Getting Started With Home Lab (Hardware and Software)

[@slackerdude1958]

Good video. So many people start these types of videos with an assumption their audience knows something about servers, hypervisors, etc, and so quickly lose the audience. You explain things well, and give examples. Just my opinion, but wanted to share it.

[@perkelatorZ79]

Thank you very much, means a lot! I am starting to do this for that exact reason. Found a lot of videos that lost me due to not explaining the goal or really having an introduction to the topic. The format I am going for is to have an introduction video to a topic that can be skipped if you are more advanced and then follow with more technical information in subsequent videos. I am working on explaining things and being on "camera", I will hopefully get quite a bit better as I get more comfortable. Thanks for sharing!

[@gorillaau]

Even the step of getting the install image onto USB is usually skipped over. I love Ventoy, thought where were it ten years ago? :-)

[@perkelatorZ79]

@@gorillaau trying my best to cover all the steps needed. I want details enough that anyone interested can have some where to start say a 13 year old that is getting into technology. So basically I am trying to make videos that my 13 Year old self could have understood.

[@gunjja13]

Such a nice and super helpful video! Subscribed! Will watch the other videos these days for sure too.

[@perkelatorZ79]

Much appreciated! I hope you do and find them just as helpful. Let me know any other feedback it helps out alot.

[@gunjja13]

@@perkelatorZ79 I will for sure let you know. Lastly this weekend I will watch them.

[@magnusgreel275]

This is really good advice :) I skipped the server grade hardware just because of the price and noise. Instead I went cheap and cheerful: thin client with a larger HDD and more RAM. I run Linux Mint and docker etc. but I wanted to learn the nuts and bolts. It now runs my home automation and soon it'll run as a basic NAS. Those things are great.

[@perkelatorZ79]

I find quite a lot of people today are skipping server grade form consumer hardware. Also due to $100 1 liter PCs I feel like the Raspberry Pi is useless. I mean $79 for an I5 or $60 for an arm chip with less software support and is quite a bit slower. Now with the Rpi 5 it has a 27 watts power supply. It is still better on power, but not by much. Docker can run useful services on a potato it seems like. Yeah mint is great for that. I did the same thing after my first setup like the one I am going over with Ubuntu Server. Just setup ZFS and NFS on my own and then used KVM. Thanks for watching!

[@kazoobab.l2836]

This channel is destined for greatness if you don't give up 🎉🎉

[@perkelatorZ79]

Thanks, I needed that! I just hope I can continue to come up with ideas for videos on topics I can explain adequately. I may do some video that aren't exactly homelab, but more general IT related to break it up and give more topics.

[@kazoobab.l2836]

I have seen a channel like hardware haven grow. Its okay just don't give up

[@alejandrosantamaria5010]

Excelent video! I was searching for a straight to the point and easy to follow guide to start my own homelab but there was no video that satisfied my necessities, u til i found yours, from simple and excellent software description to what hardware would I need, keep up the great work!! + New sub

[@perkelatorZ79]

Thanks, means a lot! Hopefully I should have more content that you will find useful. Should get better as I feel more comfortable recording.

[@bobfig]

@@perkelatorZ79 your recordings are great. Really spot on. Helpful, super informative, and great pacing. Keep going mate!!!!

[@perkelatorZ79]

@@bobfig Thanks, means a lot! I hope to get better at talking the more videos I make. Also need to work on recording setting and fine tune them a bit.

[@bobfig]

Super helpful tutorial. Definitely going to follow along because I'm just getting started with trying to learn Proxmox and Trurnas. I didn't realise there were two versions of Trurnas. Thanks mate. 👍

[@perkelatorZ79]

Hopefully the videos end up being useful to you. Thanks for watching!

[@HanusFTL]

I dig your energy. stay grounded dawg

[@perkelatorZ79]

I am going to try my best to, I believe it will be a while before the channel blows up (if it ever does) anyway so no worries there.

[@Hasan-cd9ne]

Looking forward to watching the rest

[@perkelatorZ79]

Thanks!! I hope you enjoy them and find them helpful or in some way entertaining.

[@user-rr2ox4jy7g]

*ADVICE if you have a server in your bedroom 24/7* be prepare for those Drives making some clicking etc noise. I had it, and just don't even try to have it in your own bedroom, put it somewhere else

[@perkelatorZ79]

Yeah that Is a good point. I Sleep with the TV on so not a huge deal for me, but I can see how it would be a problem for most. Good Advice!

[@rokibuca]

for really simple NAS and plex server ubuntu server with casa os

[@perkelatorZ79]

Yea I had a Zimaboard with it for a while great solution.

[@TribbleBot]

My home lab's running in Proxmox on an HP Elitedesk 800 G1, but I'm building a separate NAS around an HP Z440 motherboard. It was the cheapest motherboard on eBay that popped up when I searched for "ECC DDR4 motherboard", plus an E5-1650v3 was included. It'll probably get TrueNAS Scale put on it.

[@perkelatorZ79]

That's great! I have not used any z440 mother boards so don't know a ton about them hope it works out for you. Let me know how it works out they seem like pretty cheap boards as far as price.

[@theWSt]

Good video, you have a new subscriber 😇

[@perkelatorZ79]

Thanks you! Hope that I make more content that you enjoy!

[@dktol56]

The HP Elitedesk mini's are great, but I'd suggest getting only the versions with a T-series CPU - they have a 35W TDP and run cool enough that the case cover is not perforated, allowing you to vertically stack the mini's without risk of overheating. Also, go with the G4. The cost is not much greater than the G3 and the 8th gen processors (i5-8500T) have 6 cores instead of 4, and the G4 has a 2nd 2280 M.2 NVMe slot under the 2.5 SATA drive caddy. Also, the G4 has 4 USB3.2 10Gb/s ports. I've purchased three G4's but the one annoyance is that the 2nd M.2 slot blocks the steel drive caddy, so you have to mod it or find another solution if you want both M.2 slots and the SATA. What was HP thinking? EDIT: Oh, and the G4's all support 64GB (2x32GB SODIMM's). Probably also the G2 that I have, but 32GB seems appropriate for 4 cores. 2nd EDIT: The power requirements of a G4 with an i5-8600T running Debian 12 are outstanding! Using a Kill-O-Watt, S3 suspend-to-ram draws only 1.3W, idle hovers between 4-5W, and a stress-ng test to max all 6 cores pulls 47W. So it sips power until you really need it, then goes petal-to-the-metal.

[@perkelatorZ79]

Thanks you! All of this is incredible information to have. It is nice to know the differences between the g3 and g4, I knew about the 8gen vs 6th gen however did not know the G4 could use 64GB RAM that is nice to know the hp website says 32GB support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06045012. Also the difference of T cpu is something I should have covered.

[@Dreamwoodinternational]

Just getting into Homelab and came across your video - most interested as I'm still mulling over h/w choices. I have 3 PCs and need to keep one as the (Win10) workstation (Intel Core i7-4790K CPU @ 4.00GHz 4.00 GHz 4 core with 32 GB RAM, 4-port HDMI ) - I use 4 screens :) Another is Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @3.4GHz 3.90 GHz 4 core with 32 GB RAM - so far my 'first' Proxmox box (ex Win10). Last one is a Pentium Dual-Core E5200 @ 2.5 GHz 2.5 GHz 2 core with 4 GB RAM - I figure this will only be good for replacing Win10 with a Linux dist for some light browsing. I admit to researching a Dell T7910 as a 'main' Proxmox box - understand they are quiet and essentially an R730 but more pleasant to be near (although fewer DIMM slots). When I looked at upgrading the Pentium box with new M/B, CPU, RAM etc etc, it totaled A$1600+ pretty quickly - which makes a decent spec T7910 seem cheap/equivalent. Interested in your thoughts on gong with a T7910.

[@perkelatorZ79]

Yeah getting started in homelab the most scary thing is hardware choice, but it seems like your going in a good direction with repurposing old hardware. Also I am part of the 4 screen army as well so I understand. After you get 2 it kind of becomes an addiction, at one point I was up to 5, but then traded out 2 for an ultrawide lol. Dell T7910 wouldn't be a bad choice. I would make sure you use intel ark to verify that the specif CPU you are looking at is what you need/want. Also from my understanding it can come in a dual socket or single socket system. Duel sockets they are great, but they do come with electricity cost concerns in exchange. If you fine one in good shape for a good price the Dell Precision T7910 would be a great choice especially since it has ECC support. However keep in mind they seems to come in both Haswell and Broadwell. Broadwell would be preferred just due to IPC improvements, but if Haswell is the right price they are great too. I am not 100% sure so do your own research, but I believe after a BIOS update you can use the Broadwell CPUs in ones that came with Haswell in the T7910. So if you can confirm that it can, it could be worth it to buy the cheapest one you can find (that support either single or duel cores which ever you decide) with a super low end Haswell then buy a Broadwell chip you want and upgrade it. Once again check compatible before doing so. Also I would look up comparisons of what ever CPU you are looking at and compare it with more modern CPUs in both performance and power usage. Some older CPUs sound great on paper, but when you start to look at performance even lower end lower core CPUs are just faster due to IPC and other generational upgrades. Remember Broadwell CPUs came out about 7 years ago.

[@Dreamwoodinternational]

​@@perkelatorZ79 I replied last night but it seems to have been lost.... I wanted to say thank you for your quick and deep-insight reply above. Further, am I wrong in thinking that a T7910 could be used as a Win workstation (running Win as a VM), with Proxmox as the bare metal OS? So it is both Server and Workstation. That way, the full GPU and RAM power can be used by all my regular Win programs - and 4 screens 😂. I could then utilize the two PCs with 32 GB RAM and older consumer CPUs as a TrueNAS and secondary Proxmox box resp. It seems Kubernetes is close to Nirvana for HomeLabs and prefers to have at least three boxes as a Cluster. Grateful your thoughts. Currently I'm deciding between these two purchases: Dell 7820 Gold 6140: $1,800 - 2 x 18 Cores;128 GB RAM (8x 16GB PC4-2666V); 512 GB SSD; 950 W PSU Dell 7910 E5-2690 v4: $1,499 - 2 x 14 Cores; 64GB RAM (8x 8GB DDR4 - speed unknown); 1TB SSD; 4 TB HDD; 1300 W PSU Curious to know which you would choose 😄

[@perkelatorZ79]

Yes you could run windows and use it as a workstation, but you would need to do PCIe passthough in order to get bare metal like performance when it comes to using windows and it feeling snappy. Requiring 2 GPUs of some kind. PCIe passthought can get messy and sometimes it just wont work for some hardware. So research it first. It kind of depends on the workload what GPUs would be needed. Also watch power supply size, I have had to go buy a new PSU because I forgot to check power requirements of cards. You can use your Integrated GPU when available. There is single GPU passthough, but it is much much more complex and can cause serious usability issues. I did this in the past with a 5800x and 6700xt. I personally hated it just felt really wonky with my workflow. To each their own tho. It could be great for you. I also had this same idea of one powerful server/workstation. I had a dell r730 at one point and sold it because it was loud, heated up my entire room and cost me quite a bit in power. I also felt like it was a waste. When I could have just separate them and use lower power systems that are quite and still get the job done. You may find it to be worth it to have such a server, it isn't bad by no means, it just wasn't for me and my living situation. i am not saying you shouldn't just that it did not work for me or really how I had imaged it. Kubernetes is something I am currently learning, that and containers in general. I am somewhat of a container pragmatist. I see the appeal, but feel some people over use them. Containers are great, but VMs still have their place as well as hardware devices. Between the Dell 7820 and the Dell 7910 listed I would go with the Dell 7820, the only thing the 7910 seems to have going for it is storage, PSU and price. I would not trust those drives at all until they are in hand and have been tested well. Both should be find machines. To be upfront I have no experience with scalable line of CPU. That is if cost is not an issue between the two. If cost is an issue I would go with the 7910 RAM to make it match would be between $80 and $160ish from a quick ebay search. You could wait and add that RAM later. Single core performance would be the same pretty much. You would really just be giving up 8 cores. If you were to do the math at price per core 1800 / 36 = 50, so $50 a core for the 7820. 1500 / 28 = $53.57. So per core the e5-2690 would be slightly more expensive lol, but $300 is $300 and I could think of other ways $300 would be useful in homelab, like drives, NICs, RAM and etc. Overall if I had to pick I would get the 7820, because if I am spending that much $300 for 8 cores and 64GB ram isn't bad, considering that it is only 5 watts more power per socket. If you are starting in homelab I don't know if I would recommend spending so much endless you are already in IT or just have money like that lol. My lab all in is worth probably that much, including switches and routers. Since most of my machines were my previously gaming PCs I don't feel like I have spent very much at all on the lab since I would have bought the upgrades regardless of homelab. Not everyone can do that tho because not everyone plays games and not everyone that plays games upgrade as often as I do.

[@Dreamwoodinternational]

​@@perkelatorZ79 Thank you so much for such a detailed and thoughtful reply. I'm encouraged to see you lean towards the 7820 in the example because I have been thinking the same thing about the drive history issue. Agree that the 'server' should be kept as such, and hence CPU cores and RAM are key to providing the necessary horsepower for the various services. The rest is 'just storage' which can essentially live anywhere, assuming the NICs and switch are compatible. I upgraded my home network a couple of years ago to Mikrotik 4011 (router) and CRS 328 (central switch) and all Mikrotik APs and 'downstream' switches. My first home network in the early '90s was two old PCs running Netware 3.12, Thinnet coax cable into each bedroom and five old PCs as workstations for children and me. That was back in the days of a Dial-up connection shared by s/w on the one PC with a modem - come a long way from then 😄 Never been a gamer - just 50 years in International Telco, LAN design, Network infrastructure and now finally time for Amateur Radio and home iT. It struck me that the three PCs I purchased in 2009, 2012 and 2015 all cost around A$1,500. So it seems amazing to be looking at a beast like the T7910 for the same money - what's not to like? Look forward to following your future videos on the HomeLab journey.

[@xjarhd570]

I am new to this , I have a Dell G7 that I upgrades the SSD to a Samsung 980 evo NVME m2.0 1tb and 32 gb ram. Should this cover me to get started? I also have a VM ware account, so will I be able to do the VM's I need through that? I am a cyber student and just trying to get started.

[@perkelatorZ79]

The Dell g7 laptop correct or different machine? You would be fine as long as it is 4 cores 32GB RAM is great 1tb should be fine. I have not touched VM ware so you are on your own with VM ware I tend to stay away from proprietary when I can. you can follow along with one PC just skip truenas parts. You will not have backups so don't use a production, but should be fine for homelab. You can still make snapshots to local drive just not off pc backup. Hope this helps I may make a video on single PC setup later on.

[@xjarhd570]

G7 laptop yes@@perkelatorZ79

[@TheDarrenS]

Hey Perkelator, odd question, I just got an HP Elitedesk 800 G3 mini PC Intel i5 6 Gen 3.20ghz. you might know how to help me here, I try to add a usb drive but wont see it. and only one drive is a bit useless when I need to make a pool any ideas or videos around that can explain.

[@perkelatorZ79]

So I have the HP Elitedesk 800 G4 mini PC and mine came with a place for nvme drive slot and a sata drive, so in my case I am using 1tb nvme and a 1tb ssd, it dose slow down the nvme drive. So a sata m.2 drive would be preferred just due to cost. This would not work for TrueNAS due to TrueNAS only allowing boot from a separate device from where the pools are stored. You could boot from USB for TrueNAS, but I would not recommend a flash drive, I would use a external ssd. If you had to. It also depends how janky of a setup your willing to have you can also buy NVMe M.2 to multi port Sata Adapters, the issue with these are power you would need to power all the drives to some external power. Storage really is the weak point of Tiny/Mini/Micro PCs and is the main reason I have went with a 2 server solution when using these Mini PCs, that way the proxmox node/minipc really is only responsible for compute and VM storage where the data can live on my NAS. Currently I have not touch on syncing data only to the NAS, but how to sync the entire VM, my plan is to make a video about that at some point. As far as USB drives I would recommend trying a powered one if you haven't already. In order to troubleshoot this I would also use Ventoy to boot into something like Ubuntu desktop (or any live bootable OS) and see if when you plugin in the drive it shows up in that OS. If it shows up in Ubuntu/OS then you know it is something off in either Proxmox or TrueNAS. If it dose not show up in Ubuntu/OS then it could be some odd hardware or BIOS issue potentially. I tested a USB drive on Proxmox and for me it shows just as soon as it is plugged in. On a different machine running TrueNAS my USB drive also shows up. I hope this answered your question or at least gave you somewhere to start.

[@TheDarrenS]

@@perkelatorZ79 perfectly - I am looking forward to more videos on this, I have two huge servers I can't use due to power consumption, so this is a great alternative.

[@gorillaau]

​@@TheDarrenSI have two Dell 7040 (I think is the model number) USFF form factor. I have one SATA and a 2.5" SATA drive. Originally I had the VM on the 2.5" drive but moved everything to my DIY NAS. Tip: Move the proxmox storage that's tagged for ISOs to the NAS first and make sure that you are happy with everything, including where the data ends up on the NAS server. The ISOs should be visible and accessible from all of your nodes.

[@person0z]

Hello, so i got my own HPE server at home. Having issues with it, would you be able to help me out?

[@perkelatorZ79]

It depends, what seems to be the issue?

[@person0z]

@@perkelatorZ79 well things like proxmox don't work, using spectrum. Can't port forward as it doesn't get recognized via spectrum. It's mainly networking issues

[@perkelatorZ79]

Don't work in what way? If you can access it locally I would recommend just setting up tailscale and just not port-forwarding anything I wouldn't have proxmox exposed to the internet personally I would just use tailscale which should punch though NAT. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWepqmWNi99pm80 Video I made on tailscale. Sorry this comment is so late I have just relized today that youtube studio isn't the greatest about comments that are back an forth and I haven't been checking them by just going to the video so yeah i misses this sorry about that.

[@Dreamwoodinternational]

Scored the T7820 for A$1,525 (instead of $1,800) 🤩

[@perkelatorZ79]

Nice glad to hear it let me know how everything works out for you.