# Show off your homelab!



## Solaris17 (May 28, 2018)

Hey everyone! There seemed to be some interest from a Few people in *THIS* thread. So I decided to make a thread were like minded people can tell us what kind of equipment they have running at home. I am confident a closet majority of us run some kind of extended/augmented/just for fun learning lab at home. Be in on there desktops with hyper-V installed to just plain labs! So show us whatchya got!



Spoiler: Pics












*Details:*

From top to bottom

*48Port Cat6 (Grade) Patch Panel*
Connected and punched down are all of the data drops from around the house including the servers below.
All links are then connected to the Switch below it using 3ft CAT6 cable.
Links are color coded to indicate linktype.

*-Black*
Data links from the Servers and Data links from drops around the house.

*-Yellow*
Management interfaces from the servers. Each one goes to the IPMI Access ports and primary (On board) ports for the servers.

*-Red*
Red on the left is WAN in and is dedicated to Port 1 on the Switch. Red to the right is Data feed to my PoE injectors.

*-Green*
Green is hot power from my PoE injectors to my Camera systems and Access Point (AP) elsewhere in the house.

*-Blue*
Blue is Data from my RIPE probe, NAS, and my Raspberry PI

-*White*
Data link from my Mac Mini.

*Router:*
*Shuttle DS81*
8GB RAM
32GB SSD
I3-4160
running *OPNsense*
Added is one intel internal NIC with Dual antenne (when wifi is under maintinence)

*Mac Mini*
16GB RAM
OSX High Sierra
I7
120GB SSD
750GB Data drive (using dual drive sled)

This machine runs my MAC infrastructure
-Time Machine Backups
-Netboot (PXE)

*RIPE ATLAS Probe*
*Network monitoring*, global and otherwise

*Raspberry PI 3 B+*
*Used* to boot and open my monitoring dash in Kiosk mode Information is gathered about network status and server status using Agents and network monitoring data provided by
*Grafana*
*InfluxDB*
*Telegraf*

*Ubiquiti 48Port Managed Switch (non-POE)*
*Connected* to my patch panel and managers all LAN connectivity. The switch like everything else in my network is managed so it is L3. It has a static IP like all other core equipment in my rack.

Some Dell monitor I got from one of the members of TPU Actually! Works great and fits in the rack well.

*Lolita Spyder w/ Miami Colorway Key Caps*
*This KB* is connected to the KVM velcro'd to the left side of my Rack near the monitor. It allows me to swap between the two physical servers below it.



Spoiler: TDE-Core



*TDE-Core*
On the left we have my primary server. Its in some Corsair case with alot of 120mm fans and ventilation

32GB Mushkin Udimm (ECC)
Intel Xeon 1241v3
SuperMicro X10SLM+ -F
Windows Server 2016 DC

Asus(Infineon?) 1.2 TPM Chip
VM and Os drives are bitlocker encrypted.

2x *Intel PRO/1000 PT Quad Port* cards
2x *500GB Micron M500s SSD*
1x *Mushkin 120GB Chronos SSD*
4x *Hitachi 2TB HDDs*
1x *Hitachi 1TB HDD*
1x *Western Digital RED 1TB HDD*

Arrays consist of the following
2x 2TB Hitachi HDDs in RAID0 serve as the house file share
2x 2TB Hitachi HDDs in RAID0 serve as the PLEX media array
2x 500GB Micron SSDs in RAID0 serve as the VM host array
2x 1TB mixed drives in RAID0 serve as the video surveillance array.
1x Mushkin SSD is the Boot drive for the main OS

All arrays with the exception of the house File share are controlled by the onboard hardware RAID controller. The file share is a storage pool made with windows storage spaces and is formatted as ReFS.

This Host (Physical) server also acts as my PXE machine so I can do windows installs over ethernet.





Spoiler: TDE-Lab



*TDE-Lab*
On the right we have my Lab server. this machine doesn't stay the same for very long and is a very new addtion to my lab. This machine is currently being built up.

4GB Mushkin udimm (ECC)
Intel Xeon E3-1275Lv3
SuperMicro X10SLL-F

2x *WD 500GB HDDs RAID0*

This machine gets formatted frequently and while I wait for RAM no other modifications are being done ATM. The unit is running server 2016 DC and is generally used for teaching and guides.



*NetGear ReadyNAS 102*

2x 2TB WD Reds

This is an iSCSI target (network link) and used as the backup destination for TDE-CORE.

*Virtual Servers*

*-TDE-Cams*
Running Ubuntu 16.04 this virtual server runs the Ubiquiti software controller that runs my *Ubiquiti G3 PoE cameras*. This server is on my 2x 1TB Mixed drive array.

*-TDE-FTP*
This server is used to collect logs from software I write. It runs on server 2012 R2.

*-TDE-Game*
This server hosts my game servers for the public and friends. Currently I host a private Never Winter Nights 1 campaign and whatever tickles my fancy on steam. I use SteamCMD to control the steam servers I host.

*-TDE-Minecraft*
Soon to be a public server again running on a modified version of Ubuntu, the current server is currently running on Server 2012 R2 and is private. A players grandmother apparently utilized the server frequently and passed away. The player reached out and asked if I could archive the world so they could remember there grandmother. I happily obliged.

*-TDE-PLEX*
This Server 2012 R2 machine runs my plex server and the VM is attached to a 2x 2TB (4TB) Hitachi array it uses to store Video.

*-TDE-TS*
This server 2012 R2 server hosts a public 512 NFR seat Teamspeak server I have ran for around 7 years.

*-TDE-UBNT*
This Server runs Ubuntu 16.04 and hosts the Ubiquiti controller that controls my Ubiquiti Switch and Access point. This is the servers whos web-ui I interact with to make any network changes.

*-TDE-WEBv2*
This server runs *FreeBSD* (UNIX) and acts as my web server. The webserver runs on *NGINX* and currently hosts 4 seperate domains. SSL is provided by certificates generated on a scheduled task provided by *Lets Encrypt*. The domains are a slew of tech and personal and host a variety of things from image hosting to server status. I have used FreeBSD to host the site after struggles with windows and ubuntu servers and overall enjoy the unix experience far more. Right tool for the job as they say. My IP changes since I dont have a business line going to my house. In order to accommodate this so my sites dont go down. I have been using *AFRIAD.ORG* for several years. I log into my account via my router which support linking, everytime my IP changes my DNS records are updated and my sites are reachable by the world.


*Fun-Facts*
- All of the licensing from server to software is legal and paid for or given via acedemic or personal
- To manage this mess I paid for and LOVE *RoyalTS/X*
- Data backup and disk maintinence are scheduled tasks that run by day and by month via scheduled tasks.
- All virtual machine settings have been fine tuned from memory usage to core count and even start up staging.
- Services in some cases like minecraft or Teamspeak had to be custom made so the machine did not need to be logged into for them to start
- Physical equipment is set to auto power on in the event of power loss
- Each VM gets a dedicated port provided by the Intel NICs
- NICs and storage Arrays are dedicated to there corrisponding VM and are not managable from the host server, for security and performance.
- All networking is strung Cat6 cable via 40ft of 3" PVC conduit in the ceiling.
- PoE injectors (right), KVM switch (Left) and Multi outlet Power distrobution (Right) are all Velcor'd to the side of the rack for easy removal.
- All cables use Velcro ties (zip ties are bad for ethernet and you should feel bad for using them!)
- WAN connection is 150/150 Fiber.

*Not Pictured*
*Ubiquiti AP-AC Pro*
*Ubiquiti UVC-G3 Cameras*

*Gone but not forgotten*
APC 1500VA UPS shit itself last week. Got tired of buying batteries for it so looking for a rack mount solution ATM.

Thats it! I plan on making guides for various facets of home labbing from server config to monitoring software. I hope to gain a bit of a following with some of the other labbers and professionals on the forum so we can cut out a nice space to talk about things like this. If you have any questions though that might have a short answer ask away!

And please feel free to contribute! Big or small I would love to see what some of you run or are testing!


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## Jetster (May 28, 2018)

Well lets start by saying I'm new to this server stuff.

*Server*
i3 with 16 Gb ram H81
Boot drive is a 16Gb USB flash running FreeNAS
LSI SAS 9211 8i
5 x 6Tb  in a RAID6 (RAIDZ2) for 15.6 Tb
A couple of VM and a Plex server

*Battery Back up*
Cyber Power 1300 VA 810 W

*Back up*
Synology DS216Play
2 X 2 6Tb in a RAID0

*Router*
TP Link Archur C5400

*Switch*
Netgear ProSAFE GS108

*HTPC 1*
i5 H97 8Gb
240 Gb SSD
GTX 1050 Ti

*HTPC 2*
G3258 Z97 8Gb
240 Gb SSD
SFX PSU

Gaming rig is under my specs


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## Solaris17 (May 28, 2018)

Thats pretty sweet though! I think my next physical project is some huge data array! I do swear by LSI controllers too, between them and intel easy and very reliable.


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## therealmeep (May 28, 2018)

Pics soon but in the meantime
Server:
4790k 32GB RAM Asus Z97-A 3.1
Esxi 6.5 or 7.0 (i forgot)
VMs:
SUSE tumbleweed
Greenbone Security Scanner
Server 08 R2
Mint 17.3
2x3TB Seagate NAS drives in raid 1

UPS: Cyberpower 1500
Linux box:
i7 920 6GB RAM EVGA X58 Classy 120GB ssd
Not so mini htpc:
i5 2400 16GB RAM Asus p8p67 pro 128GB 850 pro

Router(s): Asus AC5400, AC3200
Misc: about 20-25 RPIs and a lot more equipment i still need to inventory
Synology 916+: 8GB RAM 4x4TB ironwolf in Synology raid


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## Solaris17 (May 28, 2018)

therealmeep said:


> Greenbone Security Scanner



How do you like this? this is from openvas right? I wanted to take a look at it.


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## therealmeep (May 28, 2018)

It is so nice to use and yes, it uses openvas. You just set it up from the console (more of a gui than a console) make a new user, log into the web gui and your off to the races.


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## phill (May 29, 2018)

A thread of interest   I'll see if I can get some pics tomorrow (well later on as its after midnight!!) I need to really tidy up my PC room at the moment lol  My daughter is down with me at the moment, so I'll try and get her to take some pics for me   Not that you'd want to see me, but the hardware might be a little more interesting!


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## Solaris17 (May 29, 2018)

phill said:


> A thread of interest   I'll see if I can get some pics tomorrow (well later on as its after midnight!!) I need to really tidy up my PC room at the moment lol  My daughter is down with me at the moment, so I'll try and get her to take some pics for me   Not that you'd want to see me, but the hardware might be a little more interesting!



Cant wait! dont forget to let us know what projects youve got going on!


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## phill (May 29, 2018)

I'll do my best @Solaris17   At the moment, it's trying to hide hardware!!


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## silentbogo (May 29, 2018)

Holy crap! We made it!

So, I'll do some reposting of my old stuff and add some new to the mix:
1) My office/danger den:


Spoiler






Left to right: 
- My soldering desk w/ cheap(-est) rework station, bench PSU, bad-ass chinese multimeter and a bunch of garbage
- A little storage area with laptop parts and broken videocards.
- My computer desk. The left monitor was primarily for microscope view. Now I sold it and bought some parts to make a smaller, but high-res LVDS panel just for that. 
- Spare storage with random stuff. A bit to the left (not captured), is a pile of broken PSUs and motherboards.
These are old pics and some toys are missing, but I'll do my best to update those over the week.  Back in a day all of this crap was in my house!
I also have an upcoming "DIY lab microscope on a budget" project on the way (as soon as I get my lens and webcam).
Additionally, I am planning a complete toolset upgrade. That BAKU rework station is an absolute abomination and it has to go. I'm planning on getting a proper lead-free tools (inductive iron and more quiet hot air station), and maybe a decent infrared rework station (if I manage to save up some money between excessive spending on my new apartment and not getting behind on my bills).

2) My house


Spoiler






Left to right:
- My mandatory toolset (includes that box of paperclips on the bottom)
- My cursed OrangePi Win Plus. After failing at finding a working Android distro for over 2 years it simply became a general purpose Debian server (running SMB, Print-server, Apache, FTP and some other crap)
- My brand-new Ryzen rig (R5 1600 && GTX1060). Runs Win10 and Ubuntu 18.04.
- My old Skylake rig (i3-6100 && GTX1060). Runs Win10 and Ubuntu in HyperV(mostly for cross-compiling ARM stuff and testing some random shit)
- A pile of working hardware and spare parts. On the left is a famous Chieftec Dragon chassis(aka Antec sumpin'-sumpin' or Alienware blah-blah). After I fix up some cables for my 900W modular PSU it will become my new office rig with a power to run Quake Champions and some folding capabilities


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## phill (May 29, 2018)

It's all looking great guys!!  I'm still trying to make my way through the stuff in the PC room so, I'll try and post up pics as soon as I can see the wood from the trees so to speak!!


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## PHaS3 (May 29, 2018)

My "lab" - old Q6600 system running Sophos XG firewall on top, HP DL380 G4 server bottom, bought it for the equivalent of like $15 a couple years back, installed Ubuntu LTS on it and never booted it again lol. Forgotten projects are worst projects. These days I use HyperV on my daily PC for fiddling, and for Plex.









Edit - thought I'd include the switch and routers...


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## Kursah (May 29, 2018)

Well I don't have any pictures ATM, but I suppose I can at least share some specs and info.

*Router:*

Custom built PFSense box
Currently on 2.4.3_1.
Asus N3150-C (SoC quad core Celeron 3150)
2x4GB G.Skill DDR3 1600
120GB SSD
Intel Pro/1000 PT 2-Port PCI-e NIC
InWin BP65 Case + 300W SFX PSU
Snort, Squid (cache only), OpenVPN server, DynDNS management, and bandwidth monitoring enabled.


*Switches:*

Backbone Switch:
HP ProCurve 1800-24G
No live VLAN's at the moment.



My Office Switch:
TP-Link 8 port Layer-2 Unmanaged Switch


*Access Points:*

Asus RT-AC66R w/Merlin Firmware for ground level, 2.4 and 5GHz.
At SE end of house.
Acts as switch for MagicJack Plus phone.



Asus RT-AC68U w/Merlin Firmware for basement and 5GHz.
At NW end of house in network shelf area.


*Servers:*

Spartan Server 2015
SPARTANCORE
4790K @ Stock, de-lidded w/CLU
CM 212EVO + AC MX4 TIM
Asus Z87-Pro w/2103 EFI firmware
Onboard HD4600 GPU used when needed, otherwise runs headless.
32GB DDR3 1600 non-ECC
Intel Pro/1000 PT 2-Port PCI-e NIC
120GB Samsung 840 SSD for Server 2012R2 + Hyper-V role to act as VM host server.
Dell Perc 6i + BBU in RAID 10 with 6x2TB drives for data/VM hosting.
EVGA KR500 Bronze PSU
Lian Li Lancool PC-K7 w/Cougar fans



Spartan Server 2018 (Work in Progress)
SPARTANCORE2
TBD on CPU and Platform (likely migrated from above server to this one)
Lenovo TS430 case, redundant PSU and HDD backplanes (both cages are 4x3.5").
Lenovo TS440 front panel + FP adapter for ATX motherboards
LSI 9270i + cache + capacitor + 6x3TB HGST Enterprise HDD's in RAID10 (still only 7.2k tho...budget style  ).
120GB SSD for OS duties (Server 2016)
This is a work-in-progress when I can muster up a few extra bucks on it...has been sloooow going though, but hoping June is the month it is live and I can migrate to it. Also thinking of maintaining the old server for Hyper-V replication purposes.

*Virtual Machines:*


SpartanDC
2012R2
Gen2VM
DC
DNS
DHCP



SpartanFile
2012R2
Gen2VM
File shares
Plex hosted as a service
TeamSpeak 3 server
Print server



SpartanWSUS
2012R2
Gen2VM
WSUS services
GPO deployed and enforced



SpartanWEB
2012R2
Gen2VM
Test IIS, RDGW, NLA server, not really in-use ATM.



SpartanWDS
2012R2
Gen2VM
WDS server for workstations and server OSes alike.
Use here and there...haven't used much in 2018 but maintain because when I need it, it's sure handy to have around!



MineOS
MineOS Turnkey based on Debian "Jessie" and NodeJS WebGUI (meh).
Gen1VM
Hosts several Minecraft servers for my kids and their friends to play on.
Mix of vanilla and mod servers.
Bi-weekly backups and archives.



Win7Test
Windows 7 Pro SP1
Gen1VM
Just a test VM I fire up to verify WSUS, patches, whatever really.



Win8.1Test
Windows 8.1 Pro
Gen2VM
Same as above, just for Win8.1.



Win10Test
Windows 10 Pro 1803
Gen2VM
Same as above, just for Win 10.



LinuxTest
Ubuntu 18.04 for testing, so far best version of Ubuntu to run in Hyper-V yet!
Gen2VM



PFSense VM 1
PFSense 2.4.3_1
Gen1VM
Testing and lab network management.

​*UPSes:*


APC Smart-UPS 1500
SPARTANCORE1
SPARTANCORE2
Any test systems I bench back there.
Current load is 10%.



CyberPower 1000VA
Network hardware only.
Router
Switch(es)
Cable Modem
Asus RT-AC68U
Current load 54W.



APC 1500VA UPS
Used for my gaming system (in system specs).


*Network Rack:*


A big plastic shelf from Costco I picked up a couple months ago for about $20, has actually worked out well. Opted to go this way when my network rack and server budget was re-allocated to medical bills. I should've picked up 2 more because they're no longer available or found anywhere.



I'm sure I missed some details, but that's the gist of my current setup as-is. I have some other physical workstations and laptop(s) I was using for lab environment stuff, my NAS is offline ATM, the laptop is a kid PC now, the other PC's are just offline for cleaning which hasn't been done. Those parts aren't as pertinent to my lab setup as what I listed above though.


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## phill (May 29, 2018)

I've finally grabbed some pics as I've finally sorted through the PC room..  I'll see if I can get them uploaded tomorrow at some point as I'll be busy with my daughter most of the day..    I hope they'll be worth waiting for


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## Solaris17 (May 30, 2018)

Those look sweet! Cant wait to hear more about them! Any of you guys used them to help get certs etc? stay relevant in the field?



Kursah said:


> MineOS Turnkey based on Debian "Jessie" and NodeJS WebGUI (meh).



How do you like this? I am literally about too (this week) retire my legacy MC server and switch over to this. My main issue is that keeping the server core files upto date so people with the client dont bitch was hard. Is this easier with this?


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## therealmeep (May 30, 2018)

Solaris17 said:


> How do you like this? this is from openvas right? I wanted to take a look at it.





Here is a relatively new screen to me but helps get everything across pretty well, setting up tasks in gb is very easy, and takes about a minute through their nice wizard. 
Hoping to get a hyper-V server set up so that I can get some experience with it under my belt, not to mention getting some log forwarding/auto patch rollouts going for these bazillion machines.


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## Kursah (May 30, 2018)

Solaris17 said:


> How do you like this? I am literally about too (this week) retire my legacy MC server and switch over to this. My main issue is that keeping the server core files upto date so people with the client dont bitch was hard. Is this easier with this?



I like it quite a bit, its simple and easy to manage. I'm not sure you can auto update the version, but you can download and apply in the web GUI quickly and easily which makes things quite nice. As does the console page allowing for reviewing log entries and sending commands to any server. 

I host 3 servers on it, two vanilla each a different version, and a mod server based on 1.7.10 forge with a handful of mods the kids wanted. All run great, but we rarely have more than 5-6 on any server at a given time. Pretty much what they wanted I was able to provide pretty easily which was nice.

MineOS is pretty lightweight, you can SSH in, and of course use SFTP. That's how I migrated from the old MineOS server from 2015 to the new one we currently use in 2016. No issues running virtual. The WebGUI has gotten much more stable, I run the commands to update it about once every month or two. Overall, I'm pretty happy as it keeps my level of maintenance down.

I run CRON jobs for backups and archives about twice a week, but have to manually clear them out...not a big deal really as I only have to do that about 2-3 times a year.

I know some folks say MineOS isn't that good, but for me it has been great and stable, especially this newest version...so so so much better than the old one. I believe you'll still have to manually open any port but 25565, 22 and 443. I run 25565-25570 open so that I can run all the servers at once if needed. I only try to run 3 ATM. It has 4 threads and 8GB RAM allocated and does a pretty good job overall. It would do better with more threads and maybe a little more RAM if any of the servers were more popular...but compared to running a server in Ubuntu Server, this is pretty nice to deal with. Turnkey uses very little resource-wise.


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## remixedcat (May 30, 2018)

Mine:
My Network hardware in use at the moment: Cisco Meraki MX64 router, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-Lite, 1 Cisco Meraki MR32 AP, Cisco Meraki MS220-8p Poe Switch. D-Link DGS-1210-10P PoE managed switch.Cloud Key for the UBNT stuff (PoE powered and connected to MS220 8P)

Total inventory:
Cisco Meraki MX64 Firewall
Cisco Meraki Z1 router
Cisco Meraki MS220-8P switch
Cisco Meraki MR32 AP
Cisco Meraki MR12 AP
Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR
Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-Lite
Ligowave NFT3AC
Ligowave NFT2AC
D-Link DGS1210-10P switch
Xclaim Xi3 AP
Valuepoint Networks 12P
Luxul XWR-1750 router
Luxul XAP-1500
Luxul XAP-1510
Luxul XAP-1410
Luxul XWC-1000
Netgear R7000
Airtight C75 AP
Netgear WNDR 4500v2 router
Amped R20000G router
Netgear WGR614

UPS:
APC Backups NS1080 for workstation/router/cable modem/main display
APC Backups ES550 for Meraki PoE switch and test stuff
APC Backups 425VA for HTPC/Dlink PoE switch

Server/Workstation specs:  Intel i53570K/16GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 RAM/Nvidia Geforce 650Ti/Samsung 850 500GB SSD+1.5TB Seagate/Windows Server 2012 Standard/Realtek GBE NIC
Hyper-V: Server 2012/Server 2008R2/Vista SP2/Server 2003/2000/VMware ESXi (forgot my password for it  )/Longhorn 4074/Tiny Core Linux

Media  server: Dell Precision T3400 Intel Core2 Quad Q6600/RAM:3.9 GB/Quadro FX 1700/2TB of mixed capacity Jbod goodness (lol)/server 2012 R2

Network monitoring: PRTG currently using 85 sensors out of 100/Meraki systems manager for remote control and asset control/Mouse without borders to manage the fleet of laptops.

All software legit.


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## phill (May 30, 2018)

Well since my little angel is fast asleep and I had a spare few moments, I thought I'd post up some pictures as I promised 























This is my PC room with anything and everything thrown in it   I can put a list together of all the hardware when my daughter has sadly gone back to her Mum's but will be able to do that no problems   Everything has it's little use, which I like and more so, everything works as well!  Well aside from one of the Gigabyte X58 boards 

Still most of the systems in the photo's do run Windows but there's one or two that run Linux, mainly for crunching but they go on as and when  

As there seems to be a limit to 10 pics, I'll put up another post


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## therealmeep (May 30, 2018)

I don't believe that room gets touched on a daily basis, everything is way too clean and way too organized. Either way looks great and looks like you have plenty to play with and keep you busy!


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## phill (May 30, 2018)

Here's the server side of things at the moment...





















I'll see if I can add in some text in a few hours as my little monkey has woken up and she needs me attention   If anyone has any requests of what they'd like to know, ask and I'll answer as best as I can when I reply 




therealmeep said:


> I don't believe that room gets touched on a daily basis, everything is way too clean and way too organized. Either way looks great and looks like you have plenty to play with and keep you busy!



That comes from cleaning it up for 3 days or more lol !!  I've had a switch around  so I had to put back as my OCD was killing me! lol


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## therealmeep (May 30, 2018)

One of these days I need to clean up around all of my equipment, the snake's nest of cables probably has about enough hair to make a whole dog or 2, and there's enough cables that their finally getting in my way.


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## remixedcat (May 30, 2018)

I'd take a pic but I got some beta hardware that would be too muh of a pain to hide or move even with PS lol


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## qu4k3r (May 31, 2018)

therealmeep said:


> ...everything is way too clean and way too organized...


Extremely organized I'd say 
I really like those pics with the motherboards, gpus, and cpus...
They look like a sort of antique shop or garage sale  
Just need some price tags on the items 

Inmaculated room, very nice... congrats.-


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## Solaris17 (May 31, 2018)

wow these are some great posts! Thanks for all the info. @remixedcat thats some sweet networking gear, you ever manage to also jump in on meraki webanars for the free stuffs?


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## remixedcat (May 31, 2018)

Yes I do  that's how I got some of it


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## Kursah (Jun 4, 2018)

So I made a post seeking some of your guys' knowledge, hopefully someone's got a good suggestion to save me some headache and cash. I'm pretty sure I'm going to either have more modding or spending in my future...and likely both.

The TL;DR is I have a next to non-existent budget (for now), I have a Lenovo TS430 that I'm planning to gut the MB and CPU out of to put in a S2011/C6xx board and an e5-2680v2 or similar for whatever I can get within my budget. That will mean some re-wiring and possibly getting a different front panel IO, possibly removing the hot swap PSU's (dual 450W units) and modifying the power connections for the backplanes.

Just looking for some thoughts to the next addition to my homelab while I decide WTH I'm gonna do. 

Thread: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/server-migration-suggestions.244835/


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## phill (Jun 5, 2018)

Hi guys

Many apologies for my crapiness... My daughter went back last night, so felt sorry for myself and Dirt 3 was played till late and well... 

So..  Here we go..  A list of what I use, well try too   I'll start with the more interesting things I guess!!

The R710 is for my VMware teaching!  Since I've been in IT I've been learning new things left right and center, so I've got the R710 setup with VMWare with ESXI 6.0 and I have four VM's at the moment, they are as follows - 

One VM is for a cruncher machine ( two L5640's in there) and that runs Linux.  Not only did this get me into Linux, but it is also helping me with learning it as well!!  Commands seem a lot like Windows or just very similar.   Getting used to it a little, but we don't use it a lot at all at work, so mostly for home and crunching 
I've two Windows Server Datacenter 2012 R2's installed for setting up domains and all the things we do at work within AD and such, so setting up shares and so on, I've had to learn.  I've been trying to get around to setting up a domain on one of these just to see how difficult and so I can learn with the different setups etc..  Again not going quite so well, but I'll be putting my head into it a little more soon I hope 
The last by not least is another VM for Synology, I've been playing about trying to get it to mirror a few shares on my main Synology box, but it was acting a little weird and I wasn't sure what was going on with it..  Again, more of a play around toy than anything because I wanted to learn and play about with sync'ing two together..  Still more to work on that one as well 

My home Network is basic, I've run Cat 5e around the house, so everything is 1Gb   I do plan when I move to upgrade to 10Gb and to use more ports, I'm not sure 16 was enough..  Since I hate Wi-Fi with a passion, I prefer a cabled network, so, I'd like to put in 10Gb so I can make sure it'll never be the bottleneck 

The HP V18-10-48G J9660A, was given to me via the guys at work (same as the HP server cabinet and the Dell R710, plus the LTO 5 tape drive and a few other things!  I'm really very grateful for it but I hope it'll all help towards me going into IT in the direction of where I'd like to end up.. but moving on!!) so we have a Plus.net home router (the DrayTek I'm not such a fan of, also given to me from work - considering a change of routers but because I'm just using the standard one from my ISP, I don't see the point in changing now..  Especially as I'm hoping for FTTP at some point..  But hey, here's hoping!!)   The HP switch is also a fully managed unit, so again, something else I'm learning from work about doing V Lans and all sorts of things..  All things I want to learn, just never seem to get the time in the day at work to sit down with someone and see how to do it!!  Might have to bribe someone to spend a few hours at home working me through it all!! 

The Growatt unit on top of the switch is a unit for my Solar Panels.  It allows me to see what I produce each day and so on, gives me lovely graphs and so on but it seems to cut out every so often, so it drives me crazy..  When it works it's lovely and gives me as the screen shot attached in post 21..  


Now for all the hardware stuffed on the desks about the room..  Well I'm a hardware whore and I think I like it!!

I'm a collector for anything new, old, retro or even accient!  I have hardware back to the Socket A days from AMD and the newest I have is Z170 or X99..  The rest of what you see is things I've been given over time and things that I used to use for benching which I used to do when I first had set backs in 2015 with my ex and my daughter..  Short story, ended up spending far too much and getting nowhere, so I just stopped and got into gaming...
As you can see I have older upto some slightly newer motherboards, 462, 939, 775, AM3, 1366, 2011-3, 1155, 1150, 1151 and I'm still hoping to track a few more down but I'm not in a massive rush so, I'll hold on still I have some 'free' money   Due to the pay cut of taking the IT job, I've nothing spare at all each month, so I've got to be very careful 
I also collect and have a few older consoles (anything from NES and Master System V2 to Wii and Sega Dreamcast) for games I've played or just wanted to keep.  I've a few nothing massive compared to some of the guys but I collect what I like rather than things I know everyone else does.  I like being unique 

I've a few spare GPUs laying about for testing from when I mined a bit but they are being used for gaming now, they are perfect for anyone coming over for a LAN session or even for my daughter for her gaming rig (Ryzen eventually!!) 

I currently use my Z77 OCF board with a 2600K in it for my daily system, Windows 10 with a 1070 in there for anything really.  I do wish I had bought a 1080 now, but meh!!    It's nothing massively to write home about, nothing else I really do it with but it's worked amazingly for a good year, I'm very pleased with it 

My little black box underneath it is my Synology box.  Stores everything on it..  It's currently got 6 4Tb WD Red's, although I'd like to consider 8 8Tb drives or bigger when I upgrade it eventually ...  I will however buy an extra 4 drives of whatever size I do get, so I can make straight backups that won't be raided or anything, this will just be for backups.  Hopefully I can get the tape drive working and then I'll have another way of backing up as I have a blu ray writer as well for just that 
It's a flawless little system.  Only a G3258 with 16Gb of ram and the 6 4Tb Reds, they are in Raid 1, so 12Tb ish usable.  Runs 6.1. something but when I get it backed up, I'll see if it works with the newer 6.2 they have released..  Very pleased with it, runs great, it's quiet and I don't get issues with it at all..  If only the R710 was as quiet and used as much power as this does!! lol

If I've missed anything out or someone wants to know anything, please feel free to ask, but as it's much later than I hoped it would be, I need some sleep!!  

Thanks for listening to me rant on, I hope I've not bored anyone to death!!


----------



## Solaris17 (Jun 5, 2018)

phill said:


> Thanks for listening to me rant on, I hope I've not bored anyone to death!!



not at all! How are you liking your 710? I tend to gravitate towards Dell machines after working with some HP and Lenovo and dare I say it SUN ultrasparc's. If im not doing a whitebox build that is.


----------



## Komshija (Jun 5, 2018)

I had a different idea of homelab.


----------



## remixedcat (Jun 5, 2018)

I'm eyeing a dell poweredge server or precision workstation and going vmware on it. I could definitly give @phill  a holla when I need help with vmware stuff. Dabbled in it a bit with vsphere and esxi and even helped get it more supported to use as a hyper-v vm!  The version I got in hyper-v, is dated however and I sadly forgot the password.


----------



## Caring1 (Jun 5, 2018)

Komshija said:


> I had a different idea of homelab.


Not the type of kitchen you see in all those cooking shows ….


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## Komshija (Jun 5, 2018)

^^  LOL


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## phill (Jun 5, 2018)

Solaris17 said:


> not at all! How are you liking your 710? I tend to gravitate towards Dell machines after working with some HP and Lenovo and dare I say it SUN ultrasparc's. If im not doing a whitebox build that is.



Well aside from the noise and mass power draw when it's loaded up (even with the lower powered 6 cores L5640's...)  it's fine   This was given to me from work, so trying to learn as much as possible about it and how things work, how to set things up, how to make/install VM's and pretty much anything else I can!  I've got a long way to go though, but I'm loving it   I'm hoping to get a R720 or if I'm lucky R730 from work, I'll try and get a bit of ram as well just so I can use it up and have a play around with it  



Komshija said:


> I had a different idea of homelab.



I'm far to innocent to understand what your meaning  



remixedcat said:


> I'm eyeing a dell poweredge server or precision workstation and going vmware on it. I could definitly give @phill  a holla when I need help with vmware stuff. Dabbled in it a bit with vsphere and esxi and even helped get it more supported to use as a hyper-v vm!  The version I got in hyper-v, is dated however and I sadly forgot the password.



I need a lot of practice and I've literally only just scratching the surface of what you can do with it   But if I can help then I'd more than willing to help   I've got ESXi 6.0 installed for the Dell servers, but I'd consider just trying to get the non specific version if you could   I'm told it's better but I'll let you know as I would willingly help out with a guide or something for an install   It's pretty simple to be honest I think


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## remixedcat (Jun 5, 2018)

get me a poweredge while you're at it  haha


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## phill (Jun 5, 2018)

remixedcat said:


> get me a poweredge while you're at it  haha



If your in the UK I'll see what I can do


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## remixedcat (Jun 5, 2018)

USA


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## phill (Jun 5, 2018)

remixedcat said:


> USA



It might cost a few quid to send it over the pond....


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## remixedcat (Jun 5, 2018)

we can always work somethin out sometime... no rush really at the moment but will let you know


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## silentbogo (Jun 21, 2018)

Looks like I'm not the only one slacking in our club. We need more nerd stuff!

Here's a quick snapshot of my typical Monday:
1) First on the chopping block is some 2nd gen Core laptop (they all look alike to me, but I guess it's Fujitsu). The owner broke a headphone jack and attempted self-repair.
After he tortured those pads and PCB tracks and decided that a $2 soldering iron is not the right tool and that taking off a 3.5mm jack off a donor board is even harder, he brought it in to a specialist (e.g. me). 


2) Fixing a bunch of HP Probooks. This one only needed a Super I/O replacement:
Just some solder paste, some heat and a few minutes of hand soldering afterwards, and it's done.



Also, I've got a new toy.

It's a new POST card, cause I got tired of using my cheap laptop card on LPC bus via ghetto-jumpers and homebrew adapters.
Best $20 I ever spent. According to the manual it can also diagnose smartphones and tablets via USB, but I'm not sure if that feature is of any use to me or anyone else.


----------



## Jetster (Jun 22, 2018)

Note to self: When making a back up of the only boot flash drive you have, pay attention to what you format. Fortunately FreeNAS is a sofware RAID and I just had to reconfigure the shares. I was able to save the data after some work


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## Solaris17 (Feb 20, 2019)

Will try to get it in better light later. Just got done my overhaul

QNAP nas via 10gig fiber iSCSI connection handles all my storage now (22tb). Replaced stock fans with noctua 40mm ones.

Moved my servers to some decomd rack mount cases.

Replaced the fans in them that were failing with noctua redux 80mm units.

Decomd 8HDDs and 3SSDs, made the room much much quieter. Installed a PDU to handle the equipment to get off an old standard extension chored.

Installed a 1500va UPS at the very bottom that the PDU plugs into. Need to do more wire management but I love it all over again.


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## phill (Feb 20, 2019)

After a few things changing at home, I think an update might be in order....  

Great  Amazing setup there @Solaris17    Loving the 10Gb setup, will be my next step when I move, 1Gb at the moment will have to do lol    I was also thinking of a UPS, what does yours handle my good sir?  Everything in the rack?


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## Solaris17 (Feb 20, 2019)

phill said:


> After a few things changing at home, I think an update might be in order....
> 
> Great  Amazing setup there @Solaris17    Loving the 10Gb setup, will be my next step when I move, 1Gb at the moment will have to do lol    I was also thinking of a UPS, what does yours handle my good sir?  Everything in the rack?



Yes sir though the only things on 24/7 are the 

Networking gear
2 NASs
Mac mini
Core server

From the wall it’s like 250w IIRC. I got the power footprint pretty low. While the UPS handles all things I only power on things like the lab server etc for testing.


----------



## phill (Feb 20, 2019)

Solaris17 said:


> Yes sir though the only things on 24/7 are the
> 
> Networking gear
> 2 NASs
> ...



Very nice  

Love seeing everyones home setups since it gives me ideas on how to improve or do things better than I have done currently   Needless to say, I've a few ideas!!   I just need to find a house big enough now to fit it all in!!  
What do you do with your lab servers sir?


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## Solaris17 (Feb 20, 2019)

phill said:


> Very nice
> 
> Love seeing everyones home setups since it gives me ideas on how to improve or do things better than I have done currently   Needless to say, I've a few ideas!!   I just need to find a house big enough now to fit it all in!!
> What do you do with your lab servers sir?



I actually make a youtube series on homelabs and systems administration. My lab server is what I beat up when im doing those.

My core server I host alot of production VMs.

-Teamspeak
-DNS
-Ubiquiti Controller
-VOIP Server
-Camera Server
-Webserver
-Wiki
-Game Server (Misc)
-Plex
-Minecraft

All via hyper-V. The QNAP is the data store for all of it.


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## phill (Feb 20, 2019)

I should really make an effort to learn more about what the servers I have can do since all I seem to do with them is WCG and file storage!!  I feel really rather bad now


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## phill (Sep 9, 2019)

I really need to post in here an update...  Something to do when I get home and chilled out this evening  

Has anything changed for anyone else??


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## Solaris17 (Sep 9, 2019)

phill said:


> I really need to post in here an update...  Something to do when I get home and chilled out this evening
> 
> Has anything changed for anyone else??



Yes actually a lot of stuff. Will update a little later today.


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## potato580+ (Sep 9, 2019)

i got nothing to show off, just ordinary lowend pc


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## silentbogo (Sep 9, 2019)

phill said:


> Has anything changed for anyone else??


Only an extra server in the attic, big 2-cell APC UPS and 3 more PCs in the network )))
BTW, that UPS with a pair of 9Ah batteries can run my i3 NAS and all home networking equipment for over 5 hours during power outages.
We had a little storm at the end of spring, which resulted in 4-5 hours without electricity, and it's a blessing to have Internet and WiFi at home, while everyone else on the street was burning candles and playing cards. I think next year I will upgrade to a 4-cell rackmount unit with an extra 4-cell expansion. Maybe mod the main unit to provide several USB charging ports and a direct 12VDC rail for emergency lighting )))


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## phill (Sep 9, 2019)

silentbogo said:


> Only an extra server in the attic, big 2-cell APC UPS and 3 more PCs in the network )))
> BTW, that UPS with a pair of 9Ah batteries can run my i3 NAS and all home networking equipment for over 5 hours during power outages.
> We had a little storm at the end of spring, which resulted in 4-5 hours without electricity, and it's a blessing to have Internet and WiFi at home, while everyone else on the street was burning candles and playing cards. I think next year I will upgrade to a 4-cell rackmount unit with an extra 4-cell expansion. Maybe mod the main unit to provide several USB charging ports and a direct 12VDC rail for emergency lighting )))



It's definitely something that I'd like to add into my setup, but I'm thinking that might be a little harder at the moment since cash flow is seriously taking a battering at the moment, the misses has stopped getting maternity and I'm not where I'd like to be when it comes to pay for my job..  But still, definitely have to do something about it   I don't like the idea of having things damaged or broken due to storms or power outages....  I'd like to avoid that if I can 

What is the wattage of the UPS @silentbogo ?


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## silentbogo (Sep 9, 2019)

I think it's 1200VA (XS1200), which is a total overkill for what I'm using it for. 
This one, if I remember correctly:





						Amazon.com: APC Back UPS XS1200 : Electronics
					

Buy APC Back UPS XS1200: Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases



					www.amazon.com
				




Snagged it from a local 3D animation studio for $15 or something like that, added a pair of new batteries for another $30, did some cleaning, checked the internal circuitry and that's it.
Also invested another $2 into an APC USB cable (basically RS232 with some extra pins), but haven't had a chance to hook it up permanently. Just too lazy to move my NAS/Server to the attic. What's cool, is that it also monitors power usage pretty accurately, which will be very useful for your crunching/folding setup.


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## phill (Sep 9, 2019)

I definitely like to keep it in mind for when I move and re-do all of my homelab/PC room hardware..  I'd love to get something outside of the house and have it separated off but how possible that might be, well..  I'm sure I've got that deep enough pockets sadly  

But either way, I do intend on using a UPS even if it's just for my NAS box, I seriously don't want to loose that anyhow...  I'd love to get some more big drives in it but that requires some money and I've not got that much at the moment lol
The crunching would suck that thing dry in a short space of time..  I wouldn't mind saying something like what's at work, 14kW UPS or whatever size they are, should cover the night time having a few crunchers going  

I'm hoping to swap out a few of the quad core crunchers I have, I'd like to get them replaced with at least 8 core models to be honest..  Quad cores are so 2000....... 

Oh and here's how the server rack is looking at the moment...










Please ignore the carpet   It's been the same since I have had the house I've not changed it yet as it's a mess and there's work to be done out there still, no point putting decent stuff down when your still working in the room 

I'm hoping to be having a bit of a clear up with them soon, I think 13 is a little too many 

There's -

1 x R620
1 x R330
2 x R730
5 x R710
3 x R610
1 x HP 380 Gen 7 I think..  

The few on the floor are going for my giveaway and I'm really sorry to anyone that I've got ear marked and it's dragged on so damn long. I've problems with no decent packaging and they aren't the smallest or the lightest of things to send so I might see if I can contact Dell and find out if I could get some boxes sent to me so I can get the servers transported safely...  Might even see what Ebay has to offer...  I don't want them sent and then to get damaged...

I can get the specs up for you all soon   There's a few upgrades planned in there simply because I thought it would be rude not to do something with them..  Quad cores are sooooo no fun now with 28C beasts


----------



## Solaris17 (Sep 15, 2019)

Spoiler











It has had many upgrades from the original post. I'll kind of summarize since color coding etc is more or less the same.

So while I still have the DS81 shuttle PC in my shed

Networking is:
USG 4 Pro
2x Unifi AP-AC-Pros
1x Unifi 150w 8port POE
1x Unifi 48port (non POE)
Mikrotik CRS305-1G-4S+ (10g)

Servers:
2x whitebox Supermicro X10SLM+ -F (32gb ram 128gb SSD RAID1)

Storage:
QNAP TS-431XeU (4x 8TB SG Exos DC drives)
Netgear ReadyNAS 102 (2x 2TB WD reds)

Power:
Tripplite 1500VA UPS
Pyle (PCO860) 19 outlet PDU

Still run a ton of VMs and stuff. The QNAP and the servers each have a 10GB NIC that I have setup specifically for inter connect and replication. The servers are in fail over (No HA yet) and core replicates all VMs every 5 min. Mikrotik is uplinked to the core 48 port switch as well using 10GB.

Rest of the network is 1GB with each VM bonded to a physical 1GB NIC.

All VMs are running on the SANs iSCSI array. Array is configured as RAID0. I backup everything using an every other day schedule to backblaze B2 storage via duplicacy.

I force specific traffic via the 10g links for replication/performance by putting them on a seperate network.

The one exception is my surveillance VM which records all data to my netgear NAS and it is mounted to the VM as iSCSI. No other device touches it.

I dont run a domain which makes fail over a little more in depth but when I need to work on or reboot a host I just fail over the VMs onto the replica server. After I'm done I run them on the core server again. This brings long down times caused by cumulatives or extended hardware repairs to generally a few minutes instead of hours. I'm working on a cluster next so I can have HA, but I want to get a few more things in place first.

The interconnects are done via SM fiber and 10g optics. No DAC cables are used so its way easier for me to make additions or modifications like run length in the future.

I have a third empty chassis for the third server but haven't got around to buying mobo cpu and ram.

All the other network equip like the USG4 and the poe switch also interlink via fiber to the core switch (48p) but they use SFP (not +) so they are just 1g fiber links. I use fiber specifically for speed, and flexibility in build outs but also because I live in FL, and its good practice not to interlink with ethernet between buildings (diff in electrical potential between circuits) and because of brown/black outs. Id rather lose the router or switch than the entire stack. While other things like the servers or NAS can surge or burn out sending power with it each core device remains segregated from each other via fiber.


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## phill (Sep 17, 2019)

Been meaning to reply to this thread and others for ages, work seems to have me being busy which is completely out of order!!  

@Solaris17 - I'm loving the setup..  Looks something like I'd like to get setup and sorted out someday ....  With regards to your VM's, what VM software do you use?  VSphere?  Or something else?  I ask as that's what we use at work, so I'm unsure of anything else really..  I hear of a few other ones to try but, with my little 6 month old, I'm unsure that I'll be getting there anytime soon!


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## Boatvan (Sep 18, 2019)

@phill FYI for my mini home lab, I used this portion of the VMware User Group's eval license for non-production use. Basically full fledged VMware cluster for 200 USD that lasts one calendar year. I also believe that there is no limit to renewing every year.









						VMUG
					






					www.vmug.com


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## Solaris17 (Sep 18, 2019)

phill said:


> Been meaning to reply to this thread and others for ages, work seems to have me being busy which is completely out of order!!
> 
> @Solaris17 - I'm loving the setup..  Looks something like I'd like to get setup and sorted out someday ....  With regards to your VM's, what VM software do you use?  VSphere?  Or something else?  I ask as that's what we use at work, so I'm unsure of anything else really..  I hear of a few other ones to try but, with my little 6 month old, I'm unsure that I'll be getting there anytime soon!




Hyper-V. But I run DC on my home servers, an affliction of my job im afraid. So licensing costs dont phase me like it does some. I used to work in a VMware shop and didnt hate it though.

I want to try out proxmox but my lab is already built out and I dont want to tackle that migration. Maybe ill get another server or build up the third to be a bit more powerful than my current two. If I do that I can move everything to the single machine and then the other 2 servers I can put in a node and play with proxmox or XCP-NG.


----------



## Boatvan (Sep 18, 2019)

@Solaris17 In the true fashion of homelab experimenting, I should really play around with VMware alternatives. I played with Xenserver a while ago and didn't care for it. If you have any suggestions for a small 2 server Dell cluster, hit me up!


----------



## phill (Sep 18, 2019)

Boatvan said:


> @phill FYI for my mini home lab, I used this portion of the VMware User Group's eval license for non-production use. Basically full fledged VMware cluster for 200 USD that lasts one calendar year. I also believe that there is no limit to renewing every year.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks @Boatvan   I'll see if I can get 5 minutes to give it a go    For two of the servers with the bigger storage drives I'm hoping to have those just running something simple, I've two 600Gb 15k SAS drives in each of those and then 6 x 2Tb SAS for storage..  I'm just wondering if I should go with Linux or Windows to make the sharing a little easier for me (not done much sharing from Linux to Windows) but how hard can it be?? lol 



Solaris17 said:


> Hyper-V. But I run DC on my home servers, an affliction of my job im afraid. So licensing costs dont phase me like it does some. I used to work in a VMware shop and didnt hate it though.
> 
> I want to try out proxmox but my lab is already built out and I dont want to tackle that migration. Maybe ill get another server or build up the third to be a bit more powerful than my current two. If I do that I can move everything to the single machine and then the other 2 servers I can put in a node and play with proxmox or XCP-NG.



It's what we use currently at work I don't have a massive amount of experience with it at all but I can create, edit and do the base things that I need to for whatever I try at home.  I just got into it when my old boss said to try it at work as they'd given me a server and a server rack to bring home...  Now I've a little collection of servers  With the give away and such, it will make things easier I hope  I'm hoping to be able to grab a couple newer units than the R710's (hopefully some R720's) but since I have the R730's, I'm just trying to find CPUs to put in them both that aren't £2000 each new to buy....   I do love a bit of overkill...  Just aiming to run WCG on the most efficient ones but damn these things can munch through power like there's no tomorrow!!  

If I can get 5 minutes tonight, I'll put up some more pics


----------



## Solaris17 (Sep 18, 2019)

Boatvan said:


> @Solaris17 In the true fashion of homelab experimenting, I should really play around with VMware alternatives. I played with Xenserver a while ago and didn't care for it. If you have any suggestions for a small 2 server Dell cluster, hit me up!



To be honest, when I tried Proxmox years ago I thought it was absolutely terrible. However I looked at the new VE recently and it has come a long long way from when I last played with it. I tried XCP-NG not to long ago and got super irritated that for the "open source" alternative to citrix stuff you still had to pay for some HA and other advanced features. I was pretty pissed. With that though from what I understand reading the proxmox pages is that all of this is all still under a pay for support model. If I were to tear down my rack right now I would be moving to proxmox.

It looks like its all done via KVM so it would be classified as a type 1 hv. So performance should be great.



phill said:


> Thanks @Boatvan  I'll see if I can get 5 minutes to give it a go  For two of the servers with the bigger storage drives I'm hoping to have those just running something simple, I've two 600Gb 15k SAS drives in each of those and then 6 x 2Tb SAS for storage.. I'm just wondering if I should go with Linux or Windows to make the sharing a little easier for me (not done much sharing from Linux to Windows) but how hard can it be?? lol
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks, and here I am envious of your setup. Though I admit I dont draw nearly as much power. We are a supermicro shop though and so is my lab and they are more of like what it would be for someone to commercialize white box servers imo.

To be honest I'm not even a network guy regarding your other post. I know just enough to get by and I generally have a grasp of what needs to happen if I come across something I don't know. Fiber was initially an adventure into the unknown and the network segregation was also interesting.

As for hyper-v I love it personally, but I hate hate HATE the interface. Not that Hyper-V manager doesnt do what its supposed to. (I run server 2019 DC with GUI. Its hard to explain but technically speaking you dont need Hyper-V Core (the gui'less edition) the OS sits on the virtualization layer when the roll is installed)

I just really really envy, proxmox, xcp-ng, vmware (vsphere?) for the single management tool. You can kind of emulate it with SCCM or Windows Admin Center, but those are more for full fleets, with the latter being a watered down version of SCCM. I'm talking about virtualization single interfaces something I have not seen with MS. (though technically you can link hyper-v manager with other servers and control those VMs) I like how the other software wraps things like VM, HA/failover controls, VM storage etc etc into 1 CP.

I can dream.

I really want to do some GPU pass through stuff. You can kind of see it in the picture but I have a xeon Phi sitting idle right now. Played with it for a little bit it was pretty cool. But I want to throw a quadro in and do some remoteFX-ish RD gateway things. MS retired RemoteFX though and while a replacement is on the road map the best we have is DDA right now which only allows full device passthrough, not sharing.


Jesus, I spend too much on this hobby. I cant believe I run a production environment in my house in a 48u rack in my family room. 

Off topic, did you guys see the price for consoles? JFC. I use a cheap 2 device (ioGear?) KVM switch and an old monitor. I wanted ot try and chic it up take a look at this BS.

a monitor and KB in 1 that can be rack mounted avgs over $600 USD.

bought shit myself.



			Amazon.com : server console


----------



## phill (Sep 19, 2019)

I do like the hardware I have here but I just never get around to using it much sadly..  The one thing is I don't often have it powered up, it would melt the cables I think with the power it would draw  

I was testing a R730 with two Quad core CPUs a few nights ago, when the fans ramped up, the draw went north of 500w and I'm unsure if that was any load on the CPUs at all...  I was stunned!!  Idling of the server was about the 150 to 200w I think, might have been a little more/less but damn..  these things don't have like sucking the power lol  Running CB 20 I think the draw was about 300w or so under the full load.  The fans where quiet but I'm sure if I kept the CPUs under full load constantly, the fans would soon get noisy....

There's a gent at work who deals with our network, anything I've asked he's explained and whilst I'm still learning the basics of it all, he dumbs it down enough for me to have a basic understanding..  VLANs and fibre and all sorts..  I'm looking to do a bit of a setup possibly this weekend if I can but I need to setup the drives for storage and pick which OS to throw on the Servers..  I'm kind of thinking 2012 R2 until I can grab a 2016 licence (ebay sadly) but otherwise I'll throw Linux on there and hope for the best  

I'm still waiting to play around with SCCM at work, all the usual tho sadly loads of talk about things and nothing happening that I can see unless people are just moving at a sloth pace...  So frustrating!!

Still, if you'd like a server, I've got the give away to do for WCG and then I might see if I can send a few more away.  I'm looking to keep two R710's, I have five at the moment   If you'd like, we could sort you out with one


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## Solaris17 (Sep 20, 2019)

phill said:


> I do like the hardware I have here but I just never get around to using it much sadly..  The one thing is I don't often have it powered up, it would melt the cables I think with the power it would draw
> 
> I was testing a R730 with two Quad core CPUs a few nights ago, when the fans ramped up, the draw went north of 500w and I'm unsure if that was any load on the CPUs at all...  I was stunned!!  Idling of the server was about the 150 to 200w I think, might have been a little more/less but damn..  these things don't have like sucking the power lol  Running CB 20 I think the draw was about 300w or so under the full load.  The fans where quiet but I'm sure if I kept the CPUs under full load constantly, the fans would soon get noisy....
> 
> ...



More than appreciate it thanks, but you should give it to someone who wants to jump into having a homelab. Not to mention shipping over the pond would be brutal.


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## phill (Sep 20, 2019)

Solaris17 said:


> More than appreciate it thanks, but you should give it to someone who wants to jump into having a homelab. Not to mention shipping over the pond would be brutal.



I'm sending a few over that way anyway, so if you'd like, I can price it up and go from there?  If I can ship without drives that will keep the prices down, those things feel like they double the weight of the server sometimes!! lol


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## Solaris17 (Sep 22, 2019)

phill said:


> I'm sending a few over that way anyway, so if you'd like, I can price it up and go from there?  If I can ship without drives that will keep the prices down, those things feel like they double the weight of the server sometimes!! lol



sure just pm me and lmk.


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## phill (Sep 23, 2019)

Will PM you now


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## phill (Oct 28, 2019)

I managed finally to get some time with mine yesterday, got a few drive tests done with the setup I'm using and managed to get 2012 R2 installed and running ok, very basic at the moment.  Got my 6 x 2Tb drives in raid 5 sorted out and running and shared!  

Will post up some results later, I found them rather amusing with the throughput performance  

I was just wondering guys, is there a way I could set something up such as SCCM or a form of on these servers?  I'd like to put them to better use than the current over blown file servers and crunchers when I get my new CPUs delivered....  That said, I will need some more RAM and heatsinks sadly...  oh the expense!!  

Trying to get a bit of time with things at home so when at work I can understand a little more about what is going on..  I'm going to attempt some fun with changing or setting some IP addresses around the house, I think that might help me rather a lot with some stuff, otherwise it's just an excuse to hopefully not break anything!  
I'll be taking a full backup of things before I do that just in case I loose something lol  

If anyone has any ideas please drop me a line


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## MrCRJ (Feb 6, 2020)

phill said:


> I definitely like to keep it in mind for when I move and re-do all of my homelab/PC room hardware..  I'd love to get something outside of the house and have it separated off but how possible that might be, well..  I'm sure I've got that deep enough pockets sadly
> 
> But either way, I do intend on using a UPS even if it's just for my NAS box, I seriously don't want to loose that anyhow...  I'd love to get some more big drives in it but that requires some money and I've not got that much at the moment lol
> The crunching would suck that thing dry in a short space of time..  I wouldn't mind saying something like what's at work, 14kW UPS or whatever size they are, should cover the night time having a few crunchers going
> ...



Thats some serious hardware! I may have missed it, but what are you doing with it?


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## phill (Feb 7, 2020)

MrCRJ said:


> Thats some serious hardware! I may have missed it, but what are you doing with it?


Solitaire an option?? 

I mainly use it for WCG crunching (before the R730 only had a single quad core Xeon in there, that soon went....) and with the storage in there setup, I use it for a backup from my main NAS box upstairs just in case 

I've been able to test things with it such as VMWare, so using Windows Server and Linux just to try and get a grip with both OS's, it's been interesting and great fun.  I'm making the most of the hardware with trying to learn how to setup and do different tasks, trying to expand my knowledge as I plan to within my IT career  

I've thankfully now got a few servers left, so there's a lot less in there than there was  

I'm seriously toying with a Threadripper setup at some point, so I'm unsure just how much point there will be to them really but hey


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## R2DSF (Apr 16, 2020)

*Server*
AMD EPYC 7551P, ASUS KRPA-U16, 16*4GB ECC-DDR4 2933 (10-12-12-24-34), 12* Samsung 860EVO 1TB (RAID60) (buffer for Tape storage)
Gentoo-hardened linux 4.1.15.

*Battery Back up*
Eastpower 3Ф 10kVA, LiFePO4 20S10P * 3.3V 40Ah

*Tape Storage*
AMD Athlon 200GE, ASUS A320I-K/CSM, 2*4GB DDR4-2666 (10-14-12-26-38), Samsung 750EVO 120GB, 4* Ultrium LTO-6 Tape storage (6.25TB each)
Gentoo-hardened linux 4.1.15

*Router*
2* Mikrotik RB2011 (Redudant mode, 4* 600 Mbps ISP uplinks, load balancing)
Open BSD for PowerPC

*Switch*
1* Cisco 3750X (Routers - Server - Tape Storage - Smart home system - URL crawlers - F@H farm - Two others switches)
1* Cisco 2950-24 (Wired Clients + Wi-Fi AP's + TV's)
1* D-Link DES-3526 (Neighbors, 12* 20Mbps Downlinks)

*Folding@home farm*
AMD FX8370, Noctua NH-D15S, ASUS M5A99, 4*4GB DDR3-2400 9-10-9-25 1.7V, 2* Radeon VII, 2* Samsung 860EVO 1TB, Seasonic Prime 750W
Gentoo-hardened linux 4.1.15

*Majestic12 URL crawlers (4 units)*
AMD 2300X, ASUS A320I-K/CSM, 2*4GB DDR4-2666, Radeon RX550, Samsung 860EVO 1TB, Seasonic SSR-360GP
Gentoo-hardened linux 4.1.15

*PC1*
Described in profile.

*PC2 (Wife's PC)*
AMD 3700X, Eisbaer 280, ASUS C8H, 2*8GB DDR4-3000 12-14-12-26-38, RTX2070S, Corsair RM550, Windows 10 Pro WS.

*PC3 (For guests and child)*
AMD 2300X, ASUS A320I-K/CSM, 2*8GB DDR4-2666 12-12-12-24-38, RX 570 8GB, Seasonic SSR-360GP, Gentoo-hardened linux 4.1.15 + Xen Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate.

*Other wireless devices:*
Huawei Honor 10, Huawei Honor 8x, Huawei P20, Huawei Mediapad, Apple iPhone SE.


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## silentbogo (Apr 20, 2021)

Holy crap, this thread has been abandoned for over a year?
No bueno. Gotta fix it asap.
Here's my recent addition to a proper home lab (this time it's actually in my apartment, not the office). All housed in a comfy 24U short rack (48cm deep)
- NAS (i3-2100, 8GB RAM, 3TB RAID). Running Windows 10 LTSC, basically serves as SMB share to do backups from other PCs and my phone, and of course to store music and videos for network streaming.
- Mail server (Celeron J3455, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD). Running Kerio Connect server on top of Ubuntu, along with a tiny VM for work-related stuff.
- Test server (Supermicro X9SCL, Xeon E3-1240, 16GB DDR3 ECC, 1TB HDD). Running Ubuntu server, mostly used for testing stuff before I deploy it on remote servers
- Friend's server which will go to his rack next week
- On the very bottom is our economist's PC (just waiting for an ITX haswell board to stick it into another 1U chassis).
- Under the desk is my gloriously-misbalanced rig inside a legendary CM Cosmos. Took the opportunity to sell my RTX2060S at slightly below current prices, which in turn paid for nearly half of this madness. The other half was sponsored by my boss. The only downside - my spare GT730 can only handle 4K@30Hz or 1080p@60Hz. Taking a break after this year's gaming disappointments made me more productive. Now I can spend my free time to watch educational videos, read tech articles, learn new skills, and hone my mastery of Spider Solitaire   

There's also one more workstation, which will go into a rackmount chassis soon, and few more 1U PCs, and [for now] empty Supermicro 2U chassis (I have some plans for it as well).


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## ThaiTaffy (Dec 5, 2021)

I'm just starting to use my homelab now I run everything through proxmox,not sure if it good or not but clusters and setting up VM's is simple enough and there seems to be a large following so finding info is pretty easy.
I only have two systems a dell r210ii  a Xeon e3-1220 V2 so four core and a cheap b450m system the dell runs 24/7 as my router and home automation system running pfsense and home assistant and the b450 as a backup server and disposable os for internet browsing and playing around with things I shouldn't. That currently runs Ubuntu server for backups and Linux mint/windows 10 as disposables which gets powered down when not in use.
Automation in the house is my current main focus I run weather sensors, temperature sensors around the house, our Aircon and outside lights as well as DNS, CCTV and many other things I'm probably forgetting.

@phill I dream one day of having just a few of your servers but that many I wouldn't know what to do with and would probably just have them number crunch same as you anyway looks awesome.


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