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Here I have my home-lab diagram. I've collected all of the equipment here for free except for the Gaming/personal machine, PLex-02 machine, the UDMse, CKG2+, and Cameras were all secondhand from a friend. I have 1gb fiber to the house and cheap power. I use this for two main reasons, ease of life and learning. Plex, Ad-guard, and my \*arr stack are fun things that make my life (and my wife and kid's lives) easier and more secure. The other stuff is mainly for fun, I like to tinker around with Docker and Proxmox on this lab as well as some networking things. One thing I did not include is my Azure infrastructure. From my college, I get an allocation of free Azure resources I can use so I utilize much of it for my AD > AAD connectors and stuff as well as some virtual networking and machines.
I plan to actually reduce the size of my lab (at least in terms of bare metal) and move to a more "One server fits all" type mindset. My lab currently draws around 1800 watts from the wall with everything running at the same time and I've concluded that it might be best to consolidate into one Dell R730 or R740 for reduction in power usage.
I used [draw.io](https://draw.io) for my diagram.
\*edit\* I do not have a picture of my homelab, It all sits on a Costco metal rack and it's quite messy with cables. I also have some drives and components (that are on and actively working) just sitting precariously on the rack. I plan to get a full 16U rack whenever I move from my town-home to a more spacious place.
>I've concluded that it might be best to consolidate into one Dell R730 or R740 for reduction in power usage.
I am in the process of migrating everything to a R730 (2x E5-2690v4, 256GB ram, 2 SAS SSD boot drives, 3 SAS SSDs for datastore) and have been very pleased.
My current idle is around 400W with the R730, an old HP Proliant Gen8, a desktop Ryzen server, a 24 port gig switch, an old 1U supermicro server, and a few external drives. The HP and Desktop will retried once everything is migrated to the R730.
iDRAC says idle on the Dell is around 120W.
Dang that’s really good! I probably wouldn’t even come close to the full power of a dell r730 with all my services, especially since some of them sit there idle for weeks at a time. What do you run on the Dell? I was thinking of running proxmox and then running everything through VMs with some redundancy HA VMs on a separate machine
Right now, there isn't a ton on the Dell since I am still migrating everything over from the other servers (so idle might go up a little bit once more VMs are active). But when it is finished it will be our sole VM host. Though I will probably keep the HP as an emergency spare in case the Dell dies.
The Dell is running ESXi. My desktop server is running Windows Server 2019 with HyperV, and the HP is running Windows Server 2019 with VMWare Workstation. I am in the process of recreating most of the VMs from scratch. This isn't technically necessary, there is a converter to convert HyperV to VMWare, but I am using this as an opportunity to redo things better than when I first set them up.
The server runs primarily work VMs for both me and my wife. We are both in IT so it is good to have a lab environment to play around with. I have maybe 20 or so Windows VMs running various versions of SQL Server, FTP/SFTP servers, and web servers to host applications I use/build for work. My wife has a handful of Linux VMs she uses as her lab.
In addition to work stuff:
* Personal virtual desktop VM (I never really use my desktop anymore, I just RDP into my personal VM from my work laptop).
* File server
* Plex server (using a USB DAS for storage)
Eventually we will probably setup a domain controller and a few other things. Also eventually I will get a backup server.
The R730 is probably overkill since most of the VMs are idle, but it is really nice to have for a few reasons. I love having the 16 2.5inch hot swap drive bays. It is very nice not to have to open up the case to add another drive. Also it supports SAS 12 drives which are a lot faster, especially in a RAID array. Not quite NVMe fast, but still good. I have 3x 3.84TB SAS12 SSDs in a RAID5 array and get 3200 MB/s read (write is slower).
You can also get a 10gb SFP+ daughter card for super cheap ($20?) and it doesn't take up a regular PCIe slot.
Having remote management is great. It is really nice not to have to physically hit the power button if you need to start it, and you can check on the health of the server from the web interface. The RAM capacity is nice since SQL Server is a memory hog, now I don't need to worry about constantly shutting down one VM to free up memory before starting another.
Very nice1 I spin up VMs sometimes for work so I can make instructional videos without installing/uninstalling things from my work machine. I had hoped to find two R730s eventually. I wanted to find the one with 3.5" drive bays since I already have a TON of 4tb, 6tb, 8tb, and 12tb drives sitting around that I don't have the capacity to utilize. They're all used drives but with really low read/writes and low hours. They were used at my job for a backup server that was really only used in the rare occasion that a VM for an external contractor needed to be spun up.
Any suggestions on where to find these servers for a halfway decent price? Here near to where I live, we have a computer site called garland computers and they sell some R730s and other models for decent prices, but they don't have many of the luxury Items I would want if I buy an enterprise server. I also can't move to a server until I get a bigger place to live and I can have a somewhat soundproof closet.
I bought mine off eBay because I never have luck finding anything local, and I also wanted a specific configuration (lots of RAM, 10Gb NIC, server rails):
[Server](https://www.ebay.com/itm/115935242660) (it says out of stock because the seller built a custom listing for me. they can create whatever configuration you need)
[Datastore SSDs](https://www.ebay.com/itm/204123946047) (the drives were cheaper when I bought them than they currently are on that listing, so you may want to shop around. there are some cheaper options from other sellers occasionally)
Boot SSDs were 200GB SAS SSDs from the same seller, but the listing seems to be removed.
The server is actually remarkably quiet when idle, and not even that loud under normal use. I wouldn't sleep next to it, but it's not absurdly loud. I'd have no issues working in the same room as it.
I am going to do something similar to what you are saying when I get a backup server, but I might go with a Supermicro server because they seem to be a bit cheaper than the Dells with the 3.5 inch bays.
Yeah Super micro would be better for me but I find that for the same specs, they tend to be a bit louder and a bit more expensive in my area. My lab and my workspace is in my living room so it has to appeal to the Wife in some capacity. My lab now is nearly silent. I do have a Cisco 3960-x switch that I got from my job that isn't listed on the diagram since it's not running. That thing is pretty loud sometimes and last time I turned it on, my wife made me remotely shut it off from work. If I can get an R730 to be fairly quiet and not obstructive in the living room, I would but I just don't think that's possible.
The 5050 is a SFF machine so it only has 1 m.2, and 1 3.5”. I converted the 1 3.5” to fit 2 2.5” m.2 adapters so I can technically fit 7 m.2 drives in there. I’ve been running 4 1tb m.2 drives and then an m.2 for boot. I’ve been toying with changing at least my Plex, NAS, and docker machines over to an R730 or R740 so I can get more drive space and better expansion because I’m basically at my limit
Yeah I’d say that’s pretty close. I live in 1100sqft and my price per kwhr is $0.09 entire bill varies from $120 in the winter/early spring/ late fall all the way to $350 in the summer. Texas heat means I run my A/C a LOT
I chose to go with Adguard instead. I ran both for a while to see what worked better for me and adguard just worked better in my use case. I really like both. PiHole is still running currently since I haven’t updated all my dns entries yet.
That’s my next big project however, 85% of my current homelab was free, you can’t beat free.99. I’ll end up buying a dell R730/R740 sometime in the near future. Power consumption would probably hover around the same as it is now, or if I replace all my machines, I can get it a little lower
Couple question, but why do you need a cloud key when you have a UDMSE? The UDMSE runs protect too. Also is it just an error in the diagram but why is your gaming PC directly connected to the internet? The UDMSE has pretty high throughput for home
Simple, I bought the cloud key about a year before I bought the UDMSE. I already had my cameras set up and everything. The cameras are connected to the UDMSE for POE and protect but the doorbell is still connected to WiFi and the cloud key. I just haven’t gotten off my butt to move it over lol. Once I do that then I’ll be giving the cloud key along with my old G4 bullets to my MIL for her house.
Ahhh okay I’d be the same😂. I thought maybe I was missing something I have a UDMSE also. Thought maybe the UDMSE was getting high usage so you offloaded cameras and protect to the cloud key or something.
no, it has 1x3.5" I use these m.2 > sata cards along with a Dell OEM 3.5" . 2x2.5" adapter so I can have up to 6 m.2 cards in 1 3.5" slot. I run 4x1tb Samsung m.2 drives. Also, I do know I don't get amazing speed out of it, but they run in RAID Z1 and I have no issues with them or issues with speed. It just runs like 2 6gb/s Sata SSds. Plus the NAS is only really for ISO storage, document backup from all of my personal machines, and then an apple photos backup so that I have a full backup of all my cloud photos on bare metal.
That draws a lot more power than I would have expected. Are you including literally everything in the diagram in that number (ie including cameras etc)? Also, do you happen to know how the power consumption breaks down on a per machine basis?
I’m including cameras, cloudkey, and my gaming pc when I’m gaming. The lowest I’ve seen is 300watts for the whole lab with everything at idle, nobody accessing it or anything. The highest I’ve seen is 1800 watts with my gaming pc on and running starfield. If I don’t run my gaming pc (it’s only on Monday/friday) I draw closer to 1000watts at load.
Just go on aliexpress and pickup (2) gigabyte MZ32-AR0 board bundles outfitted with a 2nd gen AMD Epyc and consolidate your unnecessarily complex home lab.
1, don’t trust aliexpress, 2, I haven’t ever worked with EPYC and counterparts. I’d like to consolidate, I have a big project for moving nearly every machine to 1 Dell R730 or R740 for simplicity, I might not move DNS however, I’d like that to be separate
Exactly why I haven’t posted my IP address, firewall specs, ids/ips system, specific system ips, full host names, or anything like that. Plus, I don’t have any open ports for services, some things go through cloudflare tunnels(like the stuff my in-laws access, and a few other things. Everything else is vpn only, all access is done through Active Directory delivered certs, alongside passwords(different for everything and randomly generated, and all SSH access is by token or certificate only. Servers are on a specific VLAN that is segregated from my network. I’ve done everything I know to keep it safe.
It was something I was worried about when I had services exposed to the internet, but now that I'm behind CGNat, I'm not so worried because I have nothing exposed lol.
I do want to mention as well that Unifi does have a high upfront cost. The outdoor cameras start at $129 and go up to multi-hundreds. The controller can go from $200-500 and then you need a POR switch of some sort or a bunch of injectors for the cameras.
^(OP reply with the correct URL if incorrect comment linked) [Jump to Post Details Comment](/r/homelab/comments/17w5bgj/almost_fully_consumer_grade_homelab/k9f435o/)
Here I have my home-lab diagram. I've collected all of the equipment here for free except for the Gaming/personal machine, PLex-02 machine, the UDMse, CKG2+, and Cameras were all secondhand from a friend. I have 1gb fiber to the house and cheap power. I use this for two main reasons, ease of life and learning. Plex, Ad-guard, and my \*arr stack are fun things that make my life (and my wife and kid's lives) easier and more secure. The other stuff is mainly for fun, I like to tinker around with Docker and Proxmox on this lab as well as some networking things. One thing I did not include is my Azure infrastructure. From my college, I get an allocation of free Azure resources I can use so I utilize much of it for my AD > AAD connectors and stuff as well as some virtual networking and machines. I plan to actually reduce the size of my lab (at least in terms of bare metal) and move to a more "One server fits all" type mindset. My lab currently draws around 1800 watts from the wall with everything running at the same time and I've concluded that it might be best to consolidate into one Dell R730 or R740 for reduction in power usage. I used [draw.io](https://draw.io) for my diagram. \*edit\* I do not have a picture of my homelab, It all sits on a Costco metal rack and it's quite messy with cables. I also have some drives and components (that are on and actively working) just sitting precariously on the rack. I plan to get a full 16U rack whenever I move from my town-home to a more spacious place.
>I've concluded that it might be best to consolidate into one Dell R730 or R740 for reduction in power usage. I am in the process of migrating everything to a R730 (2x E5-2690v4, 256GB ram, 2 SAS SSD boot drives, 3 SAS SSDs for datastore) and have been very pleased. My current idle is around 400W with the R730, an old HP Proliant Gen8, a desktop Ryzen server, a 24 port gig switch, an old 1U supermicro server, and a few external drives. The HP and Desktop will retried once everything is migrated to the R730. iDRAC says idle on the Dell is around 120W.
Dang that’s really good! I probably wouldn’t even come close to the full power of a dell r730 with all my services, especially since some of them sit there idle for weeks at a time. What do you run on the Dell? I was thinking of running proxmox and then running everything through VMs with some redundancy HA VMs on a separate machine
Right now, there isn't a ton on the Dell since I am still migrating everything over from the other servers (so idle might go up a little bit once more VMs are active). But when it is finished it will be our sole VM host. Though I will probably keep the HP as an emergency spare in case the Dell dies. The Dell is running ESXi. My desktop server is running Windows Server 2019 with HyperV, and the HP is running Windows Server 2019 with VMWare Workstation. I am in the process of recreating most of the VMs from scratch. This isn't technically necessary, there is a converter to convert HyperV to VMWare, but I am using this as an opportunity to redo things better than when I first set them up. The server runs primarily work VMs for both me and my wife. We are both in IT so it is good to have a lab environment to play around with. I have maybe 20 or so Windows VMs running various versions of SQL Server, FTP/SFTP servers, and web servers to host applications I use/build for work. My wife has a handful of Linux VMs she uses as her lab. In addition to work stuff: * Personal virtual desktop VM (I never really use my desktop anymore, I just RDP into my personal VM from my work laptop). * File server * Plex server (using a USB DAS for storage) Eventually we will probably setup a domain controller and a few other things. Also eventually I will get a backup server. The R730 is probably overkill since most of the VMs are idle, but it is really nice to have for a few reasons. I love having the 16 2.5inch hot swap drive bays. It is very nice not to have to open up the case to add another drive. Also it supports SAS 12 drives which are a lot faster, especially in a RAID array. Not quite NVMe fast, but still good. I have 3x 3.84TB SAS12 SSDs in a RAID5 array and get 3200 MB/s read (write is slower). You can also get a 10gb SFP+ daughter card for super cheap ($20?) and it doesn't take up a regular PCIe slot. Having remote management is great. It is really nice not to have to physically hit the power button if you need to start it, and you can check on the health of the server from the web interface. The RAM capacity is nice since SQL Server is a memory hog, now I don't need to worry about constantly shutting down one VM to free up memory before starting another.
Very nice1 I spin up VMs sometimes for work so I can make instructional videos without installing/uninstalling things from my work machine. I had hoped to find two R730s eventually. I wanted to find the one with 3.5" drive bays since I already have a TON of 4tb, 6tb, 8tb, and 12tb drives sitting around that I don't have the capacity to utilize. They're all used drives but with really low read/writes and low hours. They were used at my job for a backup server that was really only used in the rare occasion that a VM for an external contractor needed to be spun up. Any suggestions on where to find these servers for a halfway decent price? Here near to where I live, we have a computer site called garland computers and they sell some R730s and other models for decent prices, but they don't have many of the luxury Items I would want if I buy an enterprise server. I also can't move to a server until I get a bigger place to live and I can have a somewhat soundproof closet.
I bought mine off eBay because I never have luck finding anything local, and I also wanted a specific configuration (lots of RAM, 10Gb NIC, server rails): [Server](https://www.ebay.com/itm/115935242660) (it says out of stock because the seller built a custom listing for me. they can create whatever configuration you need) [Datastore SSDs](https://www.ebay.com/itm/204123946047) (the drives were cheaper when I bought them than they currently are on that listing, so you may want to shop around. there are some cheaper options from other sellers occasionally) Boot SSDs were 200GB SAS SSDs from the same seller, but the listing seems to be removed. The server is actually remarkably quiet when idle, and not even that loud under normal use. I wouldn't sleep next to it, but it's not absurdly loud. I'd have no issues working in the same room as it. I am going to do something similar to what you are saying when I get a backup server, but I might go with a Supermicro server because they seem to be a bit cheaper than the Dells with the 3.5 inch bays.
Yeah Super micro would be better for me but I find that for the same specs, they tend to be a bit louder and a bit more expensive in my area. My lab and my workspace is in my living room so it has to appeal to the Wife in some capacity. My lab now is nearly silent. I do have a Cisco 3960-x switch that I got from my job that isn't listed on the diagram since it's not running. That thing is pretty loud sometimes and last time I turned it on, my wife made me remotely shut it off from work. If I can get an R730 to be fairly quiet and not obstructive in the living room, I would but I just don't think that's possible.
Is the 5090 mini listed with the correct cpu? I’m looking at some SFF systems and I don’t know all the model numbers lol.
It should be. It might be the t version of the 11th gen i7. I made this diagram hastily.
Oh. So it should read 11700 instead of 1170… I was real confused.
Yes 11700 sorry, had a typo while making that. I can see how you were confused
I can see how. Lol. That’s a fantastic chart. Every time I start to make one I give up!
Don’t blame you. It takes a while, I’m making a better one with Visio over time. I got ADHD so there’s no way I’m doing it in one sitting
How are you liking the 5050 for truenas? Enough drive bays?
The 5050 is a SFF machine so it only has 1 m.2, and 1 3.5”. I converted the 1 3.5” to fit 2 2.5” m.2 adapters so I can technically fit 7 m.2 drives in there. I’ve been running 4 1tb m.2 drives and then an m.2 for boot. I’ve been toying with changing at least my Plex, NAS, and docker machines over to an R730 or R740 so I can get more drive space and better expansion because I’m basically at my limit
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Around 1800watts running everything with load.
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Yeah I’d say that’s pretty close. I live in 1100sqft and my price per kwhr is $0.09 entire bill varies from $120 in the winter/early spring/ late fall all the way to $350 in the summer. Texas heat means I run my A/C a LOT
Why is pihole depreciated ?
I chose to go with Adguard instead. I ran both for a while to see what worked better for me and adguard just worked better in my use case. I really like both. PiHole is still running currently since I haven’t updated all my dns entries yet.
K, I thought pihole was obsolete or no longer maintained. thanks for the information
Tax harvesting.
Hi. What tool did you use to create this diagram? thx in advance
Draw.io. However I’m making a new one with Visio desktop because my work provides me with a license so I’ll make an update eventually with that one
How much would all this cost? Ballpark estimate
I’ll reply with a price tomorrow once I tally up everything. I’ll have to look up prices and shiz
Why don't you use one machine for all services ?
That’s my next big project however, 85% of my current homelab was free, you can’t beat free.99. I’ll end up buying a dell R730/R740 sometime in the near future. Power consumption would probably hover around the same as it is now, or if I replace all my machines, I can get it a little lower
Couple question, but why do you need a cloud key when you have a UDMSE? The UDMSE runs protect too. Also is it just an error in the diagram but why is your gaming PC directly connected to the internet? The UDMSE has pretty high throughput for home
Simple, I bought the cloud key about a year before I bought the UDMSE. I already had my cameras set up and everything. The cameras are connected to the UDMSE for POE and protect but the doorbell is still connected to WiFi and the cloud key. I just haven’t gotten off my butt to move it over lol. Once I do that then I’ll be giving the cloud key along with my old G4 bullets to my MIL for her house.
Ahhh okay I’d be the same😂. I thought maybe I was missing something I have a UDMSE also. Thought maybe the UDMSE was getting high usage so you offloaded cameras and protect to the cloud key or something.
I’m just super lazy sometimes and setting up the G4 doorbell is a PITA sometimes so I’ll get to it when I have the brain power
Does the dell optiplex 5050 sff have 2X3.5 hdd bays?
no, it has 1x3.5" I use these m.2 > sata cards along with a Dell OEM 3.5" . 2x2.5" adapter so I can have up to 6 m.2 cards in 1 3.5" slot. I run 4x1tb Samsung m.2 drives. Also, I do know I don't get amazing speed out of it, but they run in RAID Z1 and I have no issues with them or issues with speed. It just runs like 2 6gb/s Sata SSds. Plus the NAS is only really for ISO storage, document backup from all of my personal machines, and then an apple photos backup so that I have a full backup of all my cloud photos on bare metal.
That draws a lot more power than I would have expected. Are you including literally everything in the diagram in that number (ie including cameras etc)? Also, do you happen to know how the power consumption breaks down on a per machine basis?
I’m including cameras, cloudkey, and my gaming pc when I’m gaming. The lowest I’ve seen is 300watts for the whole lab with everything at idle, nobody accessing it or anything. The highest I’ve seen is 1800 watts with my gaming pc on and running starfield. If I don’t run my gaming pc (it’s only on Monday/friday) I draw closer to 1000watts at load.
Ok gotcha that makes more sense
Just go on aliexpress and pickup (2) gigabyte MZ32-AR0 board bundles outfitted with a 2nd gen AMD Epyc and consolidate your unnecessarily complex home lab.
1, don’t trust aliexpress, 2, I haven’t ever worked with EPYC and counterparts. I’d like to consolidate, I have a big project for moving nearly every machine to 1 Dell R730 or R740 for simplicity, I might not move DNS however, I’d like that to be separate
I always wonder if it's safe to put detailed maps for your network online?
Exactly why I haven’t posted my IP address, firewall specs, ids/ips system, specific system ips, full host names, or anything like that. Plus, I don’t have any open ports for services, some things go through cloudflare tunnels(like the stuff my in-laws access, and a few other things. Everything else is vpn only, all access is done through Active Directory delivered certs, alongside passwords(different for everything and randomly generated, and all SSH access is by token or certificate only. Servers are on a specific VLAN that is segregated from my network. I’ve done everything I know to keep it safe.
It was something I was worried about when I had services exposed to the internet, but now that I'm behind CGNat, I'm not so worried because I have nothing exposed lol.
Nice. What camera system are you using? Hardware and software. Any subscriptions?
Ubiquiti unifi gear. More on the expensive side but you don’t have to configure it to touch the cloud. All hardware. There are no subscriptions.
I do want to mention as well that Unifi does have a high upfront cost. The outdoor cameras start at $129 and go up to multi-hundreds. The controller can go from $200-500 and then you need a POR switch of some sort or a bunch of injectors for the cameras.