Homelab
Lab configuration as of April 2023
Current Lab Configuration
I owe a lot of this design to NetworkChuck, as his video on pfSense firewalls really inspired me to play around with my home network.
The StarTech rack (12u) sits in my living room and provides excellent background noise and ambient lighting...
My first time building a rack and setting it up.
Early Stages of the Homelab
I did not have an end goal in mind when I decided to get all of my homelab hardware. I started this journey because I got a free Cisco Catalyst 2960 from my professor. I ended up buying the two PowerEdge R420 servers on eBay for ~$200, and I haphazardly put it all together because I couldn't let the generosity of my professor go to waste.
Now that I have had some time to learn and grow, the homelab has moved into a dual-purpose role. It houses the hardware controlling my home network, and it contains the servers that I am using to learn.
Topology
Just recently I got my VLANs working right. I intend to segregate my R420s and run vulnerable images on them so that I may practice and learn. I would also like to host a PiAware, Octoprint, and an AREDN Node, so I will create another VLAN for those too.
Just recently, my Unifi AP quit displaying my guest captive portal, so I have added that to my list of things to work on.
Mikrotik
I have played around with RouterOS, but I really couldn't get my VLANs working the way I wanted to with my pfSense. I eventually booted into SwitchOS and prefer it since my pfSense handles the routing. I found it confusing to use, but I also don't spend a lot of time at work playing around with switch configurations.
All in all, I think the Mikrotik is an excellent option for a homelab. I had to pay a little extra for mine due to the fact that I purchased it during the COVID-19 pandemic.