I see some absolutely crazy posts here about some gorgeous hardware. It begs the question of what some of you are running. Your own intranets? Services for friends and family? LLMs? Please tell me to give me some inspiration.

I lost my job in October 2024 and started making a home lab to keep myself busy.

NAS and Nextcloud:

I started with Proxmox on a Dell T130 and messed around with a TurnKey file server as a NAS for a few weeks. I then had to replace my Xfinity router because it wasn't detecting my new machine, and I wanted to open up my server to the public internet. I ended up going with a Linksys router (way better!) and I was finally able to do the port forwarding I had dreamed of.

Originally, I was working toward setting up a NAS for my brother in NY to access. But the TurnKey web portal quit working, so I moved on to Nextcloud—which is an awesome tool.

My mistake was installing it using Snapdragon, which meant many of the source files were compressed into minimized JS files (yikes!). I tried to unminimize them but eventually gave up and reinstalled Nextcloud manually. Now, I could access the source code on my machine, which let me create an unbranded version that I shared with my friends and family!

It's live online if you want to check it out: bestdatastorage.us.

Hardware and Hosting:

Eventually, I bought a Dell T430—and, in classic DIY fashion, I installed a hard drive wrong 🤦‍♂️. The local computer tech told me to just move it back in the tray a bit, and it worked lol. Now, I had 6+TB.

I've also built websites on this system, empowered by the fact that I don't have to pay anything to host them. Because of that, I have learned a lot about React, Vite, Node, JavaScript, Nginx, and Apache.

I even deleted my AWS account after setting up my hosting system. Feels good!

Domain and Dominion:

One of my goals has been to send emails using my domain name (bestdatastorage.us) without paying monthly fees.

I tried to self-host a Mail-in-a-Box server, but Xfinity blocks port 25 (SMTP)—so no luck receiving mail. SendGrid works for sending emails, but I still haven’t found a solid receiving solution.

It looked like ForwardMail might work, but still no luck. Zoho Mail is free and lets you use your domain, but I'd love to fully self-host email eventually.

Affordable and Self-Hosted:

My goal all along has been to provide a super cheap and dependable data hosting platform that allows users to build the system they want—without worrying about:
Crazy scaling costs of big tech
Complex user interfaces
Bad customer support

I feel like I’m well on my way!

This subreddit has made me feel a lot less crazy and connected to a community during this process, so thank you—and thanks for all the good memes.

Questions for Y'all:

• What services would you like to see/ what would you pay for or be in support of?
• Has anyone successfully self-hosted email while dealing with ISP port blocks?
• Any general feedback on my setup or project vision?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

I've got a bit of a situation in my network closet. All my gear (servers, network equipment, laptops) is crammed into what's basically a glorified broom closet, and it's getting toasty in there.

I'm looking for creative cooling solutions that won't require major renovations (it's an old house). What are you all using for similar setups? I've been thinking about:

• Installing a small exhaust fan through the wall/ceiling
• Adding a portable AC unit (though I'm worried about condensation)
• Setting up some strategic intake/exhaust fans
• Maybe even relocating some of the less-heat-sensitive equipment elsewhere

All,

Bit of a regular question but with a twist. I’m already using Sophos XG and have been using it for quite a while. I like it and it does the job.

I do however get very frustrated by the clunkiness of the interface and the general slowness when interacting with WebUI. Some features as well, like same VLAN on multiple interface aren’t possible without killing the whole setup and restarting from scratch… and I do need it now.

So, should I just carry on or take the jump and switch ?

Thank you.

After some good discussion in my previous thread, I have decided to build out an OPNSense router to start my home lab setup. My plan is to get a little SFF like a Dell Optiplex or HP Elitedesk, add a 2-4 port 2.5g intel NIC and then a UF-6+ WAP for the wifi.

My goal is to eventually have a little lab with functional services such as:

• Web server for a few lightweight services I run on a VPS atm
• Media server - Definitely PLEX / Jellyfin, and play around with music as well
• NAS - probably required once the media server is going
• Game servers for my friend group

Here are the current configurations I am fielding, and I am hoping for some advice on which path might be best, as well as gear recommendations. Note: I have 1.5gb download.

1) Add a 4 port 2.5GB NIC to the SFF router which would be enough to connect my modem, WAP, my gaming PC and a server later. I would need to buy an active POE injector to power the WAP. This would be enough to get me going, and I can add the switch later.

2) Get a 2 port NIC and go straight for a managed 5-8 port switch with 2.5g ports. It looks like it would be vastly cheaper to get a switch without POE and just use an active POE injector for the WAP. I don't have much of a use for other POE devices at this time. Down the road I would be interested in learning VLANs and isolating my IoT devices, so the switch is appealing.

I have looked at a bunch of switches, but wanted to get some more advice and hardware suggestions before I commit to anything. Which solution would you recommend, and for route 2. are there any switch suggestions that would suit my needs? I am not super focused on the hardware side, so something budget friendly would be nice.

Any advice appreciated, thank you!

Hello Guys,

I am fairly new to Networking and trying to learn this. I have this idea of setting up a lab using Layer 2 and 3 and implement VPN for clients.

Can anyone points me in the right direction and how can I achieve this? Can I perform this in GNS3 or is there any other alternative to perform this?

Thank you for your time and advise.

Hello, I've got a lot of services running at home and I thought it might be the time to have a DNS server for that. Problem is, I can't change the DHCP of my ICP router so I need to make a new one.

I'm currently using pfSense for DHCP and DNS but I got told to use something else because pfSense is mostly a firewall and it was overkill, also I don't like the direction pfSense is going with the lack of update for the CE edition.

What would you recommend for me? thanks

i've been trying for the better part of 2 hours, the only thing i've been able to find is it maybe doesn't support uefi for some reason? but the machine this is replacing is 5 years older and does support uefi so idk if that's likely.. can anyone help?? i'm kinda at my wits end here, ik the raid controller battery is bad but would that cause this? it still detects the drive and detects that it has a valid os sector so i am EXTREMELY confused and lost