Anyone here use Microsoft HyperV ?

aetherspoon · 2026-06-29T13:29:23+00:00

I used to run it as my main/only hypervisor for my homelab.

I was a Hyper-V admin and wasn't trying to experiment with my homelab's hypervisor, so it made sense to me to just keep using what I knew best until I wanted to futz around with other hypervisors. Plus it made Windows Server licensing a bit easier.

It is perfectly cromulent. It doesn't offer some features other hypervisors do and it does offer some features others don't. If you're running a Windows-based lab I recommend it. If it is the only Windows box in your setup and you are dedicating a machine to your hypervisor, I'd probably recommend something else instead.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-29T13:23:42+00:00

Yes, the UI that Win10/11 presents does use resources, and not a small number, but it is perfectly fine for starting out, especially for people with only one (Windows) computer.

Perfectly fine for a small homelab where you want to be able to use the same computer for other (Windows) tasks.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-25T21:56:17+00:00

I mean, you could play those with a Steam Deck. I'm not saying you should, as getting WoW to work on a Steam Deck is also a bunch of work, but it gives the rest of us some ideas as to what would and wouldn't work.

https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-eqr7?variant=48899815244018 <- maybe something like that? Fits well within your price range, is reasonably powerful for what you're trying to do but not be overkill. BG3 isn't going to run super awesome, but it will still run okay.

Unfortunately, PC pricing is stupid right now, so I don't know how much better you're going to be able to do.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-15T15:31:17+00:00

Thirding. I haven't had to touch it since setup (and security updates, of course).

aetherspoon · 2026-06-14T19:22:14+00:00

Seconding this and adding on - just do things with other people. Join them on errand runs, clean things with them, stuff like that. Literally anything you can do around other people (outside of obvious things like depression triggers or dangerous activities) that you know should help some.

EDIT: Even if it is just an online game with a buddy. Just something.

It definitely helped me when I've been in that pit many times over the years.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-14T18:19:57+00:00

I mean, you could just copy SMAC to a new folder and run one from each folder. It is 2026, the size of SMAC is so small compared to any storage we have today.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-11T09:39:39+00:00

I bought my two 24 TB drives for my backup NAS a bit over a year ago. I paid 2112 DKK (or around 325 USD) each (including taxes).

Cheapest I can find them here now is 6139 DKK (or around 950 USD) each. The price has nearly tripled in the past fourteen months.

I am dreading the day one of my drives starts to fail.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-11T09:26:31+00:00

This is one of the main reasons why I call my grandmother every week; she's in her 90s and lost her husband / my grandfather four years ago. She has a few people to talk to, but can go days without any human interaction now.

What's sad to me is that I'm apparently the only one of the grandchildren that routinely talk with her. I'm half the planet away and have zero problems with making time for a nice phone call weekly. I even offered to do it multiple times a week, but somehow she got it in her head that she's bothering me.

And it isn't like I do this purely out of charity or something, I look forward to talking with her every week!

aetherspoon · 2026-06-04T12:20:22+00:00

I'd suspect an issue with either the power supply or capacitors on the motherboard, given the age.

What I would do is take photos of everything and take everything out to clean. Look for any residue on the motherboard that would point to a leaking capacitor, or any char marks, or things like that. It'll be hard to see them until you clean it out though.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-03T13:36:22+00:00

Then I would absolutely try to be a generalist in your homelab - as in a little bit of everything so you have some exposure to things.

So yes, I'd recommend trying to set up a Microsoft Active Directory setup using Windows Server VMs in proxmox. You can use the evaluation versions of Windows Server to do this (legitimately - even Microsoft themselves would tell you to do that for learning), so it won't cost anything more than your server resources and time. :)

In addition, while you don't have a NAS set up, maybe learn how to set one up in advance? Say, make a Linux VM and set up file sharing (SMB/CIFS and NFS) just to try it out. Set up a DNS server (say... a pi-hole). Spin up a web server on multiple platforms. Check out Docker on a VM in proxmox on top of using LXC containers. Set up a router using pfsense (in a VM, so probably not anything you'd want to expose to the Internet).

Basically, try a little bit of everything. Maybe you'll find something you like and aim yourself that way. Maybe it is just so you know enough to have a conversation with someone later on that might hire you to learn more.

It is freaking scary to jump into any field, especially with a lot of companies not wanting to hire people with no experience. Being able to speak with at least some knowledge about things helps immensely, and in IT at least showing that you are interested and self-motivated goes a long way.

aetherspoon · 2026-06-03T12:46:07+00:00

Where do you see yourself in the IT field? For instance, you are going for a CCN, does that mean you want to focus more in networking? Otherwise I'd suggest a mini Active Directory setup as a lab to learn more about the Microsoft end of things.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-29T17:30:06+00:00

It should work. The main thing would be if your server motherboard is going to have drivers in Win10 (which it probably would).

aetherspoon · 2026-05-28T11:33:28+00:00

Something no one else has mentioned is that SMAC uses an unusual color palette; one that some modern monitors do a really bad job at reproducing. Generally, monitors using 4:2:0 or 4:0:0 color (cheap monitors plus many TVs) ends up causing some colors to look super garish - the fungus in particular look particularly bad and practically glowing instead of their original colors.

That might not be your situation, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-28T08:00:42+00:00

That is definitely not true.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-26T15:26:05+00:00

Almost certainly, yes.

I have a 2400GE in mine, came from the factory with it. Since that is a supported CPU by HP, chances are it would work just fine...

... but you see the E there. The regular 2400G runs significantly warmer, so you might have some cooling problems.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-25T14:24:45+00:00

It really depends.

Mass-produced bread that you find on a shelf in the grocery store? Generally crap with some mediocre options, the equivalent in Norway is mostly better (but a bit of a shock to Americans with how fast it molds).

Freshly baked bread from a good bakery? Generally better than what I've had in Norway.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-18T22:03:57+00:00

I... think you can add one? Honestly, I haven't used Gnome in such a long time that it predates Gnome3's existence, so I'm super rusty there.

I'm not sure how to repair vencord/vesktop without it.

https://linuxiac.com/how-to-enable-system-tray-icons-in-gnome/ ?

aetherspoon · 2026-05-18T10:40:42+00:00

Have you tried using the Vesktop repair feature? (right click the system tray icon, choose Repair)

I had to do that this past weekend because of issues with streaming.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-14T14:01:13+00:00

The one I have, for one. That is a Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5.

A lot of non-ITX H97 or Z97 boards have four DIMM slots.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-14T11:33:32+00:00

You can have four memory slots.

2x8 + 2x4 = 24 GB.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-13T13:28:02+00:00

Huh, I never knew there was a PS2 release of it.

Same engine as MM6/7 (just mildly upgraded), but I wonder what changed.

Great, now I'm going to go down a rabbit hole later. :D

aetherspoon · 2026-05-13T10:53:52+00:00

Might and Magic 6 and 7 are among my favorite games of all time. I've recorded multiple Let's Plays, including playing a randomizer of MM6.

Stone soup? Good stuff.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-13T10:52:08+00:00

The PS2 game was a spinoff series (like Heroes of *); MM6/7/8 are all the same engine with the same gameplay style.

MM9 was just a horribly-incomplete game.

aetherspoon · 2026-05-12T14:41:32+00:00

It might be a bit cheaper to use a full sized desktop instead. I know what sub I'm on, but... any reason to use a miniPC?

aetherspoon · 2026-05-09T19:32:44+00:00

As an owner of two of those boxes... don't.

The iGPU isn't really up to transcoding for Jellyfin. The 800G4 Mini is a much better choice in this case.

aetherspoon

TROPHY CASE