Home Lab - Picking a server

Go with a refurbished Dell Optiplex 780 minitower. They are quiet, energy-efficient, inexpensive and can easily accommodate 16GB of memory, a Q9650 quad core CPU and four hard drives with on-board RAID-1 in-hardware support.

A mid-level workstation would be fine and would probably be more suitable in an environment where you might want to sleep at night. A rack server would be better suited to an environment where you can put it far away from any living quarters. Or you can build a custom box which works fairly well, particularly with Hyper-V or with vSphere 6.0.Otherwise check out these previous posts:Home Network Lab... Where to begin?Cheap server for a home lab
What hardware for ESXi home lab
Setting up a lab environment
New home lab server - build or off shelf?
Building a Home Lab = Virtual, Pricing
I personally just use a Lenovo D20 workstation for my lab.

Similar Messages

  • What is the best backup configuration for a home lab?

    Depends on your budget and complexity requirements. Offsite? Redundant? Free or paid? You also don't need a product to backup VM's and you can script this as well. Some good products that are free for a couple VM's are Veeam and Unitrends.

    Hi there,
    I am currently making a home lab environment to learn Microsoft technologies (at present), I wish to create a file server to store evaluation software, documentation and personal data. I currently use a total of 100GB of hard disk space for all this data...
    How often do you recommend me backing up this data using Windows Server 2012 R2?
    I also plan on implementing Volume Shadow Copy in the near future...
    This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

  • Home LAB Setup Advice

    Dear All,
    I would like to know and get advices from you guys how to setup home lab?
    The configuration i have
    1 server with below mentioned config
    Intel Xeon 2.3Ghz dual Processors in Intel s5000PSL Motherboard
    12GB RAM
    500GB SATA HDD
    Rackable Server with Virtualization Bios enabled
    I have installed Windows 2012 R2 Datacenter Evaluation for 180 days and i have setup Domain Controller and HYPERVServer in that Machine
    I have created 3 Virtual Machines in that Server
    1. Domain Controller Windows 2012 R2 Datacenter Eval
    2. Additional DC same windows 2012 R2 Datacenter Eval
    3. Win 7 64bit Client VM for me to test
    Please advice me i need to configure more servers in this HyperV Server and to learn
    Please advice what servers i can configure to setup home lab to learn and practice.
    I need to install exchange 2013 also in my mind.I have aDSL at my home with domain name.
    Your Valuble inputs are appreciated.
    Thanks in advance
    Tony

    Hi Sir,
    >>Please advice me i need to configure more servers in this HyperV Server and to learn
    >>Please advice what servers i can configure to setup home lab
    to learn and practice.
    I agree with Tim .
    Actually you can install any OS in the guest OS list to build what  the lab you want  :
    https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn792027.aspx
    Best Regards,
    Elton Ji
    Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected] .

  • AMD or INTEL i7 for ESXi 5.1/5.5 Home Lab?

    Which processor is better for a VCP 5 home lab?
      I now have the money to start building my VMware home lab and wanted to get some opinions on which processor to purchase.  I've been thinking of using the AMD processor for the following reasons.
    1.  Cost is lower
    2.  AMD provides 8 cores at a price compared to 4 cores on an Intel processor
      No matter which processor I use research tells me having as much memory as I can afford is primary.  I've allotted funds for 32GB of memory for my lab and expect to purchase the hardware and start building soon.  Maybe build one of each to compare for myself?
      One question that someone might ask me is what do I plan on using my lab for and the answer to that is extensive.  My plan is to build two machines with a shared storage array and to prepare for the VCP 5.x certification.
      I have a background as a Windows NT/2000 System Admin and over 10 years as a Network Engineer.  In addition to creating a Private Cloud at home I'll use my lab to get certified in the latest Server Admin for MCSE, VOIP and more.
      In the past I've always purchased the hardware to accomplish what VMware will at a fraction of the cost.

    Either processor will work fine but since you can get more bang for your buck with AMD I would go AMD - also to ensure a smooth construction of your lab make sure the all components are on the HCL -

  • VOIP home lab with cisco 2620 and VIC-2FXO port

    Hi all,
    I m considering building a home lab for studying CCVP, the lab would be based on the follow components :
    - CUCM 8.X (already installed)
    - A couple of soft phones running in VMWARE with IP Blue and CIPC (they are already in place and registered with the CUCM)
    - Cisco router 2620 with NM-2V and VIC-2FXO-M2 (for europe, I'm in France)
    so here are my questions :
    1/ it looks like the NM-2V comes with integrated DSP, so I should not need more DSP, I have got one PSTN analogic line only so I can make only one call at a time, please confirm
    2/ my analog line comes via my home internet provider dsl box, i have already tried to connect an analog phone and it works, please confirm the router will be able to receive and place calls
    thanks for your help, I m looking forward to begin my voice lab

    1. Yes, the NM-2V has built-in DSP resources for up to four calls (max voice port density with two 1st generation VICs). You cannot add further DSP chips to the NM-1V/2V, nor would you need to for what it does. You have one PSTN phone line, thus you can only make one call at a time. If you had a second line you could use the other FXO port for a second concurrent call.
    2. If the phone line works then it will work with the router to make and receive calls. As Gregory said, just configure dial peers for what you need to do.
    Here is some info on the NM-2V:
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps2617/products_tech_note09186a0080094ac0.shtml

  • Home Role in Development server not appearing

    Hi Experts,
      I found a role called "Home" in my production server and I would like to have the same role in development server as well. I assigned same roles to my user id which availabe in the production server to my user id in development server.  But ! I don't find that role in my development server .
    Can anybody tell me what could be the reason ?
    Thanks in advance
    Suresh

    Hi goto user admin, select the user and then clcik on assign role and search for eu_role & eu_core_role
    add these role to your user.
    You will get HOME
    Cheers!!
    SJ.

  • How to have the network users home folder on the server

    I have snow leopard server up and running and I want to have the network users home folder on the server, instead of it being located on the connected computers. This way the users can access their folders from other computers in the network

    In addition you have to make the sharepoint able to be automaticly mounted. The manual say this is very important.
    But you should really read the announced manual. All the manuals all filled with step-by-step instructions for modifiing many preferences... That´s my experience!
    Now I´ve got a question, too...
    My OD-Master is bound to AD. I try to use win-Accounts for workin on mac. It work pretty good, by using an group-account. In this group-account I cennect the win-accounts to instruct all the restrictions I´ve set for user-accounts.
    But this way I can´t create a homefolder on a share...
    The share(netusers) is on the same server(mac-server2) like OD-Master is running. I´ve set the path for creating homefolders in Mobility option on "//mac-server2/netusers" for the group-account the AD-user is member of.
    Is it the wrong way?

  • Oracle multiple homes on a single server

    This is about maintaining multiple oracle homes within a single server for different oracle versions.
    On a Solaris-9 server I need to have 2 11g versions where 11.1.0.6 serves one instance and 11.1.0.7 is expected to serve 2 upgraded database instances.
    For multiple homes involving full installations it is simply a matter of installing software in a new home with a new home-name. But 11.1.0.7 is a patch installation that needs an existing 11.1.0.6.
    What is the recommended approach in this case to host multiple oracle homes?
    Oracle's documentation claims their cloning tools can be used (prepare.pl and clone.pl perl scripts).
    It also has something on runInstaller -clone mention.
    What I've achieved so far is:
    (1) Install 11.1.0.6 via Solaris-packaging onto a clean server. This installed onto $ORACLE_BASE/product/11.1.0 using ORACLE_HOME_NAME=OraDb11g_home1
    (2) Upgrade this to 11.1.0.7
    (3) Detach this oracle-home from global inventory
    (4) Rename the folder 11.1.0 to 11.1.0.7
    (5) Re-attach as new oracle-home (name=OraDb11g_11_1_0_7) and relink at the same time using runInstaller -clone command
    I am no DBA, so I'd like to know if the above approach is good enough or if there is any other recommended approach.
    Many thanks.
    G.Sharma.
    Edited by: Sharmag on May 31, 2012 11:38 AM

    @Helios, thanks but curious - why is this not stuiable under installation? - regards,
    @Shrini - I am using Solaris packaging for installing oracle software. So unless I rename the target folder I cannot achieve different the same 11.1.0.6 in 2 different folders.
    Even if I managed to tweak Solaris packaging and install the second oracle (11.1.0.6) into a second folder, wouldn't that be the same as renaming an oracle folder-name? In this case, we still would end up with the same issue of relinking and correcting the global inventory.

  • Call Home w/o SMTP Server

    The Cisco 9216i switch's mgmt interface is on a private LAN that does not have an SMTP server. Is it possible to route outbound email through a gigE interface which is also an FCIP ISL?
    Has anyone had success at implementing Call home without a SMTP server? For instance, it would seem feasible to forward either SysLog or SNMP Traps to a receiver then have email initiated from the receiver.
    This seems like a weird limitation given all of the other capabilities of the switch.
    Thanks, Craig

    Hi Craig,
    Callhome through the gigE won't work. Reasoning is as follows. When you do a Callhome alert, the Callhome process will attempt to setup an SMTP connection. If you define a static route out the gigE interface then it will at least initiate the first TCP SYN out the gigE interface. The SYN packet is destined for the SMTP server (tcp port 25) and will be sourced with the gigE interface ip address. But when the SMTP server replies the TCP stack behind the gigE interface will issue a RST (reset). This is because the gigE TCP stack will not accept TCP connections other than FCIP or iSCSI. This is by design. For the same reason you cannot bring up the MDS http welcome screen through the gigE ip address.
    You can however use IPFC to route the Callhome SMTP traffic over the FCIP ISL to a remote switch that is acting as a default IP gateway, but of course the remote switch must have ip connectivity via it's mgmt interface to the SMTP server.
    Lastly, Callhome always requires an SMTP server. Forwarding traps to an external management server that then uses email or pager is an alternative to Callhome...you won't need to enable Callhome feature to do that.

  • Ubuntu Linux (Home Lab)

    Thanks very much for the replies!
    My girlfriend's going to love me as I build as restore VMs every night! haha 

    Hi,
    Just looking for opinions on the best way to build an Ubuntu Linux home lab for experimentation/messing up. I'm new to Linux and looking to increase my knowledge outside of my general work knowledge of Windows and looking to learn command line stuff for Linux as it'll help me with VMWare/ Virtualisation etc.
    I'm planning on installing it on a partition next to Windows 10 in a Home Lab so I'm open to discussion on that subject too. Thought I'd pose the question before dual booting Ubuntu and finding it ruins everything I've built or something.
    All input welcome,
    Cheers!
    This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

  • Home Lab with Domain - Windows 10 upgrade

    As long as the OSes that you intend to upgrade to W10 are not volume licenses, then the upgrade process will properly handle the activation and product key details. (If you do an in-place upgrade. You can't overlay a fresh install until you first do an upgrade)

    I have a home lab setup with 2012 R2 DC. All of my Windows machines both physical and virtual are joined to the Domain setup here. They're currently running a mix of Windows 7 Pro and Windows 8.1 Pro. Will I be able to get the free Windows 10 upgrade for these? None of them are currently showing the "Get Windows 10" app icon.
    This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

  • Need advice on Home Lab build

    Yeah, that's an option too - that's exactly what I was running on my Macbook Pro, but I am can't find a list of limits of the nested solution. Looks like I won't be able some networking feature, e.g. LACP. What are the other limits?

    Hi guys,I am about to order a bunch of hardware for my new vSphere home lab, my 16GB Macbook Pro is not enough anymore.The problem is I haven't been building PCs for ages so I am concerned I might miss something (e.g. fan, cable, tools?) or some of the components could be incompatible.So I would really appreciate your advice/help on the following shopping list (the prices are in AUD)I will have 2 ESXi hosts with SSD drives for vFlash Read Cache and 4x 1TB drives in RAID10 as iSCSI storage. Each host will have 16GB of RAM for now, will expand to 32GB later.I was thinking about 8core Avaton, but it doesn't have VT-d and is not significantly cheaper than E3, at least here in Australia.Also I thought about using Avaton as white box for the storage, but again it will cost me pretty much the same I would pay for Synology DS415+.Advice on the...
    This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

  • UE-V in home lab, what am I doing wrong.

    Hi All, I have a server 2012 lab at home, DC, FS and 2x8.1 workstations. On the FS, I have a location for UE-V templates, and in AD for my profile, I have only a Home share pointinting to a folder on the FS. Group policy wise I placed the UE-V ADMX files
    in, and managed to get GP to deploy the agent to my machines attaching to the OU my machines are a member of...in sub OUs under main OU I created. UE-V GP settings under Computer Config are: Setting storage path enabled \\FS\share\%username%. Setting template
    catalog path \\fs\templatefolder with Replace the default MS Templates box ticked. Use User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) enabled.
    No on first 8.1 machine I open calculator, and the local cache package file get's updated, as doe the FS copy my AD profile is configured to point too.If I do the same on the 2nd 8.1 machine, same...updates cache and server copy fine.
    But if I change to statistics layout on PC1 and then open it on PC2, it's not reflected.
    I am logged into both VM's with same account....so can anyone help me fill in what I'm missing ?

    Hi ChillMarineGod,
    Please read through the 'About User Experience Virtualization 2.0' article. In particular, the section titled 'Client-side cache (CSC) no longer required. It explains some of the differences
    with the synchronization between the older versions of UE-V and the latest version. There is a good explanation of the new Sync Provider also in this
    Springboard Series Blog post, with links to more documentation on this subject.
    One of the reasons that it might not be picking up the changes on PC2 right away is that if the sync takes too long (2 seconds, I believe is the default), it will cancel the sync so the application can open in a reasonable timeframe.
    Hope this helps,
    David
    MDOP on the Springboard Series on TechNet

  • Are there any sequential labs for the Server 2012 Exams?

    Virtualbox might work on Win 8.1 home:
    https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

    I have been studying the Server 2012 Videos and doing the online free labs, but they cover different parts of 2012 server. What I would like to get are sequential labs for 70-410, 70-411 and 70-412 so that I may have hands on as well as video and book training. I would even pay for the service. Please let me know if such a thing exists. I guess what I am asking is, can I get what a course wares lab books are also available online.Thank you, I have been using the below link up to this point, it's good practice, but I would really like better structure.https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtuallabs?id=f9E0rhsEF74&f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396Thanks
    This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

  • Home Lab for testing

    Create them, as a network without internet first, then when you setup DHCP on your AD server, turn it off on your home router.
    Configure DHCP to pass out the IP address of your DC(s) and your router as the gateway, do NOT use any external DNS such as Google, you will have issues.
    Be sure to create a domain name that you own (e.g. Bobslab.com), if you create one that exists outside and it isn't yours, you'll have issues.
    Get that setup and working and ask for more specific help as guiding you serves no purpose in learning
    I would also scrap Windows 7 on the server and use ESXi or Hyper-V not the workstation varients

    Personally, I'd dump the SSD for a lab setup, it really won't help you as a boot device for the host OS. I'd also dump Win7. It's workable with VMware, Virtualbox, or other type-2 hypervisors, but it will be a PITA.
    For a type 1 hypervisor (bare metal), there are a lot of choices these days, but for the purpose of learning Windows, I'd probably suggest using Hyper-V. When it's time to wipe it out, you can take the opportunity to try the others.
    Windows Server is available for download and will run for 180 days in trial mode. More than enough time to build, test, and learn how it all works, even for someone who only gets a few hours a week to do it. If you want to skip those, you can also get the technical preview of 2016. For learning, I'd probably go with 2012 R2, as that's going to be closest to 2016 and will have a LOT more...

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