vAndu

My Story: How I Became a Home Labber

Posted on June 9, 2021March 5, 2022

When I was a university student, I had a MacBook Air with 8 GB RAM. I used it for my 1st semester, and I ran a few VMs. Still, I felt I needed something more powerful and mobile because I needed a powerful computer in my classroom to enjoy my studies.

I bought a second-hand Dell Precision M4600 with 32GB RAM to run many VMs using VMware Workstation Pro. It was excellent, and I could do all my university assignments with that laptop. I ran many VMs and did all kinds of tests. But still, something was missing, and I was looking at different ways to speed up my IT learning and get a practical experience.

My Home Lab

Posted on June 9, 2021March 5, 2022

I don’t have many servers or a massive equipment lab. So, my goal is to build a small, fast, powerful, quiet home lab that doesn’t take much power. My dream goal is to completely power my home lab with solar and/or wind power and find practical uses for the heat produced by the servers. Later, for example, I will design my own house as a data center in which the generated heat from equipment is used for keeping the house warm.