On the left, my first ‘proper’ rack. Specs - Router - Cisco 887VAMW Unmanaged Netgear switch Two laptops (Asus X550Jk and HP Pavillion DV6) both running proxmox which has Pihole, Nextcloud, Bitwarden, Roundcube webmail and Nginx proxy server. Both laptops have their batteries removed to avoid them swelling too much. A Phillips Hue hub and TP Link Deco M5 router at the bottom. On top is a mishmash of leftover parts which is currently running TrueNas and Jellyfin. This is going to eventually replace the D-Link sharecentre hidden in the back. Specs of the pc on top - CPU - AMD FX 6100 (An older model but still has it where it counts) RAM - 8Gb DDR3 (Plans to upgrade it to 16Gb at some point) GPU - GeForce GT 710 (Honestly just there so I can get an ouput) Storage 2x 1Tb WD Red drives (With plans to add 2x 4tb WD Red Drives from Sharecentre)
On the right is the mess that is yet to be fixed. On the top shelf is a selection of cisco switches and routers which are being used as a lab for me doing my CCNA (Hence the mess there). On the bottom is the same Lack rack as on the left just with slightly different components. Specs - Router - Cisco 887VAMW Switch - Some managed Netgear switch from 2004 (It’s on it’s way out and will be replaced very soon) First Dell Poweredge R420, with two Xeon E5-2403, 80Gb RAM and about 3Tb of Storage. This is my new Proxmox host. Second Dell Poweredge R420 with a single Xeon E5-2403, 64Gb RAM and 7Tb Storage running TrueNas. On top is an old AMD Bulldozer machine I only use for ripping and encoding DVD files.
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I am just waiting for your switch shelf to collapse. That’s some serious flex. :)
Ah it’s all good it’s holding on with the power of sheer will… Plus it was flexing that bad before the hardware got put on it and barely moved after… I hope…haha
It’s going to fall. Remove it before you break it
I’m going to shore it up
If it’s standing on end supports and not screwed down, flip it over. The flex is then upwards and new weight will straighten it out.
Ah it’s on three bits of wood screwed into the wall. Can still unscrew it and flip it over though so I may do that.
After and before!
Oh no the left picture is the before… Its gone downhill in terms of the mess
Good luck on your CCNA! That’s where I started my journey many years ago and I will never regret it.
This is actually my second foray into IT work. I went to college for software development, failed that, went to work as a printer technician, left that, went into retail and now I am here. Thanks!
If you haven’t checked out Boson, please do. Imo their test prep software was the most accurate to the CCNA when I took it a few years ago.
Thanks! I’ll check it out
For anyone who is interested on the software I’m running through my proxmox server -
- A fan controller for the two Dell Poweredge servers
- NGINX Reverse Proxy
- Nextcloud
- iRedAdmin and Roundcube Webmail
- Vaultwarden
- Jellyfin
- Windows 7 (For development purposes, not always on)
- Guacamole
- Frigate NVR
- Foundry
- An ubuntu server purely to access the camera apps as they and the camera are all completely separated from the rest of my network
- Mosquito MQTT
- Home Assistant
- pfSense (For the camera network)
- Second Pihole Server
- Prism photos
- Deepstack
- and three lab pcs for the CCNA-
Apologies Mods I just realised this might fit better in a homelab community, please remove if it is not suitable
Network engineer here, good luck on your CCNA! It’s a good first step but dont be surprised if your first environment looks nothing like what you expected based on the lab environments.
They’re all “in theory” and in reality… Well let’s just say “technical debt” doesn’t only apply to software development.
After my first job as a printer technician I can believe some of the horrors to expect. Training on a nice shiny new printer vs one that had been installed upside down, backwards and whilst drunk…20 years ago haha
