homelab

I have ZBOX MI571 with an i7-6700T and 16GB (SODIMM) RAM laying unused. And I want to make a personal backup/archive server, for which I think TrueNas will work best.

The box has more than enough computational power for running TrueNas. But as far as I could find it has only one SATA and one M.2 SATA port, so not enough to have a boot-pool and a redundant storage-pool. And it doesn't have any spare PCIe ports.

So I'm wondering what's my best option here? Can the drives be somehow reliability attached through USB for example? Or will it be best to buy a used mobo and ram and replant the CPU? Or should I just sell the whole thing and build a server from scratch?

It seems good based on the price of just the CPU. If it's good, what kind of server case would it need?

Not that this hasn't been asked before, but what are your favorite NAS cases on 2023?

I started with an old antec p180 case back 20 years ago.

Currently using a rosewell rsv-l4500 4u.

Really wish I could get my hands on a 45drivres style case like the q30 or something - just without the insane price tag. 😂

Hi there peeps,

Currently got an old B250M Performance motherboard, although it does the job im looking to upgrade to something that is AM4 compatible, already bought a wraith stealth cpu cooler for dead cheap second hand.

I'm changing from Debian to Unraid too, mainly using the server as media server, but hosting some other apps too. Only got one ssd, the rest are hdds, so multiple ssd slots are not much of interest for now at least.

Is there anything I should be looking for in a motherboard whilst browsing? Anything that would make it more future proof etc? I don't really know a whole lot about Motherboards.

Appreciate any tips 😇

I've spent far longer than expected to set up an VLAN on my network for IoT devices which I don't want to have access to the internet. I'm running RB4011iGS+ router with RouterOS 6.48.4 and what I thought was a simple change took the whole network down for a while.

Granted, I'm not the most skilled network admin around, but I have built networks in the past and I'm (partly) maintaining them at work, but apparently I'm approaching this somehow from the wrong angle.

The current setup is a single subnet (172.17.0.0/24) where Mikrotik manages firewalling and DHCP without VLAN. WAN side has SPF module for the uplink, couple of bridged ports for that to provide raw internet to my server, some static mappings on the DHCP and things like that, pretty basic stuff. Other hardware includes Unifi access points, manageable switch and various stuff which just connects to the network.

Now, I'd like to add a VLAN (id 20, not that it matters) on the setup so I could have another /24 subnet for IOT devices. What I tought would be enough to take couple of ports from the existing LAN bridge, create a new bridge, set up an VLAN interface with IP, DHCP server and just connect tagged port on my switch, connect laptop for testing for untagged port and configure switch so that I could have another SSID on access points on that VLAN and connect couple of other things directly on the switch.

There's plenty of guides around the net, but when I attempted to follow them I ended up in a situation where untagged port just would not work with ARP. I could dump traffic on my laptop with wireshark and there's ARP 'who-has' requests running, but Mikrotik won't reply on those no matter what I do. Same of course goes with DHCP requests and all traffic in general. My laptop would receive ARP query when attempting to ping it from the router, and laptop would respond, but sniffing traffic from the mikrotik port the reply just disappears somewhere. No matter if I have the switch in between to untag VLAN for the port or directly connecting cable to the mikrotik or even moving the laptop to VLAN20 and using that as a test setup.

What I'm currently assuming is that the problem is with non-tagged "general" network I'm running. As in VLAN20 and VLANnothing somehow are fundamentally incompatible on RouterOS, but that seems kind of backwards.

The end goal would be to have a trunk port on the router and on the switch and distribute VLAN to ports as needed. Or even a port for generic use and another for VLAN networks. Maybe someone here is more experienced with RouterOS and could point me to the right direction?

Hi, could you help me and recommend a good upgrade for my (dated) home server?

I'm currently running Unraid on an ASRock H97 Pro4 and an Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3, together with 24GB DDR3 RAM, a NVIDIA GTX 960 (for hardware transcoding) and a few old, mismatched HDDs. I chose this hardware mostly, because it was cheap/easy to get or I had it laying around. The server is primarily running Plex and the *arr-Stack, as well as smaller, less demanding applications and is showing it's age. I also want to add a VM for my wife or occasional guests to game on. Because of this, I think it's time for an upgrade, but I'm not really sure, what hardware to choose.

My current requirements would be the following:

• Should be able to run the following applications easily
  • Plex (2-3x 1080p should be enough, but a little bit of overhead can't hurt)
  • Sonarr/Radarr/SABnzbd
  • Tdarr Server + Node to transcode new media in the background; this is mostly for space savings. I'm currently running the node on my gaming PC, but want the server to do this in the background 24/7
  • overhead to do a little bit of tinkering and running smaller applications; I think, most of the load will be from Plex, Tdarr and the other *Arrs
• At least 6 SATA connections OR extra space for an adequate HBA card
  • I want to connect 3-4 Drives and have the possibility of adding some later; Querstion: What drives would you recommend? At least 10GB per drive. Im currently looking at 3x WD Red Plus 10 TB (one as parity).
• 2 M.2 slots
  • a dedicated cache drive (for IO) as well as a drive to put the VMs/Appdata onto; Question: Is this even needed, or would one (bigger) SSD be enough?
• dedicated GPUs for Plex/Tdarr hardware transcoding as well as gaming so I can assign each to the relevant VM (one will probably be windows)
• be future-proof so I don't have to upgrade again in a few years
• adequate power consumption (assuming an idle state without active gaming or transcoding); I also want to reuse the 500W be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM I already got.
• fit in the Fractal Design Define R5
• 1GB ethernet
• be as quiet as possible
  • I already got noctua case fans and will probably throw an NH-D15 on the CPU

I'm especially unsure regarding the choice of Motherboard, CPU and GPU(s). I looked at the X570 FTW WIFI ATX Motherboard with a Ryzen 5800X to get good, future proof processing power and all the features I need, but am absolutely unsure if thats overkill or not. As GPUs I chose two GTX 1660 Super (for now), because I found recommendations for this card for transcoding as well as playing current titles on medium to high settings. Here I'm unsure if it is overkill for transcoding and maybe a bit dated for current gen gaming.

If possible, the parts should be buyable new, as thats way easier for me, than hunting on the used market.

I have been thinking of completely going off Google. I have a Nextcloud server for documents and contacts and calendar. Thinking of moving mail away too. Currently I am conflicted between hosting my own email server. On searching only advice I am getting is not to do it.

How many of the homelabers do host their own email server? What software do you use? Any tips.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/4824046

Okay so im planning to buy a new m2 ssd for my elitedesk. I got a 256 gb m2 ssd today but it’s starting to fill up.

But I’m wondering if I just can get a new one and transfer everything from the old ssd to the new one?

I’m using proxmox now. Is there anything I need to consider?

So I was recently gifted some Mellanox 40gig network cards that I installed in my NAS and my desktop and connected with AOC fiber. I gave them both static IP addresses on their own dedicated subnet that's not used anywhere else in my network. I was able to run iperf3 between both computers, and that worked exactly as expected.

At that point, I edited /etc/fstab to update the IP addresses for my mounted network shares. I ran # mount -a successfully and thought all was well.

The problem is, my computer defaults to my one gig lan connection for some reason, despite the entries in fstab using a completely different subnet.

The only way I've found to force it to work properly is to disable my LAN connection, then remount the network shares, then reenable the LAN port.

On one occasion I noticed that a file I was duplicating on my NAS was being downloaded via my LAN to my computer to duplicate, then being uploaded back to the NAS via the fiber connection.

Does anyone have any clue why this may be happening or how to fix it more permanently?

The NAS is Debian, my desktop is Manjaro.

services:
  db:
    image: mariadb
    restart: always
    command: --transaction-isolation=READ-COMMITTED --log-bin=binlog --binlog-format=ROW
    volumes:
      - ./mysql:/var/lib/mysql
    environment:
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=supersecretpassword
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=nextclouddb
      - MYSQL_USER=nextclouduser
      - MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD='yes'

  redis:

    image: redis

    restart: always

    command: redis-server --requirepass supersecretpassword2

  app:
    image: nextcloud:27
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 8080:80
    links:
      - db
      - redis
    volumes:
      - ./html:/var/www/html
    environment:
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=supersecretpassword
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=nextclouddb
      - MYSQL_USER=nextclouduser
      - MYSQL_HOST=db
      - REDIS_HOST_PASSWORD=supersecretpassword2
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
  cron:
    image: nextcloud:27
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - ./html:/var/www/html
    entrypoint: /cron.sh
    depends_on:
      - db

Hello,

I have around 3/4TB of photos (i store a JPG and a raw file) from maybe years. I just have them on a (external) 4TB HDD, and once a year i back them up to another (external) 4TB HDD (that i for the most part stored on the same location). I recently build a small homelab, just one old gaming pc. Now I and my family use Nextcloud notes, nextcloud contacts, nextcloud calendar, nextcloud phonetrack and more. I thought it would finally be a good time to transfer the photos to a ssd and use them with nextcloud so everyone can view the photos anyware! I run proxmox, so I want to buy one 8TB ssd (or 2x 4TB SSD Raid 0) and use it with something like truenas, to make it available for another proxmox vm where i host nextcloud.

Few questions: can nextcloud store this much? And will it cost any performance? The photos don't really have any metadata, i just stored them in a folder structure like 2017 -> September ect, will this work with nextcloud? And the most important question: how can i make a GOOD backup system for this? I tought maybe a (encrypted) backup in the cloud, but its just expensive and i dont like the dependence. Any ideas?

Hopefully you can give me some tips and insights about how you would handle this. Thank you!

I've been running a full tower Windows server with a dozen drives for a decade and decided to downsize. This ministack does everything I need at a fraction of the power, noise, and heat.

I use it primarily for Plex but also host a few games servers for buddies. It fits perfectly in my entertainment center.

Spent around $200 on the Mac Mini plus $600 on the drives and enclosures. I'm using SoftRAID for RAID1.

I was attempting to connect 3 PC's (Personal and two servers) via the TL-SG105 un-managed network switch. Beforehand i just connected one server and the personal pc into another switch i have. But i got this switch to accommodate this new server. However it seems as soon as i plugged in and turned on the new switch all of a sudden both servers no longer are able to recognize their cables. Personal PC is running linux mint, one server(the one i had before) is also running linux mint, and another server is running ubuntu 22.04.

• Home network consists of 1 comcast gateway (modem+router combo) with two ethernet LAN ports. One ethernet LAN port is connected to a seperate switch that functions perfectly for all other devices connected to it, the other is connected to TL-SG105.

• Personal PC can connect to internet just fine, either threw TL-SG105, or the other switch- I have attempted to plug both servers directly into the other switch and still no link.- Both servers show via ifconfig command that their respective ethernet flags indicate UP, but not RUNNING. Usually this means cable is not recognized. confirmed via ethtool command that link status is 'NO'

• Swapped cables between all 3 devices on TL-SG105 and confirmed all cables are operational.

• Reset TL-SG105 multiple times during each swap of cable. And restart network manager multiple times as well as turned both servers on and off again.

Edit: I actually had to double check the switch, turns out i do have the SG105 not the SG105E. SG105E is managed, i have unmanaged.

Do your chats look like this? Do you always forget which contacts use which apps? Do you wish there was a way to have all your chats in just one place?

In the following guide I'm going to show you how to use Matrix to achieve your dream of an all-in-one chat app, by using Matrix bridges and securing the connection with Cloudflare Tunnels.

We're renovating a house and I'm looking to add some smart home devices in the home. This gives me a perfect excuse to renew my current home network setup. I currently have a simple setup: my ISP router + an unmanaged 16port switch with 2 Unifi AC Pro APs (feed using PoE injectors). I want to give the 2 Unifi APs to friends of mine so I'm looking at a total newal of my network.

I have a homeserver which runs 25+ containers, some for home use and some that I expose to the internet as well.

Since I'm adding smart home appliances (most z-wave but I will have to use some Wifi devices as well) to the network, I'd like to isolate these devices and give them minimal access to the internet and my own network. Since this will require me to setup VLANs I also want to setup multiple VLANs for various needs (see below).

As I'm not a network expect (I have basic knowledge) I like SDN setups. I was doubting between Unifi and Omada, after reading many posts I've got the feeling that Unifi isn't the same company it was 5 years ago, the router solutions Unifi is selling don't really seem to fit my needs (dream router/machine). The older Unifi routers feel like a better fit, however I'm worried that they will becom EoL and will no logner receive security updates. After learning that the Omada APs support PPSK without RADIUS - which allows me to use 1 SSID and have clients added to a VLAN depending on their passphrase - I decided to give Omada a chance.

I want to buy a smart doorbell (reolink), I don't plan on recording 24/7 or having any security camera's however I do worry that if I do get them I might hammer my router since the traffic streams will have to be routed between VLANs. However L3 switches are way pricier so I'd like to try with my current setup and upgrade if need be if/when the time comes.

I read that Omada routers are also not that great (I would primarily be using it to configure the routing between VLANs). And was doubting between opnsense or mikrotik, I got the impression that the Mikrotik (while harder to configure initially) is more a set and forget solution with enough capacity for my needs.

I want to buy the following hardware (fanless is a must):

• MikroTik RB5009UG+S+IN
• TP-Link JetStream TL-SG2016P (16 ports will be enough, I expect to require 3 PoE ports)
• 2 * TP-Link EAP650 - I like their small form factor and PPSK

I want to configure the following vlans:

• VLAN 10: 192.168.10.0/24 - management vlan
  • Contains: pihole, VPN server, network devices, omada controller
  • Access to: all vlans
• VLAN 20: 192.168.20.0/24 - private services vlan
  • Contains: server containing 25+ containers and home assist server
  • Access to other vlans: 30
• VLAN 30: 192.168.30.0/24 - shared services vlan
  • Contains: chromecasts, printers, other services I would like to expose to guests and home users
  • Access to other vlans: none
• VLAN 40: 192.168.40.0/24 - smart home devices vlan (via wifi or wired)
  • Contains: smart home sensors/devices + home assist server
  • Will not have access to the internet
  • Would like to have client isolation if possible/feasible
  • Access to other vlans: none
• VLAN 50: 192.168.50.0/24 - smart home devices vlan with internet access (via wifi or wired)
  • Contains: hopefully nothing, devices that require internet access to function
  • Would like to have client isolation if possible/feasible
  • Access to other vlans: none
• VLAN 200: 192.168.200.0/24 - Home users (via wifi or wired, mac address whitelisted?)
  • Contains: home users
  • Access to other vlans: 20, 30, 210, 220
• VLAN 210: 192.168.210.0/24 - VPN users
  • Contains: VPN users Access to other vlans: 30
• VLAN 220: 192.168.220.0/24 - Guests users (wifi only or wired)
  • Contains: guests
  • Access to other vlans: 20, 30, 200, 210

I plan to assign 3 VLANs to my home assistant server so it can be reached by the smart home devices and it can be reached by home users, however there might be better solutions to solve this.

I'm also wondering if it would make sense to split my 25+ containers over multiple vnets (putting containers reachable from the internet in a seperate VNET).

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

I previously (and sort of still do) ran my homelab on a Raspberry Pi 4B with 4GB of RAM. That lab still exists but I recently picked up an Orange Pi 5B with 8GB of RAM and have been building out my services from scratch.

This time I thought I would do it properly with a reverse proxy through Caddy and email notifications, neither of which I made use of before.

It’s improved my experience so much! Being able to access my services from beyond my network without necessarily having to be connected to my VPN is great. My goal is to spin up my own Mastodon and Lemmy instances but it’s sort of a bit daunting to work out hosting them inside of Docker like the rest of my services. If anyone has any good guides or suggestions I would be interested.

Also looking for suggestions on ways to add some mass storage to this setup, I previously used a Drobo 5N2 but a quick google will tell you the way that company went.

I recently obtained a Dell t620 that I've rack mounted, and I'm using to upgradey homelab. I'm also thinking I should upgrade my routernsince I'm having to reconfigure a lot with the new server(I have a 12 year old Netgear wireless router).

Any recommendations for a rack mounted router?

Basically, I'm building a home and getting it wired with Ethernet cabling. I didn't want to get too much into the technical details, so I just provided the builders with locations where I want RJ45 ports, along with one spot where I just said "24-port patch panel" (the number of ports located elsewhere being 22.

I did some Googling and figured the patch panel should cost at most $150 in hardware costs (I found plenty of sub-$100 options, but a couple of more expensive ones and would not have been . I didn't mention anything about needing a rack because I thought it would be something that could just go directly in the wall. (And then I could buy a switch and use it to connect pretty much all the ports from the patch panel to the router.)

The builder came back to me with an estimated cost of:

• $465 for a server cabinet: SEVCBN -6RU – 66WM
• $567 for a patch panel: NCO760242563
• $148 install charge

They gave me specific model numbers for the patch panel and server cabinet, but I can't find information about whether that's the actual cost of them, because the costs are locked behind having an account with the B2B retailers.

Does their proposed patch panel costing about 4x what I was expecting actually seem likely to give any value? Is there are explanation for that cost?

Secondary question: is having a wall-mounted cabinet worthwhile? How will it work in terms of installing a switch and connecting from the patch panel to the switch?

Thanks!

It scratches the surface of the most obvious stuff. I'd only add running apps in isolation (docker or adduser) and maybe fail2ban.

I bought a Eaton Ellipse Eco 650 USB DIN for my Homelab. I connected it to my nas which is running OpenMediaVault because OMV has a NUT Plugin. I conneced it, it got recognised and i thought i should test it. So i switched the breaker off and my nas turned off safely after my entered time. I then went to turn the breaker back on, but after a few seconds the ups shuts the power off all devices and applies it after a second. This only happens when the nas is connected via usb.

• is there a setting that i missed in nut?
• is my ups broken (i dont think so)
• what could be the problem?

Edit: Wow, the Eaton Germany Support is terrible. I called them multiple times and i think they dont even have a Call Center. I now submitted a Support Ticket. They could at least tell you that they dont have telephone support right now. If i get a response i will update this.

Edit2: It turns out, it was a issue with the integrated nut tools in OpenMediaVault. After removing them and installing them via apt and configuring it with the config files, it works without any power loss.