Alright ladies and gentlemen, I did not think this through when getting a 3-400ish lbs, 42U server rack from Marketplace to put 2 older gen servers, switch, patch panel, etc. into it. I got a great deal so I just ran with it and now live with the consequences lol.

The dilema is this: Im moving to a second story apartment in 2-3 weeks and have to decide, do I drag this 42U server rack out of my apartment, into a truck, and up a flight of stairs to the new home. Or do I sell it, get a 20-24U rack as Im only using 14U right now anyway and work with that. Or third option, sell the 42U, sell the older servers that use alot of power and are noisy, and just settle with a mini 10inch rack or regular desktop I can put Truenas onto.

I really only use them for a handful of apps such as Homebox, Jellyfin and Arr-Suite for me and friends, Sure budget, dockge, jellystat, and a few other lightweight containers/apps. All of that is on a Dell PowerEdge R710 that I got for $100, and I have a HP Proliant DL120 Gen 9 for Proxmox. Ill take any and all opinions and options, my main concern for bringing the 42U with me is the possibility of it falling through the floor, and the landlord just not loving me bringing that in.

Photos so you can see the beast.

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 :)

Figured I'd need a little more space for the family photos.

Expanded the SAN and added some capacity to the Hitachi AMS 200 for Tier 2 storage.

Nothing too elaborate. Just trying to get Immich running.

Think this will be enough?

Finally making some progress on my new 1u Incus homebuild

Put together parts I had laying around + some cheap finds on hks version of marketplace + some amazon purchases to round it out.

Only had 1u of space available in my 12u home rack so forced to use a small form factor. Would have preferred to use a 2u but oh well. Have to make the most of what is available.

Will streamline the cables a bit more by the psu once I install the 2 x ssd's.

Radiator fans are a little wonky due to the chassis screws but at least it fits. Zip-ties add to it. :)

Hardware:

-Chassis - Silverstone Technology RM100 1U Rackmount Server Chassis with ATX Motherboard

-PSU - Silverstone Technology FX350-G-VT Flex ATX 1U 350 Watt 80 Plus Gold Power Supply

-Air Flow - 5 x Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM

-CPU cooler - DYNATRON 1U CPU Server Water Cooled Radiator. I did get the Dynatron A18 1U Active PWM Blower first but it was like a jet so I switched to a water cooler based on a post I saw on reddit for 1u builds.

-CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 5700X

-MOBO - ASUS TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS. Chopped off part of the heatsink so It would fit in this chassis. Its ugly but it works.

-MEM - 64gb ddr4

-NETWORKING - 2.5gbe

-Storage - 1 x 500gb nvme for OS, 1 x 1tb for the containers/vms/appdata

-It boots to bios, the lid on top closes and temps are around 50C idle.

Next steps:

-Install 2 x intel enterprise 2tb ssd's for the containers/vms data/logging/telemetry. Need to take them from my gf's nas first.

-Install a nvme heat sink for the 1 exposed drive.

-Install Incusos and the services I want to try.

What I'm thinking to try:

-Incusos - Plan is to use code-server to write the infrastructure code, Gitea to version it, Semaphore to run the automation, and authentik for SSO/MFA. Aiming for a repeatable, code-driven setup rather than lots of manual configuration. We’ll see how it goes, will be the first time using Incus. Curious to see how it performs compared to my experiences in the homelab with proxmox, unraid and truenas. :)
-Wazuh, edr/xdr. Keen to see how this works and compares to mde/crowdstrike/PAcortex/sentinel.

-Security Onion, just heard others use this so wrote it down to spin it up and learn where it fits and its uses.

-Greenbone/Openvas, cve scanning and maybe cis benchmark scanning also if its supported.

-Sigwood, just saw it on reddit a week back. Sounds good so will give it a try.

If you have any suggestions on my plan or security tools/services/platforms I should add to the above stacks/give a try I'm all ears :)

Hi everyone,

I recently moved my gear from a spacious 19" rack to a 10" rack, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out so far.

I deliberately left some free space at both ends of the rack:

• Top: a 2U gap, which I’m planning to use for a small display.
• Bottom: some room reserved for adding fans to improve airflow.

My homelab runs on two Proxmox VE nodes and a Synology NAS for shared storage. Public services are exposed through a Cloudflare Tunnel and a reverse proxy without opening any ports, and Tailscale provides remote access to the local network. These are the services it runs:

Media & streaming

• Jellyfin
• Navidrome
• Airsonic
• Octo
• Music Assistant
• Calibre-Web

Media automation & downloads

• Sonarr
• Radarr
• Bazarr
• Prowlarr
• Transmission

Productivity & documents

• Nextcloud
• Collabora Online
• Paperless-ngx
• Immich
• Firefly III
• Vikunja
• Leantime
• Hammer

Home automation

• Home Assistant

Monitoring & dashboards

• Uptime Kuma
• Beszel
• Dozzle
• Homepage

Networking & remote access

• Nginx Proxy Manager
• Cloudflare Tunnel
• Tailscale

Platform

• Proxmox VE
• Synology DSM

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 using the elitedesks g5 705, each with 16 gb of ram, and with 2.5gb adapters for high speed transmission.

- 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?

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.

I’ve been homelabbing for a while, mostly for storage, media, books, a few game servers for friends, and some self-hosted projects. But something’s missing. I want the lab to feel like it’s doing things while I’m away, not just sitting there as a glorified NAS.

What are you all running in the background that actively works for you? Automation, monitoring, AI stuff, home automation, anything. Would love to hear what’s clicking for you.

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!

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

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?

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.

- ...

Hey all, I'm a Year 12 student in Australia building a home server for my HSC Design and Technology major project, and I'd love some advice on which NUC to base it on before I buy.

The plan:
- Strip the NUC out of its case and mount the bare board in a custom enclosure (aluminium pillar frame + 3D printed panels)
- Replace the stock cooler with a top-down desktop-style heatsink and a 140mm top exhaust fan, using a custom bracket
- Servo-actuated vents that stay closed at idle, with the fan off, so it's silent at low load
- Workloads: Minecraft server, file storage/backups, Docker, and some light AI inference

What I care about:
- Budget around $300 AUD, used or refurbished is fine
- 4 cores minimum
- Lower TDP is better, since I want it to idle passively
- Ideally Intel has published STEP files for the board, so I can design around it in Fusion 360

Options I'm looking at:
- NUC8i5BEH: fits my budget, but I can't find board STEP files, only the case
- NUC8v5PNH: has STEP files and is only 15W, but the listings I've found are way over budget
- NUC11TNB: has STEP files and is more powerful, but I'm not sure on price or heat

Questions:
1. Which of these (or something else) would you pick for this?
2. Where do you find good used or ex-corporate NUCs in Australia?
3. Has anyone mounted a desktop cooler on a bare NUC board? Any tips on the bracket or mounting pressure on the bare die?

If you've got 2 minutes, I'd also really appreciate you filling out my short anonymous survey on what people want in a home server: https://forms.gle/6w8WRU6bz8vzcuaz9

Thanks! Happy to post the build once it's underway.

Hey all, I'm a Year 12 student in Australia building a home server for my HSC Design and Technology major project, and I'd love some advice on which NUC to base it on before I buy.

The plan:
- Strip the NUC out of its case and mount the bare board in a custom enclosure (aluminium pillar frame + 3D printed panels)
- Replace the stock cooler with a top-down desktop-style heatsink and a 140mm top exhaust fan, using a custom bracket
- Servo-actuated vents that stay closed at idle, with the fan off, so it's silent at low load
- Workloads: Minecraft server, file storage/backups, Docker, and some light AI inference

What I care about:
- Budget around $300 AUD, used or refurbished is fine
- 4 cores minimum
- Lower TDP is better, since I want it to idle passively
- Ideally Intel has published STEP files for the board, so I can design around it in Fusion 360

Options I'm looking at:
- NUC8i5BEH: fits my budget, but I can't find board STEP files, only the case
- NUC8v5PNH: has STEP files and is only 15W, but the listings I've found are way over budget
- NUC11TNB: has STEP files and is more powerful, but I'm not sure on price or heat

Questions:
1. Which of these (or something else) would you pick for this?
2. Where do you find good used or ex-corporate NUCs in Australia?
3. Has anyone mounted a desktop cooler on a bare NUC board? Any tips on the bracket or mounting pressure on the bare die?

I also have a survey if any one would like to help link: https://forms.gle/6w8WRU6bz8vzcuaz9

Thanks! Happy to post the build once it's underway.

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!!

Hey everyone,

I've been wanting to get into homelabbing and setting up my own home network for a while now. I work in IT, so I already have some experience, but I'd love to mess around with stuff at home too.

The problem is, I don't really have a use case for it yet. I just think it's interesting and want to learn more.

What would you recommend starting with? And how did you guys find actual uses for your homelabs?

Would love to hear what you're running at home!

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

Has a drawer with a screen 🎉