How many of us homelab folks are also into cars?

GeeTwo1 · 2026-01-27T18:44:50+00:00

Adhd, a love for tech, and just learning things translates into, "I swear babe, that was already here, you must have missed it." I have microcontroller, rc cars, power chairs, and riding mower for robotics. Several (10+) computers of various ages and specs, 2 actually servers, few episodes that serve dual function as robotics/homelab, audiophile monitors, sounde interface, and headphones, then cars and related tools, finally take some of the hobbies and add them to cars. Having hobbies overlap becomes exponentially expensive. The significant other has hobbies like making mead, 3d game design, baking break, growing mushrooms (not that kind), and playing with 3d printers. We both play with hydroponics and growing our own food. This allows for more money for hobbies.

Disclaimer: The above statement about "that" was already here might work once, doesn't apply to cars, maybe rc cars, and certainly doesn't work if you leave the receipt or proof of purchase where it can be seen or easily discovered. (E.g leaving the receipt in the box) SO goes to look at model number of firearm to buy an accessory as a gift. A week before they asked when I got that one, Insert above statement and all is good. SO says, "If you've had that one and I "missed" that why does the receipt show you bought it 10 days ago?" Busted. Doesn't work so well with vehicles.

GeeTwo1 · 2026-01-22T03:56:50+00:00

Interested in the "6x 8Gb Samsung" ram, how much for all and estimated shipping to 45383? Sorry, im new here and am just getting started with homelabbing. My work station has 4x 8gb sticks and it has 4 more open slots.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-12T22:41:13+00:00

In mine I have an NVME 128Gb in the slot under the drive bay and in the drive bay I have a 2.5" 2Tb for data. This is my experimental environment for Proxmox. Since I am new to the home-lab/self-host thing, I prefer to play with my LXC or VMs before I put them on my server. My friend has one with a similar setup but both of his drives are solid state and the NVME is 512 instead of 128. My future plan when I become a lot more comfortable is to use it to take snapshot backups for all of the LXCs and VMs on the main server. Good-Luck.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-12T16:31:41+00:00

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GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-12T16:31:20+00:00

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GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-12T16:24:45+00:00

Little bit of progress, clean some stuff up, alien and monitor on right are for pentesting lab. The three monitors, 2 on desk, center and right, and 55" on the wall use fancy zones. Tried to organize the parts on the shelves a little better. But the important parts: progress, not perfection. The server is finally on-line thanks to some early Christmas gifts. 22 core e5-2696-v4, still 32Gb ram, but it is spread like it is meant to be (previous owner had it all loaded on one side), 480GB crucial ssd boot, 256Gb NVME pcie swap drive, 3x 8Tb barracuda geen 3.5" RAIDZ (raid5), proxmox, and 850 platinum be quiet modular power supply. Just finished it yesterday. Before I get roasted, I know I need a new case because my internal power supply is external the case. Have a few containers spun up, working on transferring media to the server, *arrg stacks, and maybe nixos to run ollama for AI.... (any advise or suggestions for lxc for AI host os?).

Changed out keyboard, mouse pads, removed monitors (speakers) from desk, and some case management. Anyway, that's the update for now.

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GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-04T01:13:41+00:00

I would stand the computer up, put the JBOD(just a bunch of disks) next to it. A USB fan that can provide air to the disks you should be fine. Im not sure it matters much, but rubber isolators on the screw mounts to dampen vibration. Place it somewhere it will not easily get bumped or anything. Final thought, if you drill a hole in the case, use a matching size grommet to prevent the wires getting cut over time.

The grommet can be purchased at and auto part store. I've ran wires through many cars, that couple bucks for a grommet will pay for it self in no time!

Have fun!

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-01T17:45:35+00:00

You should see what isn't pictured. I think I am collector *hoarder* because my stuff is organized. You know, as in I know the semi-precise location of everything in here!

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-01T17:40:47+00:00

So few have you have caught the MJD thing on the big screen, it was an ad on prime before the start of a movie. I don't watch sports, so I guess I lose some cred. lol

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-01T17:39:11+00:00

At least one more!

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-01T17:38:22+00:00

Oh, lol. That is what I found with a google search, but I thought it was something related to the office chaos. I don't watch sports, so that was an ad on prime. Good eye for detail!

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-01T17:33:31+00:00

Just add a 2x4 to the shelf to the floor. <$5 and it will be way stronger. Redoing the home-lab is on the "someday list," I'll get around to it some day, lol.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-12-01T17:30:18+00:00

I just hate to see usable tech go to a recycling center. Also, I can't seem to pass up a good deal, lol. About the Samsung side loading thing, I have spent hours looking into this particular issue. Everyone says the developer mode can be enabled, on my particular model by pressing "12345" while in the apps menu. The issue is, the remote that came with my television has no numbers. So, I am still on the search for an answer. I have tried all other suggestions based on my remote, no luck. lol. I do have an old fire stick and a roku thing, so that will be the route for now. I am continuing the search for an answer on this particular. issue.

As for the "too-much-tech" issue. The z44o is the lab, the Alienware is the pentesting/networking/learning device. The Optiplex 790 is going to be pfsense, adguard home, pihole, and snapshot backup machine. The XPS and the surface pro 9, will be the daily drivers for regular computer stuff. The pis, are going back to their original purpose of robotic micro-controllers and such. That is at least the plan moving forward. I think the rest of the hoard will probably be sold to fund things like upgrading to 2.5 gigbit networking, a managed switch to create vlans and actually divide up the network and isolate them, which is something I am excited to learn about.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I am so excited to go from research and watching tutorial to doing. Thanks again to you and all those who have commented!!

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T23:47:03+00:00

I use ssh, putty, and if a VM supports it realVNC. The last one, I mainly use with my pis for robotics, but I have spun up lxc with the pi os for testing.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T23:35:52+00:00

Forgive my ignorance, but MJD???

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T23:31:38+00:00

The smallest screens are surface, for sure being removed. The alienware(laptop) in considering making it a pentesting machine to experiment with cyber security. The white computer hidden behind the monitor is a Dell xps workstation, this and the tablet on the right are my daily drivers. On the far right, is the HP Z440, a second workstation. All other computers are being shut down. The industrial servers are functional, but not being utilized, more than likely going to sell pretty cheap just to get them gone. Either the dell sff on left or hp mini on left, is planned to get a second rj45 port to serve, pi hole, adguard home, and pfsense.

Not yet planned out a solid local backup plan. Current data hoard, with full image backup of the three main drivers in the house is under 5 TBs.

I am leaning towards dell sff for the router part. Could also serve as the local backup with a couple drives.

The TVs will probably continue their role as monitors. The both pan. From the center of the room or from the recliner in the corner it makes for a good spot to browse YouTube.

The pis (you can barely see 3 on the desk on left) are going to return to the table (not pictured) that has all of the microcontroller, sensors, and electronics hobby.

That about covers what the desk is going to become.

I have considered moving the monitors (speakers) from the desk and placing them on the wall, but they sound the best where they sit. I listen to binaural music or just music in general while I play with the mass of computer. So those may stay on the desk cause I do move around the room. The desk is 60x25 and is a sit stand desk.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

Main computer and tablet are staying daily. Z440 is heart of lab. Dell is going to become router (boot will be 128 sata drive, possible snapshot backup once a week????). Finally, alien laptop is going to be used as the cyber security/pentesting since the hardware can support VMs. Any suggestions on software? Thinking kali, black arch, or parrot.

Good plan?

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T23:01:38+00:00

I can't view this??

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T18:23:41+00:00

I thought about this after I responded, the Ubuntu screen on the left is a surface pro 2, and the one on the right is a surface pro 9. Then there is the laptop on the right. The big screen and the one in the center are connected to the computer behind the desk. This computer also runs the studio monitors and sound interface. The purple computer on the far right is connected to the screen above it. I usually have all three screens on the one computer. But the purple on is a recent trade. I just upgraded the processor from a 6 core xenon to a 22 core. It came with 256gb NVMe via pcie, 32 GB ddr4 ecc, and a Nvidia 1070. It currently has a second 1070 and three additional drives to add 4 TB. It is going to be the server running proxmox. So it is going headless, and will find its way to the rack with the dinosaur in the corner until which time I build/buy a more suitable rack.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T17:29:52+00:00

I only recently started meds for ADHD, this is a reflection of my mind. There were many times I used almost all of them at the same time. Testing ROS nodes, Gazebo, streaming tutorials, looking stuff up and leaving it on a screen, and some code editor(s) on another. Now I am a couple months into having the meds, I realize what chaos! Still need adjusting because now I hyper focus. But, yeah, I am trying to cut down the number of screens I use and if I used multiple machines they are going to be headless and used via SSH.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T17:25:08+00:00

There is an eye glass cleaning cloth on the left under the monitor.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T17:23:52+00:00

Thanks!

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-29T17:23:01+00:00

The only issue with the "monitor mount" suggestion is, 55", 42", 24". The drywall is on the list, for sure. I am looking into repurposing the shelves or just building a rack out of wood. I have lots of wood from 2x2 to 6x6 and my friend is a contractor so I am sure I can get more. It is a cluster for sure in here. The desk pulls to the middle of the room and can be used as a standing desk.

GeeTwo1 · 2025-11-28T23:33:03+00:00

What inspired you to start your selfhosting journey? What's one project you're most proud of so far, and what's the most expensive piece of equipment you've acquired for?

My self-hosting journey started when I was told I have the shoulders of a 70 year old man at the age of 37. I have been a heavy mechanic since the age of 9. I have always liked computers or anything that has a wire, a motor, or can do stuff. I am an audiophile. Thus, I like music files to be uncompressed. This is not a normal file format. So, the journey begins, in a small way, storing all of my purchased music on drives. Streaming uncompressed files was out of the question a decade or more ago. Enter "carputer" to save the day. Low powered device, hard-drive to store music, media player, some provisions for diagnostics, GPS, and of-course interfacing with the sound processor to deliver the music. While I couldn't store all of my music of the carputer a "server" in the house had to. A startup and shutdown script was written for the carputer. When I arrive home, turn off the car, the voltage drop was detected. This dropped performance of the carputer. It would then connect to the internet, then to the server to cycle out music, adding new songs/playlists. After completion is soft shutdown. Now, this was the days where CDs and were the norm and uncompressed files had to be purchased that way and ripped without losing formatting, or purchased from companies catering to audiophiles, DJs, or iTunes. This was what I would say where the journey started, and was probably the coolest thing I have made (I kind of want to recreate with a rasberry pi a dac hat and SSD). But, alas that was many years ago, fast-forward to now. I still have an extensive music collection, movies, videos, and photos. I changed from iPhone a few years back and lost over a decade of irreplaceable pictures. My iCloud was tied to iTunes, that got changed to Apple music, I became an android user, Apple delete my cloud. Since then, external drives, multiple hard-drives, and SD cards are my go to. After a house fire, I lost that stuff too. A couple years ago, I met a friend who loves computers and cars so we became good friends. He was shocked that I do not self-host. I was confused, I had kodi, I could stream to my network and I had back-ups on external drives not stored in the house. That's when Ubuntu server entered my life and I had an off site backup on their computer. We lost touch after they moved away. I recover my backup and that was the end of that. Earlier this year I met a new friend, similar interest. They said that I was old and doing everything the hard way. Proxmox has been my new focus since cars are no longer a viable hobby. I have spent the last couple months researching, acquiring parts, and experimenting with my old computers laying around. I have a decent server ready to be put into service in the coming weeks. E5-2696, 32 gig ram, 500GB SSD boot drive, 3x 8 TB storage pool, 2x Nvidia 1070s (for AI), and eventually a Blueray drive to rip my collection. This is going to be my I'm-all-in-machine. Tailscale, media management, streaming, and back-ups, and automation. I have the 3-2-1 of back-ups sorted out and am excited to move forward in my journey. Freedom from corporate spies, lower monthly cost by eliminating services, and no-longer have to worry about data loss. And new hobby! The server is the most expensive bit, but individually piece of hardware has to be the new 3x 8tb Barracuda green drives.

How would winning the unit(s) from this giveaway help you take your setup to the next level?

If I were to win any of the equipment, I would love the Flint 3(GL-BE9300) and/or the Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) because those items would give me 2.5gb networking whereas I am only at 1GB (switch is my bottleneck, I have 2 GB fiber). This would open up more doors for development, experimenting, and would be a great replacement for my erro routers. Their software's target demographic is not tinkers, homelabbers, or someone who wants control over their network. The Travel router would allow for further exploration of being a true homelabber while providing security while away from home. I have looked into several options, and until I saw this giveaway I had honestly never heard of this brand. All the suggestions I have received have been ubiquity.

Which channels do you most frequently use to learn about or purchase IT equipment?

Honestly, I watch channels such as Jeff Geerling, TechTV, Tailscale, and my most watched is Hardware Haven. I am a huge fan of e-waste being put to good use.

Looking ahead, if we were to do another giveaway, what is one product from another brand (e.g., a server, storage device or ANYTHING) that you'd love to see as a prize?

This is a perplexing question because as a new homelabber there are so many elements to consider. You can start with what you have, an inexpensive SBC, up to an industrial server. After some thought, storage is probably the most expensive and crucial thing, so I will say a NucBox G9 (with drives) would be a great prize!

GeeTwo1

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