I recently upgraded my homelab to a rack-mounted setup after starting with an HP EliteDesk PC about a year ago. My current TrueNAS server has 32TB of storage and 32GB of RAM, housed in an iStarUSA D-350HB chassis I picked up at auction.
Getting Started in Homelabbing
For beginners I recommend starting with affordable small form factor PCs like the HP EliteDesk. They let you experiment with different operating systems — Proxmox, TrueNAS, Unraid — without a big upfront investment. Dell OptiPlex Micro and Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny are solid alternatives. There’s a ton of info online to help you get started, and with Windows 10 support ending, now is a great time to get into the hobby.
Storage on a Budget
Used and recertified hard drives are a cost-effective way to get started. Micro PCs typically use 2.5-inch or M.2 drives for boot, so you’ll need an external solution for larger storage. Avoid unreliable external 3.5-inch drive bays — they can overheat and create single points of failure. Internal storage is the better option whenever possible.
Current Services
My setup has five 3.5-inch drive bays with 30TB of storage. Key services:
- Jellyfin with ARR services for media management
- Game Servers via Docker with port forwarding
- Pi-hole for network-wide ad blocking
- Nextcloud for private cloud storage
Running these taught me Linux basics, DNS, and Docker management the hard way.
Challenges
Don’t be like me and skip regular updates. Real issues I ran into: storage pool migrations, permission errors, Docker failures, and VLAN configuration problems. Despite all that, TrueNAS was still more beginner-friendly than Proxmox or raw Debian.
Future Plans
- Tailscale for secure VPN access without manual port forwarding
- Automated deployment and backup scripts for game servers
- Grafana + Prometheus for real-time server monitoring
- Experimenting with Proxmox or Kubernetes for advanced skill development
Last modified on 2025-07-19