<story><title>Home Lab Hardware Guide</title><url>https://haydenjames.io/home-lab-beginners</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>KingMachiavelli</author><text>Rack mount hardware is almost always expensive, loud, and power hungry. I just have never seen the point of building a home lab like this.&lt;p&gt;A single ATX desktop can do almost [1] everything a homelab at a fraction of the cost &amp;amp; power consuption. I think a lot of the reason for homelabs&amp;#x2F;server hardware was to get access to more CPU cores, now that 8+ cores are very cheap it is actually cheaper to buy a new consumer desktop than it is to run an old server.&lt;p&gt;What makes even less sense is &lt;i&gt;wanting&lt;/i&gt; use to use software like vSphere or ESXi since its about 10x more complicated than just using virt-manager&amp;#x2F;QEMU. It&amp;#x27;s like using an excavator to dig a fire pit. Server hardware &amp;amp; software makes sense when it&amp;#x27;s not your home because then you do need a remote access tool like iDRACK. (There are DIY options if you just need something for personal use).&lt;p&gt;That said if you enjoy it as a hobby (or your homelab is actually a business thing) then go for it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>PragmaticPulp</author><text>&amp;gt; Rack mount hardware is almost always expensive, loud, and power hungry.&lt;p&gt;Buying old rack-mount server hardware for home use is almost always a mistake. Old server hardware may feel cheap when you see an old dual-socket rack mount server on eBay with hardware that was fast 8 years ago, but you can probably meet or exceed the performance with something like a cheap 8-core Ryzen.&lt;p&gt;Rack mount servers are also exceptionally loud. Unless you love the noise of small, high-RPM server fans, you don&amp;#x27;t want rack mount server hardware in your house.&lt;p&gt;And don&amp;#x27;t forget the power bill. Some old servers idle at hundreds of watts, which will add up over the several years you leave it running. 24&amp;#x2F;7 server hardware is a good example of where it makes sense to be mindful of power consumption.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; What makes even less sense is wanting use to use software like vSphere or ESXi since its about 10x more complicated than just using virt-manager&amp;#x2F;QEMU.&lt;p&gt;I disagree. ESXi is actually extremely easy to use, as long as you pick compatible hardware up front. The GUI isn&amp;#x27;t perfect, but it&amp;#x27;s intuitive enough that I feel confident clicking around to accomplish what I need instead of looking up a tutorial first.</text></comment>
<story><title>Home Lab Hardware Guide</title><url>https://haydenjames.io/home-lab-beginners</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>KingMachiavelli</author><text>Rack mount hardware is almost always expensive, loud, and power hungry. I just have never seen the point of building a home lab like this.&lt;p&gt;A single ATX desktop can do almost [1] everything a homelab at a fraction of the cost &amp;amp; power consuption. I think a lot of the reason for homelabs&amp;#x2F;server hardware was to get access to more CPU cores, now that 8+ cores are very cheap it is actually cheaper to buy a new consumer desktop than it is to run an old server.&lt;p&gt;What makes even less sense is &lt;i&gt;wanting&lt;/i&gt; use to use software like vSphere or ESXi since its about 10x more complicated than just using virt-manager&amp;#x2F;QEMU. It&amp;#x27;s like using an excavator to dig a fire pit. Server hardware &amp;amp; software makes sense when it&amp;#x27;s not your home because then you do need a remote access tool like iDRACK. (There are DIY options if you just need something for personal use).&lt;p&gt;That said if you enjoy it as a hobby (or your homelab is actually a business thing) then go for it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>p_j_w</author><text>&amp;gt;What makes even less sense is wanting use to use software like vSphere or ESXi since its about 10x more complicated than just using virt-manager&amp;#x2F;QEMU.&lt;p&gt;I always just assumed it was as a learning experience. When I was in my 20s, I didn&amp;#x27;t try to get Apache, qmail, and bind running because it was practical for me, I wanted a marketable skill. There are lucrative jobs out there for people who know these technologies.</text></comment>