. One night of icy rain and the entire city lost power for a week.

    If you want to find people complaining about their power being out in Toronto, search Twitter with the tag “#darkTO.”

    To Kathleen Wynne (our GREAT premier who’s done a GREAT job since she came): Is THIS where our tax money is going?

  • edited December 2017

    Definitely hit up the reddit homelab site. Lots of great info. Noise and heat....I repeat....Noise and heat. I've got a couple servers at home and I love having them, but noise and heat are a bitch. Once you get hooked, it's easy to start spending tons of money. :)

    I've got a Dell PowerEdge 2970 (noisy as hell and generates tons of heat) but it's fast and reliable. I've also got a 2U 8 Bay Supermicro Storage Server that's much more quiet, more power efficient, fast and full of ECC RAM. Also have a Lenovo Thinkpad T520, maxed out RAM, and replaced processor with an i7-2820QM for a fast laptop "server". All of these are running proxmox.

    Thanked by 2WSS vimalware
  • also:

    • 1:1 action figure (like: stormtrooper)
    • radio communication (handy talkie)
    • fire extinguisher
    • escape tunnel
  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    Build a home lab and wait for zombie apocalypse.

    Profit !

  • Over the course of several years I've collected a few things.

    From the Top:

    48 port patch panel
    HP Procurve Switch (Just an extra switch not used anymore)
    Unifi 48 Port POE 500 (Primary Gig Switch)
    Quanta LB6M 24 Port SFP+ (Primary 10gb Switch)
    Barracuda Load Balancer (Not used anymore as switched to software based)
    Dell PowerEdge R410 (PfSense Router)

    Dell PowerEdge 2970 (Not Used, Replaced by the 710s)
    2x PowerEdge R710 (One running proxmox and one running several minecraft servers)
    24 Bay SuperMicro currently holding 12 WD Red 3TB with 4 120 SSDs for write caching (Serves as storage for basically everything)

    Dell PowerEdge R900 (Currently not used as the 710 took its place)
    APC Smart UPS 3000 VA (Backup UPS for everything in the rack)

    It all started with the 2970 with an 8port netgear switch sitting on a small table for 2 when I bought the r900... and slowly I've replaced things and added things to the mix. The UPS reports the rack draws about 750 watts of power constantly which costs me about $35 a month in power.

  • @rajprakash said:
    Also have a Lenovo Thinkpad T520, maxed out RAM, and replaced processor with an i7-2820QM for a fast laptop "server".

    I love the w520 server idea. I've thought of trying the same If i ever get a broken panel w520 for cheap.

    My x201 has been running almost 24/7 duty cycle since March now, with no issues. (I pick it up whenever I get lazy to sit in a chair+desk; mosh is awesome)

  • @stefeman said:

    @doughmanes said:
    I live in 58 square meter apartment alone.

    Then you don't have to worry about winter. Iykwim.

  • vimalware said: mosh is awesome

    I didn't know about mosh previously! Looks awesome!

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