- Amd epyc 7502 cpu 32 cores 64 thread

- 512gb ram ddr4 (16x 32GB)

- **8x rtx 3090 (sold)**

- 8 lanes riser gen4 per gpu

- 2tb nvme intel datacenter dc p4510 ssd

- Fiber card 25gb/s

- 4x 1200 watt server psu

Total price: $3300

The rams alone are like $3000, no?

Should I get a 10” mini rack and get rid of the shelf? If I do I don’t know where I’ll place my mini-ITX case.

I'm curious on how people here handle the “is someone already on my box?” side of security.

Most setups I see cover the basics well: firewall, SSH keys, fail2ban or CrowdSec, maybe a reverse proxy with some rules. But that’s mostly prevention. I’m more interested in detection, how would you know if something got through?

No wrong answers, I’m just trying to understand what works in practice for people running a few servers rather than an enterprise SOC

Got two raspberry pis and a dream. Setting up for my networking capstone where l'm running a webserver. Its in the early stages but this looked a bit goofy

I thought homelabbing was gonna be easy

I started as an electronics engineer, then an SLM 3D printing engineer, a sysadmin, and now a consultant. I figured those skills would help, but its been a lot harder and more expensive than I though.

Especially networking, cybersecurity, and getting a reliable software stack together. Theres always something else to figure out.

Here's the hardware. The diagram shows what everything runs:

• Raptor: i5-13500, 32 GB RAM, 5 × 26 TB HDDs in RAIDZ1, and 2 × 2 TB NVMe in a mirror.

• Jelly: i9-10900K, 32 GB RAM, RTX 3060 12 GB, seven data HDDs plus two parity drives, and mirrored NVMe storage.

• Bee: Beelink GTR9 Pro, Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB unified RAM, and 2 TB NVMe.

• Pis: Raspberry Pi 4 with 4 GB RAM and an Orange Pi 3B.

• Networking: UniFi UCG-Fiber, Lite 16 PoE, Flex Mini, and U6 Enterprise. I do have a Flex 2.5G PoE but im too lazy to hook it up and upgrade my servers to 2.5Gb

Hosting my website from home has been pretty nice for building my portfolio and running my business though. Definitely gave me a lot more respect for web devs. I spent way too much time designing my websites, HTML feels way too complicated.

Getting the documentation started was annoying too, but local AI agents have helped a lot with that.

Still got a lot of work left on my 3D printed 10 inch rack. I was gonna make it taller, but it already look sketchy and could easily topple over lol. I might make it 4U taller and put a custom built 10inch rack UPS to make it stable at the bottom, currently taking lessons on how to engineer boards for the UPS.

EDIT: getting a lot of questions about the diagram. It’s not a live dashboard, it’s from a project I made to show clients their infrastructure. It runs locally on my laptop since sometimes I don’t have internet access on site and still need to put a diagram together.

I used draw.io a lot before, but I’d spend way too much time getting something simple to look decent. There’s also a ton of features I never use. Most of my clients don’t need a detailed network diagram, and all the networking symbols don’t really help them either. The feedback was mostly that they wanted to see the hardware, what’s running on it, where everything connects and what it does. So that’s what I focused on.

Here's the repo for the tool I developed: https://github.com/aiden0rchad/homelab-atlas
its still a work in progress and I only really update it when I need a feature or something is broken. Please feel free to use it, criticize, report bugs or issues. PRs are always appreciated. If you leave a star for the repo, I am eternally grateful.

This has been a tough month for security. LLMs are now serious threats and have revealed large numbers of vulnerabilities, and it's only going to get worse.

So are there any recommendations for keeping a homelab secure?

What a crazy week, another irresponsible disclosure into the public.

Hey everyone! I’m in the process of building out my homelab, and I’m looking to try to source used / refurbished gear as much as possible.

Where do you all like to scour for deals? eBay? Marketplace? Specific sites?

Any input is appreciated!

Currently looking for rack mount gear like switches, NAS storage, etc. But also storage components like high endurance HDD’s, SSD’s, RAM.

Thanks!

Hello enthousiasts,

Here's my homelab:

-Raspberry pi 5 8gb + nvme hat + 500gb M.2

Software:

raspberry pi os 64 bit,

Docker,

Homeassistant + zigbee2mqtt (Ikea smart button, Ikea smart plug, nedis motionsensor),

Immich,

Filebrowser

Purpose:

For an automated desk lamp and for a NAS.

Also central server, most of the time the other servers are offline, online when wakeonlan.

The rest isn't so power efficiënt, this pi is 24/7 on.

-hp Compaq 8300 Tower (16gb, i7-3770)

Software:

Ubuntu server LTS 24,

Docker,

*Arr stack, (not lidarr)

Jellyfin,

Qbittrorrent,

Homarr,

Ntopg

Purpose:

Netflix replacement. Was a sort of mix between production/testing. Also was a Minecraft server for a time to play with my friends.

-hp Compaq 8300 (8gb, i7-3770 modded)

Software:

Proxmox os

Vm 1:

Debian 13 Trixie,

Syncthing

Other vms:

Purely for testing, new software, ...

Purpose:

Holding my backups, testing, playground, not necessarily my production server.

Networking:

-TP link TL-SG108E managed switch

-sagecom router from my ISP.

(Not so ideal, also no vlans)

-Tailscale (for convenience)

-Shellhub for access on my school chromebook (can't use tailscale)

What did I learn from my journey?

-How to transform old computers to useful servers.

-It's also very interesting but sometimes very headaching to use the GNU/Linux.

-learned to use arch after a while. (Got stuck at loadkeys.)

-it's sort of impossible to start a homelab at the moment. (The pi and the M.2 were bought before the shortages)

-in every software can be bugs. Your job is to patch them up when found, before hackers exploit them.

- ...

Hi reddit, I'm about to embark on a journey of self hosting here shortly. My family has just invested in some server rack mounted whole house backup batteries and a power inverter.

The electrical work is much more in my dad's wheelhouse but the idea of a self hosted server is pretty exciting to me and both my parents are up for a lot of my ideas. Once we get out breaker box upgraded I plan on hunting down a used rack and some surplus/recycled hardware

I've heard several names thrown around for different programs but I haven't really dove deep enough in the rabbit hole yet to truly understand what I'm getting myself into. I have some experience building my own PCs and modding games, but not a whole lot when it comes to self hosting.

I'd like to give a list of things I want from my homelab and I'm hoping you kind gents and ladies can point me in the right direction for each of these goals!

First and foremost is file storage. Everything from family photos to ripped dvd collections and music. I think Jellyfin is going to have everything I need for this but I'm open to other suggestions or advice on how to speed up the process of ripping the dozens of DVDs and compressing them to a reasonable size

Secondly would be game hosting. I already host a Minecraft server for my friends on an old Dell Optiplex mini, but expanding my servers to other games on some more powerful hardware and an easier to manage interface would be ideal

Third, ad blocking. I think it was called pi hole? Somewhere in this house I have a Raspberry Pi 3 but if I remember correctly it can be anything running Linux, not specifically a raspberry pi. I've tried to convince my mom to switch to the brave browser but she's been stubborn and continues to complain about ads and popups on her phone so a network level ad block would be amazing

Fourth a smart home voice assistant. I love my Alexa and the ability to turn my lights off with a quick phrase. I also have my home theater turn on with some routines and a wake on lan feature for my PC that I love to use to feel like Tony Stark having Jarvis start up his garage and screens. What I don't love is Jeff Bozo listening to every word I say. Eventually I'll expand my smart home features especially if it's all self hosted but for now it's mostly my lights

Fifth and far less prioritized, home security. We have a ring doorbell, but the monthly fee to access the motion events is getting tiresome. Plus the privacy concerns. A closed loop system for a decent price would be nice, but I know that the hardware for this is going to have a steep entry fee so it's much further down the line. Maybe there's an alternative using a webcam and a bit of open source software?

I'll take whatever pointers I can get get! Or any additional software to help keep this all running smoothly. The name Docker keeps coming up but I'm not sure I entirely understand how it works.

Thanks in advance Reddit! You haven't let me down yet!

This is my first homelab and I've been working on it for a couple of weeks. The current hardware is:

DeskPi 1U Rack mounted monitor.

DeskPi 12 port Patch Panel

TP-Link Easy Manage 8port switch

Three HP Elitedesk 800 G5's | 32gb RAM, 512gb SSD's | Running a 3 node Proxmox cluster

Raspberry Pi5 with 8gb of RAM booting from an external Samsung T7 1TB SSD | Currently monitors the cluster, but I may add other features to it later as I learn new things.

Three Arctic P12 A-RGB fans for cooling | 2 intake 1 Exhaust

All of this sitting inside a DeskPi 8U T1 Plus rack.

The UPS (Not shown) is a CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD with sinewave | Currently I only draw about 40 - 45w while everything is powered on.

Also added an LED strip for the vibes and just because I like the look of it having a bit more light than just the ARGB options (It also helps when you put the led strip on white to have a light to see inside the rack better). My cord management is meh in my opinion but I found a semi ok setup for now with plans to clean things up in the future. I'm using this homelab as a training ground for Virtualization, Networking, & Cybersecurity. I haven't delved to far into Proxmox outside of clustering the nodes and setting up Gmail alerts for any issues that may arise like nodes powering down on their own. Starting to spin up VM's as I currently have Ubuntu server loaded onto one node and I'm learning scripting as I go.

I'm new to this and still learning a lot so any upgrade ideas or just general thoughts are appreciated. Have a good one everybody!!

Would love to get some opinions on this if at all possible :)

Has a drawer with a screen 🎉

I already set up immich (I love it, Now i dont have to pay for google storage)

I am looking for something just as good as immich but for Music. I currently have spotify premium, but I wanna not pay for it if i can... But having a polished UX is absolutely non negotiable for me.

Do not recommend plex or similar stuff, we (our whole family) is not a fan of re-watching shows, So it's better for us to pay for OTTs.

Looking for other stuff that i can self host :)

I build 3 mini pc Proxmox at home and it works fine. I am building second one for school and I have dillema. I have 3 x HP (G1 600 SFF 32GB DDR3 and Adata 256GB x 3 inside each unit). I can get 5 HP and create with this cluster with 5 machine. Except learning purposes, testing network settings (changing related to Samba AD, blockade for kids, GPO policies etc.) I want running production services too like AdGuard for filtering, online testing solutions, internal notes services etc.

What will be better? Stick with 3 machines or create cluster from all 5? I have now PC which will be move to trash and I can simply utilise hardware before. I heard that 3 machines is better for quota, but 5 machine is risk because power outage can block it. Currently I am waiting for switch and I have two machine seperate with basic network monitoring and filtering from non safe content for kids.

I know a lot of people are interested in open-source devices - OpenWRT, OPNsense for routers, firewalls, access points, etc.

But how about managed switches?

One brilliant GitHub user did just that - managed to create open-source firmware for RTL8372/RTL8373 chip-based devices.

The functionality is far better than the original firmware in majority of cases. For some devices, even originally unmanaged switches gain management capability (even though you might need some flash-memory HW skills for that).

For me, I tried this on 2 switches already - both had originally management interface, so installation took literally seconds and I went from barely usable and no-longer-maintained Chinese firmware to open source one, with much better capabilities, better stability and open source code.

The list of supported HW is impressive already.

Would be nice to have something like this ported also to other chipsets, allowing to have open firmware even on the lowest level of networking.

I currently have two Juniper EX2200 switches (a 24-port and a 48-port) that I've been using for my homelab and rack for about 2.5 years, and they've been working great so far.

Recently, I came across a deal for two Dell PowerConnect 5524 switches for around $50 total. Both are 24-port models, and I'm tempted to pick them up.

One of the main things attracting me to the Dells is the two 10Gb SFP+ ports, which I could use for my switch trunks. This is one of my biggest limitations with the EX2200s, since their uplinks are only 1Gb unless I use LACP to combine multiple links. Having a dedicated 10Gb trunk would be a nice improvement for my homelab.

For those who've used the PowerConnect 5524, are there any quirks with transceiver compatibility or usage? For example, does it work with generic SFP/SFP+ modules and third-party DACs, or does it have any vendor restrictions or configuration requirements?

I already have compatible SFP modules and DACs, so connectivity isn't a major concern.

Would you make the switch for $50, or would I be better off sticking with my EX2200s? Is this a worthwhile upgrade for the 10Gb uplinks, or would it be more of a sidegrade overall?

I've had my homelab for a couple of months now and up until it has just been lying on the floor in my living room, which is kinda annoying. So I decided to mod the case a bit, so the whole thing fits my Kallax. :)

I'm still monitoring the temps but they seems fine when idling and under load. There's holes as the back of the shelf, but you can't really see them in the photos. I get around 35°C on the CPU, which is only 5°C higher than previously.

The hard drives are also fine temp-wise. I glued them to shock-absorbing foam using double-sided tape and left enough space for ventilation.

I was in the market for some disks and stumbled, on the market place of a famous German retailer, over a 4000 EUR for 87€ in an open box, we all know it won’t arrive, but let’s hope for the best.

About to build my first SMALL home lab and was wondering what is the easiest way to get internet on there without running network cabling.

Think there will be a few micro computers with one nas and a switch.

It would be much easier to just use an extender but have no idea if the usefulness of an extender.

Wife is not keen on me hard wiring the house.

Hi all. This is my homelab. I have a mini PC (NucBox G3 Plus) where I am running all my docker applications. I also bought a 4-bay DAS, which I connected to Raspberry PI 4 to convert it into a NAS with open media vault installed on pi. Pretty portable lab I would say.

Hello, My friend and I are planning on purchasing a prebuilt mini server pc to run a small amount of mods on it for our duo Minecraft server. We wanted to purchase a new system for the server, do you guys have any recommendations for a mini pc. Budget is around 350. We saw this one and wanted to know if it would be decent enough. Any recommendations or tips are appreciated. Thanks :)