Welcome to stage 1 of my 2020 Homelab Overhaul Project series, the planning phase! The main goal of this section is to evaluate my current setup, identify problem areas, then improve upon the design. This is also a perfect time to make some changes to my rack configuration, such as swapping the rotating casters on the bottom and changing the post depths. As I progress with my skill development, I feel like I’m beginning to outgrow my current environment. Let’s have a look at the hardware that I currently own and identify my issues.
Networking
Current Gear:
- Ubiquiti
- Unified Security Gateway (USG)
- US-8-60W Unifi 8 port Switch (4 PoE)
- US-24 Unifi 24 port switch (Non-PoE)
- Unifi Cloud Key – Remote Control Device (UC-CK)
- Unifi PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US)
- Cisco
- 2911 Integrated Services Router
- Catalyst 3560G-48PS Switch
Changes to make:
At the moment, my servers and NAS are connected to the Ubiquiti gear and the Cisco gear is reserved for study. What I would like to do is create a second network, 10.x.x.x, on the USG’s LAN2 / WAN2 port, then utilize the 3560G as a “home production” switch. I will be setting up a separate Cisco lab for my studies, which I will cover later, then I’ll transfer the knowledge gained to the 3560G. Eventually, I will use the Ubiquiti gear strictly for home networking, all servers and lab equipment will be connected to the Cisco switch that has routing capabilities.
Servers
Current Gear:
- 3 Custom VM Hosts
- SuperMicro X9SCL-F Motherboard
- SuperMicro CSE-512 Chassis (with 200w PSU)
- 16GB Sandisk USB 3.0
- 4 x 8GB DDR3 1600 ECC UDIMM
- Intel Xeon E3-1230
- Supermicro RSC-RR1U-E8 1U Riser Card
- Intel I350-T4 NIC
- DIY Storage
- Build featured here: Building a DIY NAS
- Added 4 x 2 TB WD Red drives
Changes to make:
I currently have 3 VM hosts that I put together and a DIY NAS that was built from spare parts. These servers were great for their intended purpose, but as my needs grew I felt the restriction of 32GB of RAM per unit. The CPUs also aren’t the most powerful, and they are also a bit power hungry. I would like to retire this gear, sell it, then use the money to buy some older enterprise servers as replacements. The enterprise gear would allow for more performance per rack U, room for expansion, and (with the right servers and load) use less power.
What is next?
The next step will be the design phase! I may have an idea of what needs to be changed, but trying to figure out the hardware replacements will require a lot of research. I look forward to the challenge, diving deep into various forums and subreddits to see what equipment best suits my needs. In my next article, I hope to have some more interesting content besides just paragraphs of text! See you guys next time!
