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| homelab [2025/02/03 06:50] – [Why Do I Have A HomeLab?] donnie | homelab [2025/02/04 13:54] (current) – [What IS a HomeLab?] donnie |
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| ====== What IS a HomeLab? ====== | ====== What IS a HomeLab? ====== |
| A year ago, I would have said that a HomeLab is a collection of hardware and software for self-hosting web-based and local services and/or simulating enterprise network and client-server environments for learning/sharpening IT skills. | A year ago, I would have said that a HomeLab is a collection of hardware and software, a high-tech playground for learning/sharpening IT skills. It can be used to simulate a variety of enterprise network and client-server environments as well as for self-hosting web-based and local services. |
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| That was then, this is now. I’ve since retired and frankly, I prefer not to be involved in IT endeavors beyond the self-hosting services that I find useful and keeping my data secure and private. Besides, for many people (especially those just getting started in the hobby), a homelab may be nothing more than an old laptop. (Hardware requirements for this hobby aren’t very demanding.) That’s hardly a “collection of hardware”, right? Further, 50% of my current homelab “hardware” is a [[VPS]] (Virtal Private Server) that I’ve never seen or laid hands on, hosted on some rackmount server in some datacenter in Dallas. | But the last year of my IT career convinced me that I’m either the dumbest or the unluckiest IT professional alive so now that I’m retired, I’ll mostly be <i>avoiding</i> IT endeavors <b>except</b> where self-hosting provides me with services that enrich my life (and those of my friends and families), keep my personal data secure, and provide me with privacy that is sorely lacking private. Besides, for many people (especially those just getting started in the hobby), a homelab may be nothing more than an old laptop. (Hardware requirements for this hobby aren’t very demanding.) That’s hardly a “collection of hardware”, right? Further, 50% of my current homelab “hardware” is a [[VPS]] (Virtal Private Server) that I’ve never seen or laid hands on, hosted on some rackmount server in some datacenter in Dallas. |
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| Retirement allowed me and my wife, Krista, to expatriate to Panama (lower cost of living, greater availability of affordable housing that’s near the beach, better/cheaper healthcare and more). Lots of stuff (homelab equipment and otherwise) went into storage, to be shipped to us once we settle on a location and buy a house in Panama. So my homelab now consists of an Intel NUC ([[BoraBora]]) with an attached 8 x 12TB storage array that travels with me, along with the aforementioned VPS. That’s it. Again, not exactly a “collection of hardware” | Retirement allowed me and my wife, Krista, to expatriate to Panama (lower cost of living, greater availability of affordable housing that’s near the beach, better/cheaper healthcare and more). Lots of stuff (homelab equipment and otherwise) went into storage, to be shipped to us once we settle on a location and buy a house in Panama. So my homelab now consists of an Intel NUC ([[BoraBora]]) with an attached 8 x 12TB storage array that travels with me, along with the aforementioned VPS. That’s it. Again, not exactly a “collection of hardware” |