Here’s my beautiful unemployed-for-too-long-have-no-money-dont-care-about-looks lab :)
Hey it’s more than good enough to run all this ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I used to have a random server box. This past year my hobby has been CAD work and 3D printing to turn a bunch of mini PCs into a fully remote controlled cluster, complete with a DIY IPMI KVM and custom built outlets that are controllable for power cycling (hard wired, not radio smart outlets). It’s all self-contained with a single plug to the UPS.
I plan on releasing all my models/etc as I usually do on my site when everything is finished.
I will say, I don’t miss the dusty box 😄
Edit: And yes, I color coded cables from each system. ¯\(ツ)/¯
My literal tech stack:
HP Prodesk and NUC i3: Proxmox hosts
NUC i5: Debian server (primarily docker server)
uGreen NAS: TrueNAS NFS-Storage for proxmox host (connected via 2.5G NIC)
RaspberryPi4 (NES case): docker host for pihole (so I don’t take out my whole DNS access when doing maintenance…)
White sandwich at the botom: HPE Aruba 1930 24G PoE switchAll stacked on my PC (Win11, Ryzen 5 7800X3D, 16GB RAM, RTX 3070)
Edit: Power is stable enough to not need a UPS. In fact I had never experienced a power outage at home.
Moving to a new house soon where it will be in a rack, but this is the current setup. Mini pc for opnsense, UPS and server. Behind that the spaghetti includes a kvm, switch and AP.
Can’t believe you did all that but never upgraded your RAM
Still busy building it. Have a few more parts to print, like the back trim and plug holder, and I need to remove the protective plastic from the aluminum sheets.
sexy 😍
Love it, i’ll probably end up doing something like that with a few HP elitedesk.
Thanks! I made it from some scrap pieces of wood from my IKEA headboard, aluminium extrusions and some aluminium sheets, then just 3D printed trim and fittings.
I was lucky and got a good deal on some ram, so each has 24gb.
Its supposed to be my kubernetes homelab. My actual server is hidden in the electrical box in my apartment.
Behold the Splendor!
- TerraMaster 4 bay - 30 TB usable and hosts all family services
- China special N100 - runs OPNsense
- gobox to provide a SIP DECT bridge; wife wants a landline. I don’t get it either.
- ZBT-2 ZigBee antenna for garage alarm and handling a bunch of IKEA lights.
- a Hive heating controller (UK “smart” heating system).
- A switch with bondable ports.
- All sitting on a custom-built shelf with lots of ventilation and cabling routing holes.
Kudos on taking no space.
Love this thread, here’s my contribution
Just a pi4B and some external drives for Linux ISOs
edit : they resting on a piece of foam to reduce vibrations
Bonus pic of the zigbee dongle for Home Assistant
You may get better signal by not folding the antenna.
this is the way :)
I bought a 16U rack this year to organize stuff a bit. Zigbee dongle is still installed exactly like this. I’m not convinced there’s a better solution.
Honestly, I doubt there is. You’re suspending it away from metal and wood, seems like the best solution other than replacing the antenna with something expensive and “mounting” that separately.
It is the way
That’s how my ZigBee dongle is mounted, except it’s resting on a shelf
It must hang for its sins (of not working when too close to the pi)
Nice cooler on the pi
Yea really happy with it. It only struggled some summers when I used to live in a small apartment in a large city.
✅ Rackmounted
❌ Professional
What front end are using for your apps? Looks nice.
heimdall
heimdall
they posted further down that it’s heimdall
Hey it’s my desktop! Love that case. Horizontal motherboards make more sense with how big graphics cards have gotten.
Here my homelab.
I moved not too long ago and I am still lacking some furniture, so it’s on the floor with cables lying wild. Does not look like much but it actually covers almost all my needs.
I still need a VPS because of email ports and resident ISP not being compatible…After seeing some of you guy’s set ups, I don’t feel so bad. LOL
That’s the idea :D
I wasn’t degrading. There are many nice , well equipped racks and there are smaller form factor setups, of which if they serve a good purpose and perform as expected, that’s all that matters. It’s always interesting to me the ingenious ways selfhosters will come up with to solve certain constraints, or maybe problems. With 3d printing we can make our own racks, and pieces parts for field expedient modifications or repairs.
When I was a wee lad, I could have never dreamed how far technology has brought us. I’ve watched a fad called the internet completely envelope the planet. It’s pretty wild man.
I’ve watched a fad called the internet completely envelope the planet. It’s pretty wild man.
Right? I still remember my parents and their friends telling me Internet will never take because if they want to know the weather they can turn on the radio. Glad I didn’t listen, it’s what has paid the bills ever since.
parents and their friends telling me Internet will never take
As a septuagenarian, I have tried to distance myself from that way of thinking. It’s a very isolationist type of mentality and it does not fit into my ‘wide eyed, boyish, enthusiasm’ for technology.
Awesome thread !
So many cool homelabs !
Mine is a little janky with some old tech. The tower was running an old FX-8320, but the hard drive “landed” a few weeks ago.
a bunch of ebay specials with more ebay parts scavenged over time + some 3d printing.
The centre tower has a miniitx mb and PSU behind those panels to run the NAS, and the drive bays are in the bottom.
The right is a failover cluster that isn’t finished yet.
Slick for ebay parts. The 3d printed extras are sharp.
That’s a very tiny, dense lab!
i’m not utilising it nearly as much as i should which is why i haven’t gotten around to the failover cluster yet.
Same here wrt utilization. I’ve excess capacity and can’t seem to find anything I want to use it on.
Wow, that looks really good! I like the labels on each server! Are the 3d printed parts custom or did you find them online?
Custom printed.
The front rack grills, keystone panels and thinkcentre mounts are from a website but all the other printed parts are custom.
BEHOLD! THE MOTHERBOARD!
“Beware of the leopard.”
This has got grit! I love it.
Wow!
When I’m rich I will also get a NAS/multiple drive enclosure (and fill it, hence the “rich” condition).
Two rack rails bolted together with a power strip and a tray holding my server mini PC. My router is bolted on as well to act as a switch for everything while also providing Wifi to my phone and laptop
Just a smol bramble.
- 2x RPI 5
- 1x RPI 4
- all is PoE. One head node which has a USB ssd. No SD cards.
- DH2300, with 2x2TB drives in Raid 1.
All is network booted from the head node. Had to mess around with iscsi mounted root because i’m running k3s, and it needs block devices.
Offsite backup with a Hetzner storage box.
I hope that barracuda was shucked from a Seagate Expansion lol (that’s where I got all of my barracudas).
just a HDD that was replaced by a NVMe in my desktop a while ago and I had lying around.
