Well, build log, profession advancement... The works I guess!! :) Complete and Total Overkill part 3!!

[phill]

Well, how do I start this thread going...

So, little bit of background.. When I left school (16), went to college (3 years) finished college and tried to get a job IT.. Never worked, nothing got me close to IT work (did everything under the sun and inbetween) until about 2 and a bit years ago, I finally got my chance (about 18 years after lol) so when I got my chance I took it

Now two and a bit years later, I've been given some amazing kit to use and try at home so I'm trying to think how I can use that better than what I'm currently doing.. So, this is a bit of a project log of the journey I take and setup for testing or just even getting to grips with things. Now I think it might interest some, it might bore others and others might think, what the heck is he doing...

Well I've recently had a bump into the Infrastructure side of things, so a step up from the service desk/desktop support role I had previously.

As I'm a huge hardware loon, I like to get my hands on things and use things that will make use of what I have. This is one of the reasons why I run WCG and FAH on so many machines at home, A because I have them and B with solar power, it's free whilst the sun is out, so why the heck not...
But aside from the masses of CPU power I have at home, I'd like to do different things as well, so things like creating a domain, setting up a file server, print server and whatever else I can think of, even with some input from everyone here, I'd love to learn and do more and more and push myself with the tech I have access to and I've been given so that rather than it just sitting there, I'm actually making some use of it and more so learning more to push my career forward.

So now all the boring text is out the way, I'd just like to ask about the forum to see if anyone else 'bothers' with this sort of thing at their home, whatever the scale. I know we have a Homelab section which I love seeing @Solaris17 and everyone else that post in there (apologies for not mentioning everyone!!) I'm also going to be hopefully following some of Solaris17's guides in setting things up that he has done via his YouTube, so I'm looking forward to that.

So, for starters then I'm thinking I'd like to start with something that I can build a domain on. So, if anyone has any ideas of some specs I should be using or any suggestions at all, I'll willingly take that on board and see what I can find at home. I've a few things I think I should get out the cupboard (so to speak) and make use of I'm not sure if I'm honest a Domain Controller would need to do a massive amount of work, but I'll hopefully find out soon enough

Some things I'd like to touch on with my project is Linux, VMWare (or just VM's in general) and learning about Group Policies (from scratch) and then maybe moving on to Clusters and maybe a bit of something more in dept like NetApp storage or setting up something similar.. I'll also add in some networking fun as well..... I'm sure that list will grow

So I'll stop boring everyone to death now and look forward to some comments and such I'll see if I can add some photo's at some point to this first post (or second) and then it'll hopefully look a little more pleasing than a load of text and me waffling on...
Thanks for looking anyone who makes it this far!!

 

[phill]

Right, some update photo's for the few bits of kit around the house.....





Now as the crazy is out in the open (and still I may add a load more crazy to come if I'm honest...) with everything I have here, I intend on making the most of, especially the servers So, as it's been a bus weekend I'm hoping to get a few things sussed out in my head of what I'd like to use and do for the Domain Controller setup. I think I have another PSU spare floating around at the moment, so I should be fine for a little while..

Aside from the X99 rig I use everyday, I'd like to eventually swap that out, definitely will be AMD but I do look forward to finishing off my Intel collection as well. I'm still trying to track down the EVGA X99 Classified motherboard which hasn't gone so well so far... (if anyone knows of a complete retail packaged and near mint condition board with accessories please please please do let me know ) I'm looking to try and get either the Classified or the X99 OCF board in the X9 case on my desk, had it for a while now and not even close to putting it in!! I'd like some new tubing at least for my build and possibly a new pump and res combination. It would also be great to grab a few other loops whilst I'm at it for various other builds but with no money, I have more important things to worry about first and foremost... (Sometimes I hate being a grown up!!)

So, here's a few pics to look through (I remembered thumbnails this time!!) whenever you fancy If anyone has any suggestions with regards to hardware for my DC, please let me know here Best get to bed now considering tomorrow will be a crappy day as I have to take my eldest daughter back to her Mum and we both don't particularly enjoy the drive or the doing it... Still, until next time

 

[dgianstefani]

Why don't you sell that obsolete junk and get some current gen stuff.

 

[infrared]

Would a mod mind deleting my post 2 and put this one in number 2 instead please?? I forgot that I can't edit posts after a day....

Done, and edit time is unlocked on first two posts Your house looks like a hardware enthusiasts treasure trove!

 

[Lorec]

Thats a beautiful establishment You have there
Your command center is great, Im working on mine atm too!
No chance to match up to @phill-senpai though!
...my wife is already complaining about parts boxes etc under our bed

 

[phill]

Why don't you sell that obsolete junk and get some current gen stuff.

To which hardware are you referring too??

Done, and edit time is unlocked on first two posts Your house looks like a hardware enthusiasts treasure trove!

I am trying but I also have two children and a misses to fit in, I mean, I think I might need a bigger house.... Some of the hardware is hidden and out of the way, sadly a lot of it is up in the loft which I have tried to make sure it's a constant temp up there, I really don't want any hardware up there to die (not that it's powered on etc)..... I do love my hardware and sadly I still have a list a mile long to get hold of kit to go with the rest of it... I know people think that I'm crazy and that's fine, they are entitled to their opinion but me don't care

Thats a beautiful establishment You have there
Your command center is great, Im working on mine atm too!
No chance to match up to @phill-senpai though!
...my wife is already complaining about parts boxes etc under our bed

Thank you @Lorec I've lived here about 9 years so far, when I bought it I made sure it had one room where there was a load of power and everywhere was networked.. I made sure of that!! I've got a few systems I'd love still to buy and have but I would have uses for all of the kit WCG comes to mind and a LAN Gaming suite is also planned for the new home
As a very good friend of mine knows what I'm like, it's a go big or go home type attitude with us @TheMadDutchDude can verify I'm a bit of a loon Oh, here's a pic tho, that might show it a little better...



Sadly that was back when I had some nice big monitors... I miss big res screens 3 x 3008 monitors, what a glorious sight it was

 

[dgianstefani]

To which hardware are you referring too??

I dunno, maybe the 6 generation old GPUs and 10 year old platforms?

 

[EarthDog]

That is ridiculous and called HOARDING . I've been a review in the industry for over 10 years and never have I accumulated that much stuff... wow.

My OCD and need to be neat just makes me want to sit in the corner in the fetal position and rock back and forth until it is cleaned up.

 

[phill]

I dunno, maybe the 6 generation old GPUs and 10 year old platforms?

That's still used on a daily basis, thankfully solar panels help with the lack of worry when it comes to efficiencies etc Some stuff is just boxed and kept for sentimental reasons which is stored away and I don't worry about it

That is ridiculous and called HOARDING . I've been a review in the industry for over 10 years and never have I accumulated that much stuff... wow.

My OCD and need to be neat just makes me want to sit in the corner in the fetal position and rock back and forth until it is cleaned up.

Well as it's being used, I can't see it as hoarding but I enjoy the hardware and it's a hobby for me When I do move, I am looking forward to a mass tidy up. If I can get some time before I move then work and baby allowing, I will be in there cleaning and clearing stuff out and away I'd like to get a few more cases so I can get a few systems housed as at the moment, them being open test benches isn't the best thing in the world
I have OCD in that I need it tidy and it's far from it at the moment, but eventually given some extra cash flow and such, I'll get it to where I want it to be The servers are part of a give away I'm doing. If I could get some answers back from companies about boxes and protective packaging, I'll get rid of some of those as well

There was a post in another thread, if you think this is bad, then wait till you see that

 

[EarthDog]

Hoarders never see it as hoarding and always have a reason. That is part of the disease.

But yeah, that room (and your others I haven't seen) would drive me batty.

 

[phill]

I just enjoy the hardware, I keep hold of somethings and rarely sell as I always end up needing what I sell. Drives me nuts having to buy twice!! lol

The loft has a lot of the boxes etc kept out the way, not masses of hardware up there but enough that I'd like to get down and get in use but it all costs money which I don't have. I've not spent anything on hardware in quite some time. Servers etc where all freebies which is what lead me to the idea of a give away to our WCG Team
The conservatory keeps hold of my servers and rack, that will definitely get emptied out soon enough

Check here for the post I meant

 

[phill]

I'd thought I'd put up a little update with the project.. Nothing massive sadly, but since it had been a while without a bit of time to clean up and sort out the PCs as they are mostly on every day sometimes all day (24 hours) and with my little Sophia, I really needed to give my main rig a clean out... I'd done a couple of the crunching Ryzen PCs a week or two ago, but now it was my main rigs turn... Wow did it bloody need it!!



I decided to go with thumbnails this time, I could get a little picture happy otherwise
So before and after temps as well -



I think about a 10C reduction in temps and I've had a bit of folding as well going on the GPUs today, they seem to have dropped about 10C as well under full load.. Very happy with the results and I tried some of the MX-4 thermal paste as well, I hope the temps will settle down in a few days/weeks

Don't forget guys that hardware abuse is real and is out there. It's also unacceptable and I wish I had never let the kit get that bad but it's all much better now and it's much cooler Hopefully with a few things turning up over the next few days, I should be able to have another update as well I'm looking forward to it

Then hopefully I might be able to get sorted and start on this project properly!! I've a few cases that hardware must need to go into, so here's hoping I can make that happen!! I'll get some more photo's for that...
Also goes with a thread I started about some water cooling parts (clicky...) which I think basically ended up, pick a brand and off you go, so I'll look into that when I have some cash flow.. Christmas and children and the 'wife' I need to get sorted out, so hopefully some on call money can go towards some rads, pumps/res and so on... I need some tubing more so, so I'll definitely have to get that sorted out as I'd love to get the hardware in a box!! More to come

 

[Space Lynx]

That is ridiculous and called HOARDING . I've been a review in the industry for over 10 years and never have I accumulated that much stuff... wow.

My OCD and need to be neat just makes me want to sit in the corner in the fetal position and rock back and forth until it is cleaned up.

I don't understand why he needs so many 1080 ti's... there is only one chair and one childs chair... but hey if thats what you want to spend your money on its a free country. Personally, I'd rather have 1 1080 ti and travel with the other money. England is a beautiful country, get out and see it mate. I could spend ten years in England and still find places to see. My last trip to England I saw the Shropshire region, and a bit of the Devon area... Absolutely gorgeous, wish I was rich, I'd live there.

 

[phill]

I don't understand why he needs so many 1080 ti's... there is only one chair and one childs chair... but hey if thats what you want to spend your money on its a free country. Personally, I'd rather have 1 1080 ti and travel with the other money. England is a beautiful country, get out and see it mate. I could spend ten years in England and still find places to see. My last trip to England I saw the Shropshire region, and a bit of the Devon area... Absolutely gorgeous, wish I was rich, I'd live there.

One was cheap and with water block so I couldn't say no The other two just sit in my main rig for cancer folding and gaming SLI may or may not work very well, but I'm a hardware lover and I enjoy it, having a system with a fair sized case and only one card seems like such a waste I've had these cards for maybe a year or two and they've been great
There's three chairs in the room for the moment I would like a bigger place to put all this kit out so there's more space and more people can enjoy my hobby

Travelling in England ain't cheap and certainly in some areas its horrendously expensive I've lived here all my life and there's many places I've not been able to see. Now with a 9 month old, it now makes it a little more difficult to do things.. But, I enjoy having my daughter and having all this hardware, so it doesn't matter to me We all get our fun or enjoyment from so many different things in this world, so whatever anyone does, as long as they enjoy it and it's not hurting or pushing their wishes/wants on to others, what does it matter to anyone else??

Devon was definitely my favourite place to live, it was just a shame where I lived, you had to travel some horrible roads to get to any where big such as Exeter or Plymouth.. I was an hour from the motorway where I lived in Devon before moving here, I'm now about 5 to 10 minutes away... But I'm not in such a nice area I don't think... Oh well

 

[Space Lynx]

If I lived in England I would try to buy a cheap used motorcycle, great gas mileage. Could get a camping backup that holds a one person tent and see everywhere I want. If cops catch me what they gonna do, arrest for me sleeping under some trees one night? Unlikely, tell me to bugger off is all. lol

Yeah good on you for folding at home. I used to do it, but I am just not sure anymore if its worth it or not. Progress is slow going last decade especially.

is your electricity a set price? so folding doesn't cost you extra each month?

 

[jaggerwild]

You work on computers for a living right? My suggestion(this is only me)I do admire everything you have(and you have a shit load of it), get outside and find a new hobby. When you do that all day only to do it when you come home as well(that's nuts!). Even if its building them for charity, again I envy you!!! I even like your name, as far as building a new rig WHY? And if you really want to, I'm sure you'll find something..........

 

[phill]

If I lived in England I would try to buy a cheap used motorcycle, great gas mileage. Could get a camping backup that holds a one person tent and see everywhere I want. If cops catch me what they gonna do, arrest for me sleeping under some trees one night? Unlikely, tell me to bugger off is all. lol

Yeah good on you for folding at home. I used to do it, but I am just not sure anymore if its worth it or not. Progress is slow going last decade especially.

is your electricity a set price? so folding doesn't cost you extra each month?

England like most places has it's good and bad areas but I would say its no worse than anywhere else Fuel prices are high here, always have been with the 80%+ tax rate on it but meh, way of life here

My electric is a set price, but as I have solar panels, I tend to fold/crunch, just when the sun is out, so I'll only turn on a lot of PCs when the sun is shining brightly Saves me a few quid in electric doing it that way and I'm helping as well. With all the hardware, I may as well make the use of it

You work on computers for a living right? My suggestion(this is only me)I do admire everything you have(and you have a shit load of it), get outside and find a new hobby. When you do that all day only to do it when you come home as well(that's nuts!). Even if its building them for charity, again I envy you!!! I even like your name, as far as building a new rig WHY? And if you really want to, I'm sure you'll find something..........

I do have a job in IT as well I have other hobbies Photography, mountain biking, basketball, music, films.. I would say car as I'm a petrol head fan but with no money it's not going to help me I have my daughters, as they keep me busy and away from PCs for a while. I tend to use mine for gaming and crunching and music, I try and listen to a few podcasts whilst I'm gaming (Dirt games with trance on in the background for me is great )

I like keeping up with the latest tech as it's always fun to have mess around with and so on But again my children come first so the cash flow is somewhat less than it used to be I don't drink or smoke or do anything along those lines and I would prefer to have something to show for it rather than smoking it away or drinking it away
Oh I'm doing a giveaway with some servers, so please do let me know if anyone is interested

 

[Space Lynx]

England like most places has it's good and bad areas but I would say its no worse than anywhere else Fuel prices are high here, always have been with the 80%+ tax rate on it but meh, way of life here

My electric is a set price, but as I have solar panels, I tend to fold/crunch, just when the sun is out, so I'll only turn on a lot of PCs when the sun is shining brightly Saves me a few quid in electric doing it that way and I'm helping as well. With all the hardware, I may as well make the use of it


I do have a job in IT as well I have other hobbies Photography, mountain biking, basketball, music, films.. I would say car as I'm a petrol head fan but with no money it's not going to help me I have my daughters, as they keep me busy and away from PCs for a while. I tend to use mine for gaming and crunching and music, I try and listen to a few podcasts whilst I'm gaming (Dirt games with trance on in the background for me is great )

I like keeping up with the latest tech as it's always fun to have mess around with and so on But again my children come first so the cash flow is somewhat less than it used to be I don't drink or smoke or do anything along those lines and I would prefer to have something to show for it rather than smoking it away or drinking it away
Oh I'm doing a giveaway with some servers, so please do let me know if anyone is interested

Sell the 1080 ti's and hardware while they still hold value. Save up a bit more, get a used motorcycle. A family or friend can babysit for you and your wife for an afternoon of riding and exploring, motorcycles get like 80 miles to the gallon and are cheaper to buy than cars to boot.

 

[phill]

Sell the 1080 ti's and hardware while they still hold value. Save up a bit more, get a used motorcycle. A family or friend can babysit for you and your wife for an afternoon of riding and exploring, motorcycles get like 80 miles to the gallon and are cheaper to buy than cars to boot.

I've no interest in motorbikes sadly mate Some family members died on one when I was weeks old, never really been into them as such. Much prefer a nice powerful car I'm guessing the sort of bikes I'd like wouldn't get 80 mpg's either lol Plus no where to put the baby seat and I'd need to do yet another driving licence... I ain't got time for that!!

 

[Space Lynx]

I've no interest in motorbikes sadly mate Some family members died on one when I was weeks old, never really been into them as such. Much prefer a nice powerful car I'm guessing the sort of bikes I'd like wouldn't get 80 mpg's either lol Plus no where to put the baby seat and I'd need to do yet another driving licence... I ain't got time for that!!

I understand, I hope someday Tesla or someone makes a really cheap inexpensive electric motorbike with a 500-mile range or so. Would be awesome. Could see everything I ever dreamed of on a budget.

 

[phill]

I understand, I hope someday Tesla or someone makes a really cheap inexpensive electric motorbike with a 500-mile range or so. Would be awesome. Could see everything I ever dreamed of on a budget.

I think I'd miss the noise of an engine too much to drive a Tesla Performance aside, I can understand electric cars but with their damage to the environment with the batteries, how to make and dispose of etc, I'm not a fan at all. Some of the diesel cars around now are very good (not my personal preference but each to their own ) with fuel efficiency etc. It makes more sense to me to have one than an electric car.. In the UK if a source was correct, the UK only produces 5% more electric than it uses so if everyone has one how are we getting the power??

 

[Space Lynx]

I think I'd miss the noise of an engine too much to drive a Tesla Performance aside, I can understand electric cars but with their damage to the environment with the batteries, how to make and dispose of etc, I'm not a fan at all. Some of the diesel cars around now are very good (not my personal preference but each to their own ) with fuel efficiency etc. It makes more sense to me to have one than an electric car.. In the UK if a source was correct, the UK only produces 5% more electric than it uses so if everyone has one how are we getting the power??

Bill Gates has already solved the problem of power, a nuclear energy fission prototype that has no radioactive waste, the waste is the fuel. It's a new and old design meshed together with some people he funded, it's 99% chance of working, but they have to wait until the trade war with China is over before they can build one, as a lot of the parts are on the tariff list (steel related I assume).

 

[phill]

I'll wait and see if that ever comes to pass....

 

[potato580+]

Right, some update photo's for the few bits of kit around the house.....

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Now as the crazy is out in the open (and still I may add a load more crazy to come if I'm honest...) with everything I have here, I intend on making the most of, especially the servers So, as it's been a bus weekend I'm hoping to get a few things sussed out in my head of what I'd like to use and do for the Domain Controller setup. I think I have another PSU spare floating around at the moment, so I should be fine for a little while..

Aside from the X99 rig I use everyday, I'd like to eventually swap that out, definitely will be AMD but I do look forward to finishing off my Intel collection as well. I'm still trying to track down the EVGA X99 Classified motherboard which hasn't gone so well so far... (if anyone knows of a complete retail packaged and near mint condition board with accessories please please please do let me know ) I'm looking to try and get either the Classified or the X99 OCF board in the X9 case on my desk, had it for a while now and not even close to putting it in!! I'd like some new tubing at least for my build and possibly a new pump and res combination. It would also be great to grab a few other loops whilst I'm at it for various other builds but with no money, I have more important things to worry about first and foremost... (Sometimes I hate being a grown up!!)

So, here's a few pics to look through (I remembered thumbnails this time!!) whenever you fancy If anyone has any suggestions with regards to hardware for my DC, please let me know here Best get to bed now considering tomorrow will be a crappy day as I have to take my eldest daughter back to her Mum and we both don't particularly enjoy the drive or the doing it... Still, until next time

you need to expand your room, thats alr full rly hehe

 

[Boatvan]

IDK why everyone is giving @phill a hard time. It is what he enjoys so why not let him share without telling him to get rid of stuff? Jeez.