Subj : Re: Homelab echo
To   : Avon
From : poindexter FORTRAN
Date : Mon Apr 24 2023 08:32 am

-=> Avon wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

 Av> Can you outline for me what it would be about etc and why you feel the
 Av> echo would work? I'm a novice in this area so just seeking to
 Av> understand more about it all... also interested in any others input to
 Av> this thread too to gauge interest etc.


I can give it a try - anyone out there who'd like to contribute/change
this, feel free to chime in.

Most sysops are familiar with running a second PC as a server - we've
had that box in the corner running the BBS for years. What if, when you
wanted to run a 3rd, 4th or more systems at home, you didn't have to
run any additional hardware?

That's part of what homelabbing nowadays is about. Instead of setting up
additional hardware, people have started virtualizing their home server
environments. Having a virtual environment at home where you can run
multiple virtual servers helps systems administrators to have a home
sandbox to try out systems outside of work, to prepare for tech
certifications, for freelancers to set up test environments/sandboxes,
to sysops wanting to run BBSes and services on modern hardware and to
people looking to automate their homes using Home Assistant, sharing
movies and music with media servers, or playing with old operating
systems and game consoles without needing to set up new hardware.

Over the past few years, the price of entry for hardware has dropped
considerably - a Raspberry Pi and serve several virtual servers. An
off-lease used Dell desktop can act as a home lab -- even an older
laptop can serve as a homelab. The number of free virtualization platforms
has increased as well, making it inexpensive to try out a homelab in
your home.

Somewhat related to homelabs are free tiers with cloud providers - you
can start off your Homelab journey using free services from Amazon,
Google or Microsoft, then later integrate services into a homelab, or
keep both connected.

Part of the allure of homelabbing is that you can build out a home lab
with as much power as some small corporate networks, or create a small
lab for a fraction of the cost (or even free!)

Mine started out with a $5 Goodwill router and a $10 "parts only" laptop
with a broken keyboard and scratched screen. It ran the BBS, a Windows
Active Directory test environment and a network-wide ad-blocker, and
shared videos to my Smart TVs.

What you do with a home lab is up to you. There are several people here
running some version of a homelab, and we've been sharing tips in the
echoes for some time. It'd be nice to have a single place for all of the
discussions for reference and to facilitate future discussions.

--k


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