The homelab rack — past, present and future plans

A lot has happened with my homelab rack since my last update. In fact, this post is a bit challenging to write as my plans have changed and changed again. Some communicated and some not.

My last update, from late 2024, contains many plans which have later been abandoned.

So let’s see if we can navigate through this mess and set the record straight.

Scrapped plans

Let’s first have a look at what I had planned, but have since abandoned.

25 Gbit networking

Start to play with 25 Gbit networking, and routing.

I do in fact have three SFP28 cards, and was planning to buy the CRS510-8XS-2XQ-IN switch and play with 25 Gbit routing.

But the price of the switch, and all the new DAC cables and fiber adapters I needed, put me off. I had a hard time justifying the cost for something I didn’t need. That money is better spent on something else.

HP Z440 server

I recently acquired a HP Z440 machine, I’m going to do something fun with it.

I played with the server for a while — set up an NVMe ZFS pool and did some speed tests. Yes it was fast, and yes it was fun. But I didn’t have any usecase for it.

After some contemplating I sold the server.

Synology backup NAS

I’ve had a Synology NAS just sitting on a shelf for a long time, the plan was to use it for backups. I did set it up briefly, but soon discovered it was too limited for my taste.

I do recognize that Synology NASes are good devices, but I am too used to having a full Linux OS to tinker with. Synology DiskStation Manager (DMS) is polished, but limited.

So I sold the Synology NAS as well.

Changes

Ok, done with the old. Now let’s have a look at what I have done 🙂

ATS removed

I used to have a BlueWalker PW ATS — an automatic transfer switch that allowed me to connect the rack to two power sources. If the primary power source was lost, it just switched to the secondary.

Pretty cool — but quite useless, at least for my setup. In the seven-ish years I’ve had the ATS installed, it hasn’t been useful a single time.

So; I took it out and sold it. Freeing up another rack unit 🙂

The ATS did monitor the power usage, now I’m just using a Shelly Plus Plug S instead.

Rack rails

I explained in an earlier blog post that I wanted to better utilize the space in the rack.

Zeta, my file server, now has proper rack rails 👍 This allowed me to move it down 1U, up close to the UPS. This wasn’t possible before because of the rack shelf it was resting on.

My backup server Alpha, which is already on rails, could then be moved down 1U as well. Freeing up enough space above for another 4U server.

This space was originally intended for the Z440 server that didn’t happen. Currently I am just storing a spare computer here, but I have plans to rack-mount a server that will fit nicely in 4U, read on to learn more 😉

Servers

Late 2025 I removed and replaced some servers. Some were used in the rack, others were just sitting on a shelf:

• Lenovo Thinkstation E32 SFF
• HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF (x2)
• HP EliteDesk 800 G1 USDT (x2)

Instead I got two new servers:

• HP Pro SFF 400 G9
• HP EliteDesk 800 G8 SFF

Fewer servers, more power 😎

Proxmox

My three Proxmox hypervisors are now in a cluster. There are two compute nodes (PVE), and one file server (PVE+PBS).

I don’t use clustered or shared storage for VMs and containers, they all use local NVMe ZFS storage. To allow for migrations and high availability I use ZFS replication instead.

I used to run a dedicated Proxmox Backup Server, now I run it on my file server instead. Not as a VM or LXC container, but installed together with PVE on the host itself. I think this is a good solution, the server has storage and is always on. Of course, if the file server goes down, restoring will be difficult. But my future plan for a secondary cold backup server (mentioned below) will mitigate that risk.

How my Proxmox cluster is configured is out of scope for this blog post — it’s worth its own post.

Network

My virtual Mikrotik router (CHR) used to live on a dedicated Proxmox hypervisor, with NIC passthrough.

Now I have migrated it into the cluster, with no hardware passthrough. Recent driver updates in the CHR have made the VirtIO performance significantly better. Also worthy of its own post.

No passthrough also means the router can be migrated between Proxmox hosts, which is neat 🙂

Future plans

Network topology

I am planning, and have started to implement, a new network topology. I will have redundant core switches, using MLAG, and dual 10 Gbit/s to each server.

I have already acquired and mounted an additional MikroTik CRS317-1G-16S+ switch, but it’s just sitting there for now.

New server

I recently got my hands on a server with Intel Core i5-11600K CPU, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card. I’ve installed Debian and Docker and have been using it for Immich machine learning, with fantastic results! Immich Smart Search is so cool!

Currently it sits in a desktop case, but I am planning to move it into something more suitable 🙂 I have my eye on the Inter-Tech IPC 4U-40255, but that is a winter project.

Full spec available on its computer page.

Fileserver CPU

My fileserver, Zeta, has a pretty weak CPU, an Intel Pentium G4560. The motherboard is compatible with better CPUs, so I have purchased a second-hand Intel Core i7-7700 CPU, but haven’t installed it yet.

Also probably a winter project…

Backup server

As I wrote earlier; my Proxmox Backup Server runs together with PVE on the same host. In addition to that I am considering setting up my old PBS server (now turned off) as a secondary backup server.

Only powering it on a few times per week to receive backups, and then power it back down.

Winter project?

Ending note

OK, I think that was everything. At least until I change my mind and do something completely different. That wouldn’t be the first time 😛

I’m currently deep into rebuilding my DIY alarm system — we’ll see how long this obsession will last.

🖖