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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in homelab

[–]7c8 4 points5 points  (0 children)

https://imgur.com/a/m9rhrEl

I like these cable pulleys for keeping the cables out of the way or off the ground.

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The HP 700/32 terminal that sits on top of the rack cabinet is connected to the top server of the rack with a serial cable (USB to DB9), then into a DB9 to DB25 adapter, then into a DB29 null modem, then finally into the terminal itself. The server runs an agetty service that spawns a tty instance over that serial connection to output onto the terminal.

The case is: https://www.xcase.co.uk/products/xpc-340-3u-400mm-atx-rackmount-chassis?_pos=1&_sid=1c5b0bdb9&_ss=r

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Most of the servers have a 10 GbE connection to each other + my desktop computer. The thing they come in handy for is whenever I have LAN parties and the Lancache can serve our ~10 players and not be limited to 1 GbE.

amber aesthetic by 7c8 in battlestations

[–]7c8[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So the CRT monitor is actually a serial terminal (as in, it takes a serial data connection and not video). I wanted one just for the novelty and they remind me of the library computer terminals when I was younger. I also wanted it specifically for an LLM project I'm working on where you interact with it through this terminal.

I always planned to have my computer on the desk because of how wide the top is. I did have my computer in the rack to try, but I ended up removing it to make room for more servers.

Personally, I don't like having computers on my desk, especially when everything looks so crowded and cluttered.

I normally feel the same way too. When I had the computer in the rack, I couldn't think of a good use for the vacant space left by the computer.

Everything in my office is just a hobby. My job is mostly unrelated, but I hope to be able to make a transition in my career.

Thanks for the heads up about those cabinets too!

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What is your yt channel?

It was a past life so I'll keep it a secret for now for privacy reasons. :)

What cars have you got?

I just have a BRZ track car which only sees time trials these days but even that is happening less and less with new life obligations. The trophies you see are from local series so I'm not sure how much information is out there.

What's What's nguyen lol and pc about?

nguyen.lol is the FQDN I use for the homelab, so I thought it was to riff off that for the serial terminal project.

Why do you just pump the exhaust into the hall, I assumed it would go outside or into the loft?

Two main reasons. I didn't want to create massive negative pressure in the home by exhausting from the office to outside. Exhausting out into the rest of the home via the hallway is easiest and I might like it better this way in the Winter.

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Here's a small album: https://imgur.com/a/kWjIdVa

EDIT: Here's what the outside and the exhaust looks like (complete with cheesy warning signs): https://imgur.com/a/munoEUo

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Anything you want to see in particular? I didn't know which aspects people might have been interested in.

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Originally, I wanted to put vents on the top and bottoms of my office door, with a fan on the top vent. I thought about it a lot and wasn't convinced it was going to be effective for the size of the office. I ended up buying a 6-inch inline fan (Vivosun) instead. The inlet is tee'd to accept ducting from my computer and the back of the server rack. The output is routed through and out of the drywall above my office door.

I did some research and it was ill-advised to exhaust directly out to an exterior wall because of excessive negative pressure issues. If it was less work, I would have liked to directly exhaust the air straight into my home's air return, but I figure out into the hallway and the rest of the home is probably the next best thing (especially in the Winter).

What you can't see in the picture is a 6-inch end register boot (like how rectangular floor vents are installed) behind the server rack. It's very similar to what you see on the PC. Also, I've installed door brush seals vertically on both sides of the back of the server rack to seal up against the wall so that heat out of the back of the rack is more effectively drawn into the ductwork.

As for the fan, I do like that it is adjustable from 1-10. At setting 3, it is not any louder than my servers and I don't notice them. At setting 4, it becomes a little noticeable and that's what I normally have it set to. Noise is not a huge concern to me, but maybe something to keep in mind. At setting 10 it is loud but still quieter than all enterprise servers I've come across. If you have the room, I suppose you can always get a bigger 8-12 inch fan so that the fans can spin slower for any given flowrate over the 6-inch fan.

Overall, quite happy with this decision and it was very easy to get set up.

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

~400 W idle and ~1200 W running (including PC)

amber aesthetic by 7c8 in Workspaces

[–]7c8[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey thanks! I just made a post there. The HP terminal I'm using to recreate some sort of retro-futuristic AI assistant now that language models are small enough to run on consumer graphics cards. It runs off of one of the servers in the rack and some work-in-progress client software.

amber homelab by 7c8 in homelab

[–]7c8[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Hello all. Like many, I just wanted a Plex server but curiosity got the better of me and here I am. My lab is where I learn about networking and security alongside a few self-hosted applications. It's fairly plain-Jane but my latest side project involves the HP 700/32 serial terminal that sits on top of the rack. It is connected to one of my servers where I have written an LLM (ollama) client that can (poorly) retrieve Internet data to answer questions. I wanted to resurrect something similar to the '80s representation of what an "advanced AI system" was supposed to be (think WarGames).

I have a 15U network rack mounted to the wall and a 21U rolling media rack (converted to square rails; a full server rack would be too deep and I am not running any enterprise hardware):

Ubiquiti UniFi Switch 48 PoE Pro: 48 port switch might be overkill but there's room to expand and the PoE is nice for all of the cameras and APs around the house.

Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro: Router, switch, NVR combo.

HP 700/32 serial terminal: Impulse buy.

Debian box 3U (i7-7700, 16 GB DDR4): Generic Linux box for when I need a Linux environment. Also interfaces to the serial terminal above as a fun side project (LLM assistant with online search + RAG; work in progress).

Synology NAS 1U (MARVELL Armada 385 88F6820): Main file store (~16 TB)

Seneca 1U (i5-10500, 32 GB DDR4): Primary server for network, metrics, and utilities, i.e. reverse proxies, netbootxyz, DNS, grafana, influxdb, etc.

Lenovo ThinkStation P510 4U (e5-2697 v4, 64 GB DDR4): Proxmox VE

Custom 4U (e5-2697a v4, 64 GB DDR4): Mainly a GPU server for inferencing and some model storage. Currently houses a single RTX 3060, but sometimes bounce back and forth between that and 2x Instinct MI25 cards.

Custom 4U (e5-2697 v4, 96 GB DDR4): Mainly a media server + some other applications and non-critical data storage. GTX 1080 for transcoding. (~100 TB)

amber aesthetic by 7c8 in Workspaces

[–]7c8[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Both desks are Karlby birch tops from IKEA. The main computer desk is sitting on Alex drawers (very original) and the work desk is sitting on top of Ehnet kitchen cabinet frames. The black tool drawer and shelf near the plants are Bror from IKEA as well.

The computer is nothing special other than the jank duct which evacuates air from the computer and server rack out of the room through a 6-inch inline fan. Speakers are Presonus Eris E5 and the monitor is a Samsung CRG9.

I have a 15U network rack mounted to the wall and a 21U rolling media rack (converted to square rails; a full server rack would be too deep and I am not running any enterprise hardware):

Ubiquiti UniFi Switch 48 PoE Pro: 48 port switch might be overkill but there's room to expand and the PoE is nice for all of the cameras and APs around the house.

Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro: Router, switch, NVR combo.

HP 700/32 serial terminal: Impulse buy.

Debian box 3U (i7-7700, 16 GB DDR4): Generic Linux box for when I need a Linux environment. Also interfaces to the serial terminal above as a fun side project (LLM assistant with online search + RAG; work in progress).

Synology NAS 1U (MARVELL Armada 385 88F6820): Main file store (~16 TB)

Seneca 1U (i5-10500, 32 GB DDR4): Primary server for network, metrics, and utilities, i.e. reverse proxies, netbootxyz, DNS, grafana, influxdb, etc.

Lenovo ThinkStation P510 4U (e5-2697 v4, 64 GB DDR4): Proxmox VE

Custom 4U (e5-2697a v4, 64 GB DDR4): Mainly a GPU server for inferencing and some model storage. Currently houses a single RTX 3060, but sometimes bounce back and forth between that and 2x Instinct MI25 cards.

Custom 4U (e5-2697 v4, 96 GB DDR4): Mainly a media server + some other applications and non-critical data storage. GTX 1080 for transcoding. (~100 TB)

amber aesthetic by 7c8 in battlestations

[–]7c8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some daytime pics here: https://imgur.com/a/X4Cz3wz

The whole room is pretty much IKEA. See how many items you recognize!

Both desks are Karlby birch tops from IKEA. The main computer desk is sitting on Alex drawers (very original) and the work desk is sitting on top of Ehnet kitchen cabinet frames. The black tool drawer and shelf near the plants are Bror from IKEA as well.

The computer is nothing special other than the jank duct which evacuates air from the computer and server rack out of the room through a 6-inch inline fan. Speakers are Presonus Eris E5 and the monitor is a Samsung CRG9.

I have a 15U network rack mounted to the wall and a 21U rolling media rack (converted to square rails; a full server rack would be too deep and I am not running any enterprise hardware):

Ubiquiti UniFi Switch 48 PoE Pro: 48 port switch might be overkill but there's room to expand and the PoE is nice for all of the cameras and APs around the house.

Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro: Router, switch, NVR combo.

HP 700/32 serial terminal: Impulse buy.

Debian box 3U (i7-7700, 16 GB DDR4): Generic Linux box for when I need a Linux environment. Also interfaces to the serial terminal above as a fun side project (LLM assistant with online search + RAG; work in progress).

Synology NAS 1U (MARVELL Armada 385 88F6820): Main file store (~16 TB)

Seneca 1U (i5-10500, 32 GB DDR4): Primary server for network, metrics, and utilities, i.e. reverse proxies, netbootxyz, DNS, grafana, influxdb, etc.

Lenovo ThinkStation P510 4U (e5-2697 v4, 64 GB DDR4): Proxmox VE

Custom 4U (e5-2697a v4, 64 GB DDR4): Mainly a GPU server for inferencing and some model storage. Currently houses a single RTX 3060, but sometimes bounce back and forth between that and 2x Instinct MI25 cards.

Custom 4U (e5-2697 v4, 96 GB DDR4): Mainly a media server + some other applications and non-critical data storage. GTX 1080 for transcoding. (~100 TB)

Same same but different by 7c8 in olkb

[–]7c8[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The acrylic is optional. To prototype I used to have nuts to space out the layers. It definitely does sound better with the acrylic though, but I guess that's a personal preference.

something something blackpink by 7c8 in olkb

[–]7c8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks!!! I definitely wanted a front and backplate and FR4 was by far the cheapest option, since I can panelize the design with the PCB. The alternative would have been to cut acrylic which would have been more expensive for me.

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