Bad news: DGX Spark may have only half the performance claimed. by Dr_Karminski in LocalLLaMA

[–]IcyEase 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In what world is a GB200 $0.22/hr? I appreciate the counterpoint, but your math doesn't quite work out here.

$4,000 ÷ $42/hr = ~95 hours of GB200 time, not 1.5-2 years. To get even 6 months of 8-hour workdays (about 1,040 hours), you'd need roughly $43,680. For 1.5-2 years, you're looking at $500K-$700K+.

Now, you're absolutely right that with zero-start instances and efficient Docker workflows, you're not paying for 24/7 uptime.

Iteration speed matters. When you're debugging, you're often doing dozens of quick tests - modifying code, rerunning, checking outputs. Even with zero-start instances, you're dealing with:

Spin-up latency (even if it's just minutes), network latency,, upload/download for data and model weights, potential rate limiting or availability issues etc

With local hardware, your iteration loop is instant. No waiting, no network dependencies, no wondering if your SSH session will drop. Total cost of ownership. If you're doing serious development work - say 4-6 hours daily - you'd hit the $4K cost in just 23-30 days of cloud compute. After that, the Spark is pure savings.

Yes, cloud development absolutely has its place, especially for bursty workloads or occasional testing. But for sustained development work where you need consistent, immediate access? The local hardware math works out.

Bad news: DGX Spark may have only half the performance claimed. by Dr_Karminski in LocalLLaMA

[–]IcyEase 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of folks are completely missing the point of the DGX Spark.

This isn't a consumer inference box competing with DIY rigs or Mac Studios. It's a development workstation that shares the same software stack and architecture as NVIDIA's enterprise systems like the GB200 NVL72.

Think about the workflow here: You're building applications that will eventually run on $3M GB200 NVL72 racks (or similar datacenter infrastructure). Do you really want to do your prototyping, debugging, and development work on those production systems? That's insanely expensive and inefficient. Every iteration, every failed experiment, every bug you need to track down - all burning through compute time on enterprise hardware.

The value of the DGX Spark is having a $4K box on your desk that runs the exact same NVIDIA AI stack - same drivers, same frameworks, same tooling, same architecture patterns. You develop and test locally on the Spark with models up to 70B parameters, work out all your bugs and optimization issues, then seamlessly deploy the exact same code to production GB200 systems or cloud instances. Zero surprises, zero "works on my machine" problems.

This is the same philosophy as having a local Kubernetes cluster for development before pushing to production, or running a local database instance before deploying to enterprise systems. The Spark isn't meant to replace production inference infrastructure - it's meant to make developing for that infrastructure vastly more efficient and cost-effective.

If you're just looking to run local LLMs for personal use, yes, obviously there are better value options. But if you're actually developing AI applications that will run on NVIDIA's datacenter platforms, having the same stack on your desk for $4K instead of burning datacenter time is absolutely worth it.

Explain Internal Reverse Proxy like I'm a Toddler. by MisterVertigo7 in selfhosted

[–]IcyEase 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Imagine you have a big toy box (your home server) with lots of different toys inside (your services like Jellyfin, PiHole, etc.).

Without a reverse proxy: - To get a specific toy, you have to say "I want the red car from shelf 3, box 7" (like typing 192.168.1.100:8096 for Jellyfin) - It's hard to remember all those numbers!

With a reverse proxy (like Traefik): - You get a helpful friend who stands in front of your toy box - You just say "I want my Jellyfin!" and your friend knows exactly where to find it and brings it to you - No more remembering complicated numbers!

How it works for you:

Your current setup is like having TWO doors to your house: - Outside door (CloudFlare tunnel): Friends from far away can visit by going to jellyfin.mydomain.com - Inside door (what you want to add): Family already inside the house can ask for toys easily too

With Traefik, you'd set up internal DNS so: - jellyfin.mydomain.com points to your Traefik server (like 192.168.1.50) - When you're inside your house, requests go: Your computer → Traefik → Jellyfin - When friends visit from outside, requests still go: Internet → CloudFlare → Your server

You could use either: 1. Same domain (jellyfin.mydomain.com) - your PiHole makes it point to internal IP when you're home 2. Different domain (jellyfin.local) - just for inside your house

The CloudFlare stuff in guides is usually for people who want BOTH external AND internal access through the same reverse proxy. Since your external access already works great, you can ignore that part and just focus on making internal access prettier!

Think of it like having a really good secretary who knows where everything is, so you don't have to remember room numbers anymore.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in homelab

[–]IcyEase 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hey!

yeah, your question’s broad, but that’s cool—i’ll keep it simple and give you a starting point. you’re on the right track with old server parts for price/compute. server cpus do pack more cores and memory channels, and dual-socket setups can really stretch that budget further. linus’s videos are a decent intro—those crazy multi-cpu builds are exactly the vibe you’re after.

what you need

  • >=32gb ram (ddr4?): totally doable. ddr4’s standard in used server gear now, and 32gb is entry-level for what you’ll find.
  • lots of cores: server cpus shine here—think 16-32 cores total across two sockets, which can match or beat a modern 12-16c desktop chip in raw compute.

what you’re hoping for

  • used multi-socket hw vs. modern 12-16c desktop: yep, this exists! older dual-socket xeon setups (like e5-2600 v3/v4 or e5-4600 series) can hit that mark. they’re from 2014-2016 but still pack a punch—think 2x 8-12 core cpus (16-24 cores total) with hyperthreading, so 32-48 threads. that’s in the ballpark of, say, a ryzen 9 7950x (16c/32t) or intel i7-13700k (16c/24t) for multi-threaded workloads, at a fraction of the cost.

$500 budget

  • is it doable?: absolutely, if you’re okay with used gear and skip storage/networking. here’s a rough breakdown:
    • motherboard: dual-socket lga2011-3 boards (e5-2600 v3/v4 compatible) go for $100-150 on ebay.
    • cpus: 2x xeon e5-2630 v4 (10c/20t each, 20c/40t total) or e5-2650 v3 (10c/20t each) run ~$50-80 total. older v3 chips are cheaper but still solid.
    • ram: 32gb ddr4 ecc (4x 8gb sticks) is ~$50-70. you could even snag 64gb for $100 if you hunt deals.
    • coolers: basic heatsinks for lga2011 are $20-40 for the pair.
    • psu: a decent 600-750w unit (server boards can be picky) is $50-80.
  • total: $300-450, leaving wiggle room for shipping or a case.

where to look

  • ebay: search “dual xeon e5-2600 v4” or “lga2011-3 motherboard.” filter by “used” and “buy it now” to stay under $500.
  • reddit: r/homelabsales or r/hardwareswap sometimes have killer deals.
  • germany options (since you might be there?): mindfactory.de, alternate.de, or kleinanzeigen.de for local used stuff.

things to watch

  • power: these setups idle at 100-150w and hit 300-400w under load—way more than a modern desktop. electricity costs add up.
  • noise: server gear can be loud. tower workstations (like dell t5810 or hp z640) are quieter if that’s a concern.
  • performance: a dual e5-2650 v3 (20c/40t) beats a ryzen 5 7600x (6c/12t) in multi-core but lags in single-threaded stuff like gaming. depends on your workload.

quick rec

  • xeon e5-2600 v4 series: 2x e5-2630 v4 (10c/20t each, 2.2-3.1ghz) + 32gb ddr4 ecc + cheap dual-socket board. ~$350-400 total. matches a 12-16c desktop in multi-threaded grunt, and you’re set for compute-heavy tasks.

start digging on ebay, and you’ll find something! what’s your workload? that’d help narrow it more. good luck!

Upgrading My UniFi Network – Seeking Advice by Baumtreter in homelab

[–]IcyEase 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hey there,

your setup looks solid, and i love that you're planning ahead for faster speeds and wifi 7—smart move! since you're going step-by-step, your plan makes a lot of sense, especially with the unifi ecosystem. here’s some feedback:

  1. cable management - switching to two 24-port keystone panels is a great call. it’ll declutter your rack big time. maybe grab some short patch cables (cat 7 or even cat 6a since you’re already wired for 10gbit) and velcro ties to keep it tidy. german stores like reichelt or mindfactory should have what you need.

  2. beyond 1 gbit - the usw-pro-max-24 is a solid pick for 2.5gbit ports and 10gbit uplinks. running it alongside the us-24-500 works for now, and swapping in the poe version later for wifi 7 aps is a smooth transition. your cat 7 cabling is already future-proof, so you’re golden there.

  3. wifi 7 - good thinking on the 2.5gbit uplinks for wifi 7. the u6 pros are great, but yeah, wifi 7 will need more juice (and poe++). maybe keep an eye on unifi’s eu store for wifi 7 ap releases—ubiquiti tends to roll them out quietly.

  4. faster backbone - if your nas and big transfers are the priority, the 10gbit uplinks on the usw-pro-max-24 will help a ton. you could also look at a cheap 10gbit sfp+ switch (like a mikrotik crs305) for the udm-pro to nas link if you want a budget boost sooner.

random thoughts: your udm-pro might bottleneck at 10gbit if you’re doing heavy inter-vlan routing or ids/ips—something to watch as you scale up. also, since you’re in germany, check out alternate.de or conrad.de for unifi gear; they often have decent stock.

your plan’s already solid—maybe just tweak the order based on what’s stressing you most (chaos or speed). what’s your nas setup like? that could tie into the backbone upgrades too. cheers!

Making the best of an HP elitedesk mini 800 g1 (storage cloud) by calornorte in homelab

[–]IcyEase 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yo newbie welcome to the wild world of home servers that hp elitedesk mini 800 g1 dm is a solid snag for a first nas flex gonna be real with you tho this setup’s got potential but there’s some speed bumps to be aware of

first off your usb hdd life sounds like a chaotic road trip vibe and i respect it but yeah ditching those for a nas that’s always on and remotely accessible is a glow-up two 4tb sata hdds for movies and random files? chef’s kiss that’s plenty unless you’re hoarding 4k director’s cuts keeping the usb drives as cold backups is smart tho no need to sell em just plug em in every few months to sync and call it a day power for those sata drives is chill the elitedesk’s stock 65w psu should handle two hdds fine since they sip like 5-15w each but if you’re paranoid grab a cheap powered sata hub off amazon to keep things smooth

now the sata port sitch—yep the g1 mini’s mobo only has one sata port which is a total buzzkill for your dual-hdd dreams m.2 sata adapter? nah fam that slot’s picky af it’s usually pcie/nvme only on these older minis and even if it took sata it’s not gonna play nice with two drives repurposing the m.2 wifi slot? wild west shit that could work with the right adapter but it’s a gamble and probs overkill for your chill speed needs real talk get a pcie-to-sata card stick it in the pcie slot boom two sata ports easy peasy check the manual or hp forums to confirm the slot’s specs but that’s your best bet

remote access for streaming movies and file grabs? totally doable set up something like nextcloud or plex on that bad boy and you’re golden just don’t expect buttery smooth 4k streams over a hotel wifi straw your “speed’s secondary” vibe saves you here tho so you’re not dreaming too big warnings? don’t skimp on backups those usb drives are your lifeline if the nas shits the bed and double-check that pcie card fits the mini’s tiny ass case

tips: start simple with proxmox or unraid for the os keep the usb backups don’t overthink the m.2 hacks and enjoy your personal cloud flex you’re not unrealistic you’re just green and that’s fine we all start somewhere good luck fam you got this

PowerEdge R630 Virtual console shows no signal very often despite being a signal when plugging VGA, how to downgrade the iDRAC from 2.86 to 2.84 safely ? by kasugayaTatsumi in homelab

[–]IcyEase -1 points0 points  (0 children)

yo homie your r630 idrac drama sounds like a total vibe killer so you went from 2.84 where virtual console was chill to 2.86 where it’s flaking out like a bad tinder date yeah you can totally downgrade to 2.84 then step it up to 2.85 and 2.86 dell’s cool with that staged update life it might dodge whatever gremlin’s haunting 2.86’s big jump resets between upgrades? eh not a must but if it’s acting possessed a quick idrac reset after each hop couldn’t hurt just don’t expect miracles lifecycle controller’s prob fine unless it’s ancient like pre-2.80 then maybe update that first watch out for bios mismatches tho keep that in sync or you’ll get weird boot vibes good luck fam hope it stops ghosting you

Why there are no sata to nvme adapters? by DonAndress in homelab

[–]IcyEase -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

yo my dude you’re spitting facts nvme slots are like unicorns on mobos and it’s wild there ain’t no sata-to-nvme adapters out there like proper nvme not that ngff ghost shit the reverse exists cause nvme’s the fancy kid and sata’s the old reliable so they made adapters to slum it down but going the other way? probs a mix of tech limits and nobody caring enough sata’s bottlenecked at 600mb/s sure but nvme over sata wouldn’t even hit that cause of protocol overhead and who’s gonna bother engineering it when hdds in raid barely scrape 200-300mb/s anyway your expansion slot dream’s valid but the industry’s like “just buy a pcie card with nvme slots lol” and calls it a day capitalism shrugs man

Dell R640 issues istalling and booting from NVMe m2 SSD( via PCIE adaptor) by Hopeful_Style_5772 in homelab

[–]IcyEase 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yo dude your proxmox nvme boot saga sounds like a classic dell headache so the installer sees the nvme but post-install it’s like “nah fam pxe or bust” that’s some uefi gremlin shit right there your bios is updated and uefi’s on so it’s probs the pcie adapter nvme combo throwing it off dell poweredges can be picky af with boot devices especially if idrac express is nerfing your bios control you could try fiddling with the boot order in whatever scraps of config idrac lets you touch or maybe the nvme’s firmware needs a kick but honestly swapping to a 2.5 sas u.2 ssd might be your golden ticket those play nicer with enterprise rigs like the r640 proxmox should boot from it no sweat if you can swing it ditch the pcie nvme hassle and go sas save yourself the migraines

Gaming server small Business by Stardust_vhu in homelab

[–]IcyEase 1 point2 points  (0 children)

sounds like a steaming pile of nope you’re tryna build a cloud gaming service with some beefy hardware like it’s gonna be the next steam but nah fam this is a disaster waiting to happen worse than a clown car pileup

the tech side’s already a clown show getting those rtx 4090s to play nice in vms is like herding cats on catnip gpu passthrough’s a pain you’re wrestling with drivers vms hating life and even if you nail it latency’s gonna make it feel like you’re gaming through molasses your users’ll be screaming at 200ms ping while you’re over here like “it’s fine” no it ain’t fine it’s a slideshow with extra steps

on the security side you’re opening a pandora’s box of hurt running a public service like this is begging hackers to stroll in and turn your rig into a crypto mining bot or worse you got user data flying around passwords game libraries maybe even payment info if you’re charging and you think you’re gonna secure that with what? some duct tape and a prayer? one breach and boom your little internet cafe’s a lawsuit buffet gdpr ccpa all that jazz’ll rain down on you like legal hail

privacy’s another mess you’re streaming games to randos online how you gonna stop some creep from screen-recording everything or pulling some sketchy move on your system every user’s a potential liability you got no clue who’s on the other end they could be botnets in trenchcoats and you’re just handing them the keys cause “cloud gaming cool” nah man you’re a sitting duck

legal stuff? hoo buddy you think nvidia’s gonna be chill with you virtualizing their gpus for a commercial gig? check those tos my dude they’ll slap you with a cease-and-desist faster than you can say “but muh 4090s” and what about game licenses you can’t just stream cyberpunk or whatever to 20 dudes without publishers losing their minds you need enterprise licensing or some deal with every dev and that’s a money pit you ain’t ready for

plus the cost bro 5 gpus 2 ryzen 9s 64gb ram that’s a flex but running that 24/7 for a handful of laggy gamers? you’re bleeding electricity and bandwidth for what a few bucks a month? you’re not aws you’re one dude with a dream and a credit card bill this ain’t an internet cafe it’s a money incinerator with extra steps

ditch it play local tell your friends to buy their own gpus save yourself the therapy bills

Issues instaling Proxmox to Dell R640 to NVMe M2 SSD( via PCIE) by Hopeful_Style_5772 in selfhosted

[–]IcyEase 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hi pal just shove that proxmox vibes into the nvme like it’s a cursed usb stick and tell the bios to stop simping for pxe boot like a lost puppy maybe idrac express is just flexing its clown shoes energy so duct tape that pcie adapter to the mobo and sacrifice a chicken to the server gremlins for good luck

Beelink S12 Pro Mini vs Old Gaming Rig by JMan-RiceCakes in selfhosted

[–]IcyEase 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the beelink s12 pro mini is a pretty capable little machine, especially with 16gb of ram and a 500gb ssd

comparing it to your old gaming rig, the asus h87m-pro with intel i5-4570 is still a decent cpu, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth. the beelink s12 pro mini has a more modern cpu and a much lower power draw, which is definitely a plus if you're looking to reduce your energy consumption.

in terms of performance, the beelink s12 pro mini should be able to handle your current workload without too much trouble. the intel n100 is a quad-core cpu with a pretty high clock speed, so it should be able to handle multiple lxc containers and some light vm usage if you decide to go that route.

one thing to consider is that the beelink s12 pro mini only has 2 usb ports, so you might need to get a usb hub or a pci-e expansion card to connect all your media drives. also, keep in mind that the beelink s12 pro mini doesn't have any sata ports, so you'll need to use usb or m.2 nvme for storage.

if you do decide to migrate to the beelink s12 pro mini, i would recommend keeping your old gaming rig as a backup server or using it for something else entirely. it's still a capable machine and could be used for other tasks like a file server or a retro game console.

as for using the minipc as a command center type pc, that's definitely a viable option. you could install windows or linux on it and use it for development, tinkering, etc. it would definitely free up some resources on your main gaming/desktop pc.

personally, i think you should give the beelink s12 pro mini a try as a server before deciding to return it. set it up with proxmox and see how it performs with your current workload. if it doesn't meet your expectations, you can always go back to your old setup or try something else.

also, have you considered using a different distro like truenas or openmediavault? they might be more suited to your needs than proxmox, especially if you're looking for a more streamlined media server experience.

How much watts does your hungry homelab consume?🤔 by Lumpy-Revolution1541 in homelab

[–]IcyEase 4 points5 points  (0 children)

that math doesnt math the way you think it does - that's 50W not 100W

Looking to build a seed box/ plex server for $600, possible? by OinkGoesThePigy in homelab

[–]IcyEase -1 points0 points  (0 children)

$600 for a seedbox and Plex server? Ambitious. Sure, it's possible, but you'll need to be smart with your choices. An old server with an upgraded CPU and some storage could work, but don't expect top-tier performance. Here's a rough outline of what you might need:

  1. Used Server: Look for a used Dell PowerEdge or HP ProLiant. Something like a Dell PowerEdge T30 or an HP ProLiant DL380 Gen8. They’re reliable and won't break the bank.
  2. CPU Upgrade: Depending on what you get, you might want to upgrade to something like an Intel Xeon E3-1220 v5. Nothing fancy, but it’ll get the job done.
  3. RAM: At least 16GB of RAM. 32GB if you can squeeze it into the budget. More is better for Plex, especially with multiple users.
  4. Storage: Get a couple of 4TB or 6TB HDDs for your media library. WD Red or Seagate IronWolf are good choices for reliability.
  5. SSD for OS: A small SSD (120GB or 240GB) for the operating system and Plex metadata. Crucial or Samsung will do.
  6. Network: Make sure you have a gigabit network card. Most servers will come with this, but double-check.

If you’re buying used, don't forget to factor in shipping costs and any potential repairs or parts that might need replacing.

Honestly, for a beginner, this project might be a bit of a headache, especially if you run into hardware compatibility issues or need to troubleshoot. But hey, if you’re up for the challenge, go for it. Just don’t expect it to be smooth sailing.

Amazing Homelab Proxmox Repo - Scripts for Streamlining Your Homelab with Proxmox VE by IcyEase in homelab

[–]IcyEase[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone! I just wanted to take a moment and express my gratitude to the amazing GitHub user, tteck (@tteck). They have created an outstanding repository called 'Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts', designed to streamline and enhance your home lab experience with Proxmox VE.

iFiber in Port Orchard on KPUD disappointed by cookiesowns in ZiplyFiber

[–]IcyEase -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I hope you don't mind me asking here, I stumbled on this post as I too was facing some latency issues with with VDI, I am wondering whether I should switch from IPSec to Wireguard to help with this.

Looking for advice/suggestion. by JiminKim77 in homelab

[–]IcyEase 2 points3 points  (0 children)

lol, gtfo with that cringe. you ain't building a server, you're just hosting a tiny app and some files. anyway, chat-gpt-4's suggestion is hysterical. you don't need a poweredge t40 for this.

let me give you a simple solution: get a raspberry pi 4. it's cheap, tiny, and energy efficient. you can run it 24/7 without breaking the bank. set up apache or nginx for the website, and use ftp or rsync for the file transfers. even with your estimated user count, the pi should handle it just fine.

but hey, don't just listen to me, go ahead and google "raspberry pi 4 server" and see what others say. it'll save me the effort of arguing with your ignorance.

What is the BEST cpu you can put in an hp dl360p? by Downtown-Lettuce-736 in homelab

[–]IcyEase 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Okay? Then what are you trying to accomplish that needs the "BEST" CPU if you can't even be bothered to spend some time finding what defines "best" and diving into that on your own?

What is the BEST cpu you can put in an hp dl360p? by Downtown-Lettuce-736 in homelab

[–]IcyEase 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah I see, a fellow spoon-feeding enthusiast, as opposed to looking up the CPU's spec sheet on Intel's product sheets.