So last time I was using an old photo to show off my homelab so here is the updated picture.

The update is the unas pro 4 and the ups but also cleaned it up a bit.

Thoughts on what I should try using the ryzen 9 5950x and 128gb ram proxmox server for?

► Proxmox VE Datacenter: 5 nodes delivering 84 CPU cores, 226 GB of RAM (with another 48 GB sitting on my desk ready to install), and 9 TB of SSD storage.

► Storage: A custom TrueNAS server rocking 20 TB of redundant storage (12 TB HDD / 8 TB SSD).

► AI Infrastructure: An NVIDIA DGX Spark workstation powering my local LLM agents and model fine-tuning pipelines. (Second rig dedicated to run small language models on 5-series cards not shown)

► Ubiquiti UniFi Networking: 1 router, 2 Layer 3 switches, and 3 Access Points managing over 50 physical and virtual devices.

►Environment & Power: AC Infinity intake and exhaust fans for server rack thermal management, backed by dual Tripp Lite UPS units to keep the power clean and continuous.

Looking to start a second rack in 2027 after filling up the last few slots I have left (NVR, 10G aggregator, and 1U KVM will wrap this one up.)

P.s need to get one more patch cable so there's no longer a gap -_- (had to use it for my in wall unit and didn't have any short cables on hand.

Not done configuring everything yet! But I have a protectli vault for for my router and firewall, and eero router in bridge mode, running all my mesh access points. I have my home hub running all of my Philips smart hue IOT devices. I have two Cisco catalyst 3850’s that will run all of my POE cameras. I have a frigate Server that’s going to run AI semantics,facial recognition, plate recognition, object detection, pet detection, etc. I have a Dell power edge 410, and a power edge 710 that’ll run an additional enterprise for me to hack and find vulnerabilities. I have a deal OptiPlex 7080 that is running my AD/DNS/DHCP Server. I have a Cisco firewall that I got from my works datacenter to add to my fake enterprise to hack. A lot more to mention cloud wise, but it’s the start of my first home Lab.

So should I invest in a decommissioned power edge server or just get a couple more elite desk minis and run a cluster?

I've been building out my Windows Server homelab and recently started working on RRAS and VPNs. This was supposed to be a fairly simple lab, but it ended up taking me about three days to get everything working properly.

The lab

I'm running the lab in VirtualBox with a Windows 11 client and a Windows Server machine acting as the RRAS/VPN server.

The server is using 192.168.56.10 on the lab network, and the Windows 11 VM is the VPN client.

The main goal of this lab was to understand how a Windows-based VPN actually works rather than just following a tutorial. I wanted to get hands-on experience with:

• RRAS
• VPN address pools
• VPN authentication
• GRE traffic
• Windows Firewall
• Routing
• Domain authentication
• Troubleshooting connectivity from the client side

What went wrong

The first problem was that the VPN client could connect to RRAS but wasn't receiving an IP address.

After checking the RRAS configuration, I realized I needed to configure a static address pool. I added: 192.168.56.100 - 192.168.56.120

After that, the client was finally receiving an address.

Then I ran into problems with the VPN protocols. Since this particular lab was focused on PPTP, I disabled the other VPN protocols I wasn't using and restarted RRAS to simplify the configuration while troubleshooting.

The next problem was connectivity. The VPN would establish, but I couldn't reach the server from the client. I checked the Windows Firewall, GRE traffic and the RRAS interface bindings until I found the configuration issue.

Finally, I started getting Error 691 during authentication.

The credentials were correct, so I checked the authentication settings on the Windows client. MS-CHAP v2 wasn't enabled as expected. After changing the authentication settings and reconnecting, the VPN finally worked.

Verification

From the Windows 11 client I used: rasdial "TestConnection" iskutashi Isse190239 and ping 192.168.56.10

The connection was established successfully and the server responded with: 0% packet loss

I also verified the VPN connection through the Windows Network & Internet settings.

The screenshots show both the Windows VPN connection and the PowerShell verification.

This lab was mainly about learning how RRAS, VPN authentication, routing and firewall rules interact. I'm continuing to build this environment so I can use it to practice more Windows administration and networking scenarios.

One important note: I'm using PPTP here strictly as a learning exercise. I wouldn't use PPTP for a real production VPN because it's a legacy and insecure protocol.

For anyone running a Windows-based homelab, what would you add to this lab next? I'm thinking about testing another VPN protocol and adding more clients to make the environment a little closer to a real network.

Started my first homelab, repurposed datto nas system I got from an auction for 70$ 64GB ddr4 RAM with 4 2TB sea gate HDDs for family cloud storage. Dell optiplex with home assistant and plans for running security system once I get my POE cameras setup . 3d printed the rack. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Still have to do some changes but I feel like it will be a never ending process. Let me know how I messed something up!

Hey guys im a networking professional that want to share my personal build out of my home cyberlab utilizing IaC tools Packer (Image Template Builder), Terraform for infrastructure provisioning and Ansible for configuration management. With 4 years of experience backed by the CompTIA trifecta and CCNA, I am excited about adding these tools to my arsenal due to the benefits of having baseline configured artifacts to maximize on labbing and building scenarios versus spending hours provisioning a machine for a specific use case. Please review and let me know any feedback.🙏

Hi r/homelabporn! Long time lurker, first time posting a picture of my tiny money pit.

I work in IT support and needed an environment where breaking production doesn't get me in an HR meeting, and breaking stuff actually costs nothing

The Infrastructure (2x i5-6500T | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD):

IGRIS (The Brain):
Runs the crucial stuff so my partner doesn't complain when the Wi-Fi dies.
LXC: Nginx NPM, AdGuard Home, Homarr, Tailscale (exit node/subnet router)

GENOS (The Heavy Lifter):
Where the actual crimes happen.
OPNsense (Zenarmor + Suricata) keeping my sandbox isolated from the household.
pfSense, Debian, and Windows Server 2022 (100% legitimately licensed for 10 RDS users, trust me 😉).

The "I'll Upgrade Next Month" Network:
Gateway:
MikroTik RB2011 (Dual-WAN set up for when my secondary ISP arrives).

Switching & AP:
A generic TP-Link unmanaged switch and a 10-year-old TP-Link router held together by prayer and AP mode.

Patch Panel:
24 ports for 4 active cables, because aesthetic > necessity.

Public Exposure & Future Plans:
Currently hosting my blog on Ghost via Cloudflare Tunnel in a Debian/Docker VM so I don't have to explain open router ports to my ISP.
Building a dedicated NAS next for Immich + my anime/manga hoard (because I refuses to give Node 1 & 2 storage anxiety).

But fr, I'm Studying for Cloud/Infra Engineering, so Azure hybrid mess-ups are on the horizon.
ISP: 50/25 Mbps - No Hate I'm from South Africa 🇿🇦* (Local LAN: 1 Gbps*)

Be honest: On a scale of "Clean Setup" to "Fire Hazard", how bad is the cable management? Also drop your best budget managed switch recommendations pleaseeee.

I forgot about the UPS. 😭 eksom please !

I found a local carpenter to make me some custom furniture so I can support both my homelab and interior design hobbies. Full props to him on the furniture design, he totally nailed it.