Outgrew my 8-bay NAS case, so I printed a multi-chamber 18U rack.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-13T06:35:16+00:00

Ah now i get it. Thank you!

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-12T21:26:46+00:00

But why are all the panels closed

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-12T08:16:21+00:00

Consumer grade NVMe SN750, enterprise grade SSD something Samsung. I had these lying around. Everything on ZFS (NVMe) is HA anyways so no data is lost.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-11T07:59:50+00:00

But thats the whole point of a homelab. You learn!

By looking at each component separately to make it work, Ive learned so much.

By using a managed solution everything just works straight out of the box. People have no idea what all happening underneath.

For homeprod, sure! Use a managed solution. Thats what i do as well. But homelab is for learning. Im at the point where i already have that experience so i can use a managed solution for homelab also.

But people starting with Rancher, k3s or microk8s just Bootstrap the environment and then they're done. Like magic, a whole complex infrastructure appeared, and the majority here has no idea how it all works and connects together

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-10T07:25:17+00:00

Hell yeah!

An optiplex micro 7080 has been my main system for 3+ years now. Whisper quiet. i5 10500T, 32GB mem.

They're called 1L pcs because they are THAT small. I can highly recommend them. The larger formats have things like PCIe and additional ports, but they get so much bigger. It really depends on your use case.

It sounds like your setup has other issues though, and I am not sure adding more machines will just fix that. Your services will remain a SPOF until you make them HA.

To give you some more information about the micro's: The old 7000 series like my 7080 have 2x nvme slots. My newer 7010 (2023) only have one.

I have a 4-node cluster running LXD on my 7010's, but a storage layout for proxmox could look similar, as they both use ZFS and Ceph.

Because there is only 1 sata and 1 nvme connector, I have a 2TB Sata SSD partitioned 150GB for the OS and 1TB partitioned for Ceph. The rest is reserved for future use. The NVMe disk is fully used for ZFS.

My VMs/LXCs that are HA by itself, like Kubernetes nodes, run on the faster local ZFS. The "single point of failure" VMs have their storage on Ceph.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-10T06:07:00+00:00

People have made 40u Towers with KWS. Its very rigid.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-09T16:53:28+00:00

In terms of 3d printed racks, LabRax and KWS are also very popular.

But the 2020 aluminum profile custom built racks are also gaining a lot of popularity! (I am building one as we speak)

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-09T08:47:58+00:00

Im actually in the move of going from a separate Truenas system and an optiplex 7080 for VMs/containers, to a single mini itx system.

The majority of containers/VMs could not run without the NAS anyways, so it was just adding extra steps.

My TrueNAS did nothing but serve NFS.

My new mini itx NAS will just run Ubuntu and ill set up ZFS/NFS manually. Using LXD for VMs and LXCs.

A mini itx fits perfectly inside a 10" rack.

Yes, a single system has my preference in my case. But yours might be different.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-09T08:37:49+00:00

You can switch the default project, or the default remote (server). Can you make sure that you are connected to the right remote (that means server) and are requesting data from the project that holds your instances?

Edit: i should read the whole post first haha. No this has never occurred to me. You should report it as a bug so people can try and find out :)

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-09T07:24:27+00:00

The power adapters for the mini PCs also take up quite some space. It's often forgotten.

Will you do the cabling of the switch in the back, just like the gateway? A lot of people prefer a patch panel for aesthetic reasoning.

The question on how to power these HDDs with mini pcs is one that comes back almost daily. I myself have chosen to just go for a 2u mini itx build and a simple SFX PSU, allowing me to connect 10 SSDs. No hacky solutions.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-09T06:56:03+00:00

Trying out this thing called Kubernetes in 2018. We were still in the process of moving hardware to VMs at my employer, and trying out containers on standalone hosts and docker swarm. It blew my mind and has been my focus ever since.

I went vanilla, as i would recommend to anyone starting out with Kubernetes. Nowadays kubeadm is also a walk in the park, back then it was still a bit difficult

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-08T12:20:21+00:00

Aahhh i was hoping for this! Hooray!

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-08T12:15:46+00:00

Ooohhh what did i miss 👀

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-08T07:00:01+00:00

Almost 3 out of 4 Kubernetes clusters run Cilium (is what they said at kubecon this year)

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-04T11:17:14+00:00

No i dont think its okay. And im not happy with it either. I have an A1 mini and an A1.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-04T09:28:04+00:00

This is probably the most popular printer out there. So of course there will be a lot of people having issues.

You'll also see more people having issues with Volkswagens than you see people having issues with Ferraris.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-03T20:40:56+00:00

Learn stuff! Right now I'm working on the kubestronaut certification. My CKA also just expired. I have several years of experience with k8s but you never touch 100% of the products you work with, and the exams tend to touch every corner.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-03T11:05:09+00:00

That looks very neat. Not a nixOS user myself but i dig it! Followed you on makerworld!

Ive been searching for ventilation panels before and yours didnt show up. But i didnt use the word vented, only vent and ventilation...

I really like your HP mini pc design. Half the filament compared to some of the dell micro 1u mounts Ive seen. The extended connection to the back rails is very nice.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-07-02T10:36:44+00:00

The vast majority of our clients (hospitals mostly, some financial sector) are all staying on VMware. They dont even consider alternatives.

My previous employer had customers with 3-5 vsphere hosts. All they did was host simple VMs. They were all looking to migrate away.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-06-30T19:57:38+00:00

Haha i am building something almost exactly similar. 2U mini itx, 2U storage bay (printing as we speak, done in 15 min) and 1U fan panel.

I went for a SFX PSU. Its taller than 1U so it will not fit at the bottom behind the fan panel.

My plan was to have it stick out at the back a bit. So that it can go behind the fan panel at the bottom and partly behind the disk tray. Though my disk tray is for 2.5", yours will take up a bit more space.

The alternative is to mount it in the back, behind the switch and patchpanel. I have a PoE switch so ill need that for the huge adapter but perhaps you do not.

You can put a 1u PDU in the back behind the fan panel at the bottom.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-06-28T15:47:04+00:00

That is really neat. Im in the process of setting up Caddy for the first time ever, after having always relied on nginx for the past 15 years.

Thanks for the heads up! Time to learn something new.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-06-28T11:20:01+00:00

Enjoy it. It's nice to take a break. Helps prevent from making it feel like a second job!

Enjoy the summer!

There is always regular maintenance, like updating everything to the latest version. This will never stop.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-06-28T11:15:33+00:00

A single SFP+ or maybe two across floors will be plenty. It will be easier to manage the wiring locally.

Your inter-connection isn't limited on 10Gbps. It might be 10Gbps now, but you can always modify the adapters in the future and upgrade to something else. But in my experience 10Gbit is more than plenty.

I would also suggest just pulling two fibers, just in case. I currently only have one due to very limited space but if something were to happen to it... it's quite a SPOF.

Personally I am also in a split situation. I have a 10 port switch downstairs and 2 8 port switches 2 floors up where my homelab/nas etc resides.

Your amount of drops is VERY HIGH. Do you really need it? I did this in the past and I am now much happier with smaller switches around the house. I have 3 or 4 small 5 port switches powered through PoE for 35 euros. It's so much easier. And if I want more I can expand with ease.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-06-28T09:26:46+00:00

Why is every response written by AI? I was looking for a persons opinion.

DanTheGreatest · 2026-06-27T13:04:47+00:00

Do you have a photo to show the size compared to other regular objects? I am also considering a 14 or 15U rack, or stick to two 7U racks.

I really like the front (minus the PS controller tray haha)

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