I have been working a reasonably easy homelab for about 5 years, give or take. And whereas my present setup does many of the issues I would like it to do, I’ve successfully backed myself right into a nook by cheaping out on {hardware} and making another ill-advised selections that I want I might return on. Woe is me, and all that, however I do not assume I am alone right here. So, possibly my story will assist steer folks towards the trail that is proper for them.
Purchase with intention
My homelab is fairly Frankensteinian in the way in which it is put collectively. The outdated TerraMaster NAS and Beelink mini PC make for an honest pairing, however my drive sizes are fully random, starting from 3TB to 12TB. And, notably, all of my drive bays are occupied. I am additionally running UnRAID on each my NAS and mini PC—one thing I will talk about intimately shortly, however yeah, I’ve spent some huge cash tossing collectively one thing that I am simply not absolutely glad with. It serves most (however not all) of my wants, but I’ve backed myself right into a nook the place I am unable to actually make upgrades with out creating an enormous quantity of labor for myself (or nuking all of it and ranging from scratch, which I am tempted to do).
Realistically, I by no means ought to’ve encountered this downside. I knew what I needed from a house server earlier than I ever set one up; Plex streaming, an enormous quantity of media storage, sensible IP digital camera assist, a little bit gaming server stuff (primarily as a courtesy to my associates), plus sufficient horsepower to screw round with some beefy VMs. I knew that the TerraMaster actually wasn’t as much as process, however I attempted to make it work for myself in any case. And regardless of the age-old recommendation of “purchase extra storage than you assume you will want,” I cheaped out and acquired HDDs that I knew have been too small for my wants. The mini PC is nice, nevertheless it’s only a workaround for the NAS’ comparatively poor efficiency. And whereas there are some benefits to separating the brains of my homelab from all of my media storage, this association additionally launched odd bugs and different challenges, a few of which I nonetheless have not acquired round to fixing.
I ought to’ve made an enormous funding from the beginning. Like, an enormous fats six-bay DAS enclosure with a robust mini PC (or, if I used to be actually sensible, I’d’ve repurposed the desktop gaming PC that I gave away just a few years in the past). As an alternative, I’ve unfold an enormous funding over a number of years, and I am now ready the place I would like to take a position extra money to repair the issues I’ve created by cheapness and uncertainty. I would additionally prefer to assume {that a} massive preliminary funding might’ve saved me from numerous complications, however possibly that is wishful pondering on my half. I would not have wasted a lot time doing the “I ponder if this software program will crash my server” music and dance within the early days, on the very least.
7/10
- Storage
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2TB SSD
- CPU
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Intel Core Extremely 9 285H
- Reminiscence
-
32GB DDR5-5600 SODIMM
- Working System
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Home windows 11 Professional
Fitted with a high-end Intel Extremely 9 285H CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, plus a 2TB SSD, the GEEKOM IT15 is a fantastically highly effective mini PC. It might make for a fantastic desktop system, HTPC, dwelling server, or discipline PC, nevertheless it would not have a tremendous price-to-performance ratio and is not outfitted for some workloads.
You do not want two UnRAID licenses
I purchased an UnRAID license for my TerraMaster NAS a while in the past as a result of the default TerraMaster OS completely drove me up the wall. Possibly it is gotten higher, I do not know, however my relationship with it simply acquired worse and worse over time. It was sluggish and tough to work together with, it was method too fussy with Docker, and I acquired screwed over by a few half-baked firmware upgrades. A sudden drive failure (which was on no account attributable to TerraMaster) gave me the chance to say, “alright, now’s a great time to ditch TOS,” so I moved on to greener-ish pastures.
UnRAID principally solved all of my issues with TerraMaster OS. However it additionally gave me the liberty to create new issues for myself—the working system’s means to assist a multitude of random drive sizes, for instance, simply enabled my behavior of shopping for randomly-sized HDDs. And, stupidly, I purchased a second UnRAID license once I added the mini PC to my setup. So, except I take the time emigrate a system and its containers to a brand new working system, I am caught ready the place I must renew two UnRAID licenses each few years.
The NAS, which I solely use for networked file storage at this level, actually would not want UnRAID. I ought to’ve transferred my license over to the mini PC and arrange a free distro on the NAS, like Ubuntu Server or Proxmox. Hindsight, and all that.
Take note of the aesthetics
Does a homelab must be enticing? I believe the right reply might be “it would not matter,” or possibly “no person cares about your dorky little toys, recover from it.” However in any case, there’s undoubtedly some subliminal self-hatred occurring in my head each time I take a look at my networking gear. It is simply ugly. That is most likely the explanation I’ve tucked all of it away on a shelf in my workplace, the place the cables are a ache to take care of and the one community connection is an Eero mesh router node.
If I have been beginning all the pieces from scratch, I would attempt to purchase some extra enticing {hardware}. I definitely would not purchase a silver-colored NAS, whether or not it is chrome steel or aluminum or no matter (I am not a fan of chrome steel home equipment generally, they remind me of working in eating places), and I would doubtless go for one thing that at the very least seems like an all-in-one system, be it a small rack-mount factor, a desktop PC-turned-NAS in a pleasant case, a custom-built NAS in a cute micro ATX chassis, or only a intelligent pairing of similarly-sized, similarly-colored {hardware}.
My present setup seems tidy, fortunately. I used quick networking cables and ran all the facility cords down the again of my shelf. However I want I owned one thing that is much less of an eyesore in order that I might confidently put it in the lounge, plug it instantly into my main web router, and eventually resolve that self-hatred factor I discussed earlier. I notice that I might simply cover all my crap in a server cupboard (or any outdated field with air flow) and toss it wherever I would like, however I am not a very massive fan of that answer. It simply looks as if it might be a waste of cash. Though, come to consider it, possibly a cupboard would fulfill the “shopping for with intention” factor I harped on earlier.
If there’s something to attract from my ramblings, it is that try to be sensible together with your cash and plan forward earlier than making purchases. Determine why you desire a dwelling server, discover the {hardware} that it is advisable to fulfill your imaginative and prescient, and make an enormous funding now. It will prevent each money and time in the long term.
Clearly, it is arduous to know what you need or want if you’re an absolute newbie. I really counsel fiddling round with Docker, Plex, and different widespread dwelling server software program in your desktop pc earlier than shopping for any server {hardware}.
7/10
- Model
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Synology
- CPU
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Intel Celeron J4125
- Reminiscence
-
2GB DDR4 non-ECC
- Drive Bays
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4
This four-bay NAS works nice for dwelling and small workplace use, and it comes with a three-year guarantee from Synology.
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