Build an I.T. Homelab in 2020 | My Homelab Equipment

[@mariembuenaventura1278]

I can't afford any of this but that's Ok. This still feels cool to have.

[@LeonaMeyer]

I want.

[@mmahon04]

First time seeing one of your videos man - amazing production. I really appreciate how clear cut and detailed your step-through was - appeals to my BA/PM nature. Also dig the Rip Van Winkle meets 'Step Brothers' look.

[@DataKnox]

Good seeing you brother 😎👊

[@soudsuleiman]

@@DataKnox really appreciate your guidance and fact will be able to run the topology I have same server with same ram, what I wanted to know is this ,I read somewhere that Esxi 6.0 supports 8vCpus per Vm on free version ? ,but I see u running Eve-Ng with 24 vCpus, hence question is that the paid version ,or you got that license,the licensing is confusing for me, hence do I buy the license or take the license that Vm gives u on download page and I will be able to config Eve-Ng same way u did, also your vids are great cause I'm training and realized something all thanks to you actually on Cisco Sdn access config it's same as when u do pe ce devices was so relieved as I have attempted SP lab v3 way back then, so in a way you have taken the fear out of big boy Cisco SD wan. Please keep up the great work we appreciate your effort and also advice on Esxi 6.0 licensing query so when I receive my machine I can start labbing issue I have is I'm on tight budget as well as my location here in Zanzibar Tanzania thus have to import and shipping from Canada is a hindering process but for the goal I set to get IE in EI lmao ,

[@Gus_Leon]

Awesome walkthrough your lab! Knox, Thank you for sharing your study advice and letting us know about your study materials. Thank you! I hope your child is doing much better. Keep up your great work!! Stay safe, Gus

[@rdsii64]

My rack is a 25U startech. There isn't much in right now. For switching I have an Aruba S2500 POE+ I got on Ebay for $150. It has 48 1GB POE+ ports and 4 10GB SFP+ ports. I built my media server in a 4U 20 bay chassis from Intertech and it has dual 12 core xeons, 128 gigs of ram, an RX580 and an ever growing about of storage. It started out as a general purpose workstation and pulled double duty as a media server, hence the AMD graphics card. Next down the rack is my 1950X workstation with 32 gigs of ram and an RX6500XT, housed in a Rosewill 4U chassis. Last but not least is my blue Iris server which is a Dell Power Edge R720XD with dual 6 core cpu's and 192 gigs of ram. So far I'm only running one camera. That will change as I decide how I want to run the cat6e around my home. I have no plans to work in the IT field. I'm 58 and looking forward to retirement in 7 years. I just like playing with servers and various IT toys. Next in my rack will either be a 32 core R820 or a 64 core R815 ( old school AMD Opteron's) This will be for messing with VM's and anything else I can come up with just because I can. Home automation and raspberry Pi's are coming soon too.

[@alphabanks]

To many people grab rack servers and don't know what they are getting themselves into. Rack equipment is loud and it produces heat if you don't have a cooled dedicated space it’s not worth buying. I would suggest buying workstation-class gear such as the Dell Precision you can get them with dual Xeon's and they support tons of ram it's quiet and produces little heat. If you want to save even more money look into the Dell OptiPlex line.

[@mikearrera8672]

Love your home setup! I am using the Edge Router X for my home network right now and thinking about swapping my repurposed wifi router with the Unifi APs. You always inspire me to go bigger! Thanks my friend!

[@DataKnox]

You could also check out the UNMS server - maybe just install it on an Ubuntu machine. It’s basically UniFi for Edge devices.

[@mikearrera8672]

@@DataKnox Ill check it out! I need to step my server game anyways so this should be a good project!

[@uldisdzerkals8604]

I will add one more comment from EVE-NG Team about CPU choice for your EVE-NG Server. Priorities for EVE-NG Server are: 1. CPU, as more cores you have as better for your labs. CPU cores is heart of EVE-NG server 2. Fast HDD, it improves performance a lot. SSD HDDs are expensive, but good choice would be hybrid HDD, SSHD. Price and performance 3. and only then is RAM, it is myth when people thinking I have plenty of RAM and I can do all. NO, if your CPU cores running out, then your big ram becomes useless. Regards, Uldis from EVE-NG

[@DataKnox]

Thank you for this comment!!

[@alexjunior6353]

I am just seeing your resourceful presentation. I bought a Dell R620 Gen | 8-Bay Hot Swap PSU, 2x Intel Xeon E5-2660 - 2.20GHz 8 Core, with 128GB - 16x8GB PC3-10600R DDR3 Registered. 4x Enterprise 600GB 10K 2.5" SAS Hard Drive. iDRAC 7 Express. Please let me know if it good enough for ESXi 7. Thank you

[@nurdinshekivuli468]

@@alexjunior6353 you can us it only for 6.5u3 but not 7.0

[@genesisint1]

What processors do you have on the Dell R710?

[@jairusan]

Excellent dude, thank you so much for sharing the tech, definitely enjoying your material, and looking forward to more learning coming from your hard work. Keep it up!

[@DataKnox]

Something very special for learning content is in the works, but it may be a month or more till release. It’ll be worth the wait though

[@316nawaz]

Really very useful stuff, dude. Thanks for helping many like me by making such great videos.

[@DataKnox]

Great! Thanks for the feedback!

[@damonaniton]

I was going to get a dell server but ended up splurging on my laptop. Lenovo X1 Extreme Gen 2 with an i7. I got the low end model with a 512gb HD and 8gb of ram then upgraded all that on my own for cheap. Now pushing a 1tb NvME boot drive and another 2tb drive for storage and 64gb of ram. So now I can run Eve or CML 2 anywhere and not need to remote back home

[@sultansrv]

Hello Knox, How did you give your eve-ng 24 vCPU's using the free version of esxi? I thought the free version has a limitation of 8 vCPU's per VM. Did you give it a whole physical processor and it utilized hyper threading?

[@DataKnox]

Good catch! My host is licensed

[@Jimmy_Jones]

I doubt many VM's need more than 8 vCPU's. At that point you probably want multiple VM's or containers.

[@DataKnox]

@@Jimmy_Jones possibly! Those CSR1000vs, vManage, and FirePower Management Centers are beasts though

[@arturovelasco7200]

Just what i needed to know, excellent video knox!

[@DataKnox]

Thanks!!!

[@tommystavley9808]

not true on the ESXi, you can run 6.5 or 6.7 on this server. It gives you that warning, but lets you install it and works just fine.

[@DataKnox]

Correct, thanks!

[@kevinisawake]

CORRECT - just installed it right now on a R710. Just make sure you get it from Dell directly via the downloads page. www.dell.com/support/home/en-uk/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=j75ny

[@theburntcrumpet8371]

For a home lab setup for experimenting with kubernetes and docker swarms, would a Ryzen 2700 with 32GB ram with Proxmox installed do the trick? I'm trying to keep costs and space down and don't really want an actual server in my bedroom

[@DataKnox]

Probably so as long as the pods aren’t complex.

[@theburntcrumpet8371]

@@DataKnox thanks :)

[@blooddemon27]

when I have no idea whats going on, but i like watching your vids, I.T noobie here trying to get my foot in the door.

[@DataKnox]

How can I help you get started?

[@blooddemon27]

@@DataKnox Hi, thanks for the response! I've bought my A+ book and i want to become an ethical hacker, what paths do you suggest?

[@DataKnox]

Doug Wright good path! A+ then Security+ are great starts, and Network+ will help a lot if you can stomach it

[@blooddemon27]

@@DataKnox Thank you for the suggestions! I'll definitely check those out.

[@Palomo747]

What is the size of your server rack. I was able to get a dell r630 but not sure with rack it will fit in

[@Palomo747]

Correction it is an R720

[@DataKnox]

I have an adjustable rack in my Amazon store you can check out amazon.com/shop/dataknox

[@Palomo747]

@@DataKnox awesome, and thanks for the quick reply :D

[@Palomo747]

Are you using the SSD's listed on your amazon page?

[@ahmad0483]

What ram size would you recommend for a server, Iam looking at hp proliant dl360p server, please let me know is it going to be okay for the virtual CCIE lab

[@DataKnox]

64GB+

[@ahmad0483]

@@DataKnox hp proliant dl360 p ? is it good or should i get dell

[@DataKnox]

Either will do fine

[@InglesPilipino]

Really appreciate the detail! Great video

[@ilovemud2010]

How is your power bill?

[@lltagged]

Quality stuff! Thanks for sharing. I wish I had watched it two weeks ago - bought a R710 for 80 bucks on Ebay. :]

[@DataKnox]

You can still run ESXI 6.0u3. As long as your goal isn’t to study ESXI 6.5+, you’ll be in good shape!

[@Jimmy_Jones]

$80 😲

[@MohamedAli-yw9nz]

Thanks for sharing this. Do you think it's necessary to have a server have CPU support ESX 6.X or 7.X for networking LAB ?

[@DataKnox]

You want at least 6.0 but always prefer 7.0 to be on the latest and greatest

[@DylanBogusz]

Typically you want to run supported hardware for ESXi. Older versions of ESXi are okay but you're learning outdated software.

[@olliewilson027]

Do the restrictions on the free esxi version affect you? Looks like max 8gb per vm?

[@DataKnox]

No, I have a VM with 48GB

[@olliewilson027]

Cool thanks, love your videos btw

[@mightymen8326]

Do you use a physical firewall?

[@DataKnox]

Yes, I use Unifi products

[@mightymen8326]

@@DataKnox cool , is there a model you recommend for a student lab?

[@DataKnox]

Well whatever you would use in work is best. Could be a Unifi Dream Machine or could be a Cisco ASA

[@parheliaa]

Hi As I am looking for some hardware in my home lab, maybe somebody can help me with some questions * Is *HP PROLIANT DL380 G7* a good choice to use in a home lab? I found a used one for about 120 USD * Which is better setup overall 64Gb but CPU with 8c/16t or 32Gb with 12c/24t? * Can you work in the room with such a server working? Or is it too loud? * Maybe a stupid question, but... Can installing a normal Linux distro with GNS3 be a good alternative to ESXi with EVE-NG?

[@DataKnox]

HP is good, I would take 64GB of RAM, servers don’t get loud or hot unless you put them under load - typical EVE-MG labs don’t stress my server out. I don’t know much about GNS3. Hope this helps!

[@parheliaa]

@@DataKnox Thanks! Nice to see a KZbinr who actually reads the comments for a change :)

[@BorisV8V]

What is the maximum of nodes that server can support?

[@DataKnox]

I’m actually not sure. EVE-NG Pro is pretty generous and the IOL images use very little resources

[@c_sid]

Nicely done video , to the point and it would give me lot of guidance, thanks !!

[@reggieangus5325]

Can you do a video on converting old dell optiplex/hp elites to homelabs? They cost less than $50 and are supported on esxi unlike it's counterpart servers and can run hackintosh, and gaming with gfx card

[@walternakatana7603]

how do you read books and why?

[@DataKnox]

One chapter per day. It’s honestly my preferred way of studying at this pointv

[@ShahinHemmati2020]

Keep up the good work man! 👍

[@DataKnox]

Thank you!

[@axxoaxx288]

Esxi 7 cannot be installed in it so sad

[@robsteriam]

Thank you for this video so much. I was racking my brain on what Server to purchase and spent countless hours just reading and watching videos. Too bad that server is out of stock now lol, I will keep an eye out for it. I Hopefully my network gear can cut it, got some from my company during hardware refresh: 2x2921 routers, 2x3560g, 2x3750 and 2xASA5525-X

[@DataKnox]

This one is comparable: ebay.to/3eXNVGg

[@robsteriam]

@@DataKnox What rack do you have? I need something for my homelab, was thinking about building it.

[@DataKnox]

Robin Canela you can find a lot of my stuff including the rack in my Amazon store, which you can find links to in the description

[@philip1760]

always giving us great content ,,,, thank you knox

[@DataKnox]

Thank you!

[@AussieMatias]

I just built a Ryzen whitebox which is a workhorse however what I discovered afterwards is EVE-NG doesnt really work with AMD CPUs. Something else for people to keep in mind if focusing on simulating networks.

[@uldisdzerkals8604]

Starting from EVE-NG Community 2.0.3-110 and EVE-Pro 2.0.6-52 AMD CPUs are supported. Probably very old AMD can have issues

[@agigcbo]

Great content! Liked and subscribed.

[@telsataylor2032]

right now I only have a laptop I mainly use my makbook sir 2020 Mac OS big sur the new one that's out, my strongest point id computing and tech but now im 39 I maybe a bit rust with all these programming etc, not my parent say its a gift. but maybe some day I might have my own it lab but I have no idea the best equipment to get.

[@leothalion3983]

This was awesome sir

[@bigdimus69]

Nice setup !! I just got the same R710 about a week ago and just want confirm EXSi should run up to 6.0 according to the compatibility matrix on VMWare but I was able to install 6.5.0 Update 3 (Build 15256549) last week, the installation process will complain about the CPU's, in my case Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5550 @ 2.67GHz so I think is is possible. Thanks so much for the lab tour, you give me a lot of ideas to evolve mine.

[@DataKnox]

Good tips!

[@bigdimus69]

@@DataKnox I had that same idea and actually test it last night after I saw your video it also works on the R210

[@Skyline_NTR]

A server rack right beside your bed? I see what you're doing here. You use your bed as a chair so you can fall asleep as needed while labbing :)

[@mehdicherifi6289]

Thank you.... Please can you make tutorial how to use nornir... I know there is lot tutorial on it but I prefer your method.. thanks

[@DataKnox]

Believe it or not, CBT Nuggets has a dedicated course on Nornir currently in production. You didn’t hear that from me, though 🤫

[@mehdicherifi6289]

@@DataKnox waww... Big surprise.. great. Thanks

[@Joe-kj1gj]

Jean Ralphio! Where is the volleyball with the bloody handprint in the build? WILLLLSSSOOOOONNNN!

[@DataKnox]

I *love* that shirt almost as much as I *love* Parks and Rec

[@JCGarcia1]

Found your channel after listening to you on the Art of Network Engineering, you definitely don't sound like a girl haha. Great video!!!

[@DataKnox]

Haha thank you 😆

[@DreadPirateRonMexico]

Holy Lord what an amazing shirt!

[@alphauser9672]

Thanks mate !

[@DataKnox]

You bet!

[@ahrisho]

Wow, your beard game is strong!

[@DataKnox]

Getting there!

[@onijechukwudiTheodore]

Nice work though. Thanks for sharing 🤗

[@DataKnox]

Thanks!!

[@kstika962]

I'd love to see your Electric Bill

[@DataKnox]

I shared that recently. Server costs about $20/mo to run

[@Oyedeloy]

Awesome

[@DataKnox]

Thank you 😁

[@timothygibney5656]

Dude in 2020 a single Ryzen CPU with a fast nvme PCI Express 4 nvme can crush a server with older xeons that people swear by. You don't need nservers anymore for home labs as 16 core/32 threaded systems with 5500 megs a second nvme PCI Express 4 can do it all

[@DataKnox]

Well yeah, a modern desktop will outperform a 10 year old server, but cost a lot more, too.

[@parheliaa]

Sure but the cost is huge. I am looking for some old servers with 64Gb RAM, and they are cheaper than RAM alone if I wanted to set a desktop PC now

[@timothygibney5656]

@@parheliaa I just bought some 64 gigs of RAM from the microcenter for $275. Ryzen 12 core/ 24 thread CPU is $349

[@parheliaa]

@@timothygibney5656 It is $624 for CPU+RAM alone A used server can be bought for about $150, so the price gap is huge

[@dirkdiggler7277]

Whoa whoa whoa! 1:08 I can't just put my stuff in any hole I please? Say it ain't so!

[@jj-icejoe6642]

Sound volume....

[@R4Z0R-5H4RP]

Get a QNAP :)

[@LeonaMeyer]

I want. Now.

[@dragonhead01]

Great video but say no to vertical video.

[@philipgumm9243]

Build an automated Cloud IAAS - cheaper and more future proof.

[@robearhong]

The OCD in me kicked in. I’ll do your cable management for free

[@DataKnox]

In the next couple weeks, it’s about to get a LOT worse

[@jj-icejoe6642]

Dust...