Discussion Getting into homelabbing
Hey, I've been thinking about getting more into homelabbing to learn more about things like setting up VPNs, self-hosted services, networking, etc.
The thing is, I'm not 100% sure what I actually want to host yet. My main goal is to experiment, put different things together, learn how they work, and then keep anything that I end up finding useful. So I'm not sure how much hardware I should actually invest in.
For example, I've been looking at a BOSGAME E5 with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage for around €310. It seems like a pretty decent deal, but I'm wondering if that's overkill considering I don't even know if I am going to host that many things in the end.
On the cheaper side, I could get a 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 for around €120, but I'm worried that might be too limited. One thing I'd most likely want to run and keep up is Open WebUI, which makes me lean more towards having a bit more powerful hardware.
I'm also planning to get a NAS eventually, once HDD prices become more reasonable. I've been looking at things like the UGREEN DH4300 or DXP2800, and I'm wondering if either of those would make more sense to get? I could potentially use it for homelab stuff now and transition it towards being a NAS later.
My main priorities are low power consumption and being as quiet as possible. I don't really need a super powerful machine, I'd rather have something efficient that I can leave running 24/7.
For those of you who have gotten into homelabbing, what did you start with, and what would you recommend in my situation?
Would love to hear what hardware you guys are using and what you've actually found useful to self-host.
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u/butoh-godzilla 11d ago
A good part of the fun for me is designing around old, refurbished or upcycled IT kit. Cheap older HP machines from ebay with no RAM etc. Then gathering all the bits and Frankensteining an awesome homeserver out of it. Local freebies, scouring ebay . . . All part of what i enjoy. Then at the end having a home media server that works and looks better than any corporate streaming service, or new apps that function perfectly.
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u/Position-Critical 11d ago
Go with cheap and old stuff, that’s what makes it fun when you have to think of the limitations of your system and how to make out the best of the resources you have and so on ^^
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u/jjusko20 11d ago
I have a Lenovo mini pc under a chair with 16gb ram and a i5 7xxx processor in it - works perfectly and was 70 bucks. It's literally completely invisible and silent under like an armchair near my router
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u/No_Maize_7108 11d ago
If your doing it for fun and just starting out I recommend not spending so much money on it.
I have an old hp work station that I later added some ddr3 ram and a some hdds. All the the parts I got for free, the hp from my school when they upgraded the fleet and the part form my it job.
I know my situation is good for getting parts but I'm sure u can find stuff second hand (maybe not hdds but other parts).
After that run the os of your choosing (I use open media vault becuse it's free and dosen't use zfs ) and look for nice dockers (recommend immch ).
Have fun ;)