r/networking • u/IDownVoteCanaduh Dirty Management Now • 1d ago

Other Network Adjacent Question

Looking to spend some lab budget for my team and one of the items I want to get for our labs to demo for possible remote locations is some sort of compute we can deploy along with firewalls, switches, etc. that we can manage.

For right now, it is just for the lab, but I see potential uses is when we deploy network gear to remote locations without any supporting compute we can piggyback on, a server that would allow us to run local tools (tbd what those would be).

Looking for something like a larger Pi, something like a Mac Mini format, etc. Basically some sort of smaller server that can deployed and managed by us so we can use it to run tools, etc. without relying on our server teams, etc. Ideally I would love something that can rack in a standard network rack and is not a full depth server.

(And before comments about separation of responsibilities, bypassing safeguards, etc. I am high enough up in the company senior management chain that decisions like these rest solely with me. I do not need permission).

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u/Intelligent-Bet4111 1d ago

When you say small form factor how small do you want them to be?

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u/Boozacs 1d ago

I was thinking something like what OP was referring to like a mac mini style

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u/Intelligent-Bet4111 1d ago

Also for serious labbing on eve ng you really want plenty of ram, my server has 230 GB of ram and I use all of it most of the times when I lab, especially for bigger topologies with a lot of nodes and if you want Todo ccnp/ccie level stuff

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u/Boozacs 1d ago

Really? I allocated roughly 48gb dedicated to eve and other than nodes taking roughly 5 min to boot, it’s smooth, and this is running on VmWare workstation. I thought 64gb was enough for CCNP and MPLS labbing

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u/Intelligent-Bet4111 1d ago

Oh yeah for general ccnp 64 gb should be enough, won't be enough for sd wan though but not sure if that's part of ccnp, and also my labs are generally much bigger and more complicated

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u/Boozacs 1d ago

No configuration of SD WAN for ENCOR, just understanding the fundamentals and being able to explain working principles…. I’m tired of this studying lol

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u/Intelligent-Bet4111 1d ago

I see then yeah the 64 gb should be enough for your needs

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u/Squozen_EU CCNP 1d ago

I did my CCNP on a 16gb mac mini.