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UPGRADE Your Mini PC to 128 GB RAM! #minipc #homelab
The time has come! 128 GB RAM kits have been officially released from Crucial and this is going to be a game changer for home lab enthusiasts running mini PCs in their environments. We have been stuck at 64, then 96 GB of memory for years now. Finally, we are getting to workstation levels of memory for powerful mini PCs that will help take home lab and home server environments to the next level for self-hosting with virtual machines, Docker, and Kubernetes. Buy the new memory here (amazon affiliate link I get a small commission): ***New*** Crucial 128 GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit - https://amzn.to/4i5g5zN List of compatible mini PCs that work with new 128 GB RAM kit: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/02/list-of-compatible-mini-pcs-with-128-gb-ram-kit/ Proxmox server build components list (amazon affiliate links I get a small commission): Minisforum BD795M – https://amzn.to/4i2VEDH RackChoice 2U Micro ATX Compact – https://amzn.to/3CeIW5H Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 V2 – https://amzn.to/4aFXhET Noctua NH-L9i-17xx, Premium Low-Profile CPU Cooler – https://amzn.to/4hAKIwG ***New*** Crucial 128 GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit - https://amzn.to/4i5g5zN Crucial 96GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit – https://amzn.to/40w3ONQ Intel X520-DA2 10 GbE network adapter – https://amzn.to/4jv05ZA Kingston 240 GB drive for boot – https://amzn.to/4hv6sKG Samsung EVO 990 Pro 2TB – https://amzn.to/40OwtiA MX-4 Thermal paste – https://amzn.to/4hs5WgL Huge news with 128 GB of RAM now! - 0:00 Memory is the key in home lab - 0:53 Previous cap from 64 is now 128 GB - 1:15 Specs of the new 128 GB memory kit - 1:50 Compatibility - 2:49 Hurdle of seeing official support - 3:20 Testing and playing around with these new 128 GB RAM kits - 4:00 Models I have tested with the 128 GB RAM kit - 4:27 Minisforum MS-01 running 128 GB RAM - 4:57 ASUS NUC 14 Pro running Proxmox and 128 GB RAM - 6:13 Looking at the free -m output - 6:36 Trigkey S7 Pro with 128 GB of RAM - 7:20 Why this is a huge development for home labs - 8:12 Using this in conjunction with VMware NVMe memory tiering or Optane Swap in Proxmox - 8:45 Getting closer to having the level of enterprise server resources in min PCs - 9:08 Possibilities of upcoming hardware - 9:34 Let me know what you think and if you are excited about this development - 10:23 Subscribe and get updates! 10:42
Mini PCs with 128 GB of RAM in Home Lab with new RAM kit!
Proxmox Memory Hack you need to know! #tech #proxmox #optane #microserver #memoryusage #sysadmin
When it comes to performance, Swap space is generally considered a negative. When you start swapping to disk, performance usually suffers. However, if you running a RAM starved home lab host and maybe you are physically maxed out in the RAM you can install such as with today's SODIMM modules, using ultra-fast storage for swap space can actually be an advantage. I tested Intel Optane storage as swap space for a Proxmox host with only 48 GB of memory and the results were really amazing in terms of performance and the "feel" of the box, even with RAM maxed completely out. U.2 to M.2 adapter: https://amzn.to/40FZY4N Proxmox server build components list: Minisforum BD795M – https://amzn.to/4i2VEDH RackChoice 2U Micro ATX Compact – https://amzn.to/3CeIW5H Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 V2 – https://amzn.to/4aFXhET Noctua NH-L9i-17xx, Premium Low-Profile CPU Cooler – https://amzn.to/4hAKIwG ***New*** Crucial 128 GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit - https://amzn.to/4i5g5zN Crucial 96GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit – https://amzn.to/40w3ONQ Intel X520-DA2 10 GbE network adapter – https://amzn.to/4jv05ZA Kingston 240 GB drive for boot – https://amzn.to/4hv6sKG Samsung EVO 990 Pro 2TB – https://amzn.to/40OwtiA MX-4 Thermal paste – https://amzn.to/4hs5WgL See the written blog covering the information in the video: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/02/proxmox-swap-tweaks-guide-dedicated-drive-swappiness-page-cluster/ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to using Intel Optane - 0:00 Discussing memory limitations - 0:40 Intel Optane Drives - 1:06 NVMe memory tiering - 2:04 Introducing Optane for Proxmox system swap - 2:19 The Intel Optane hardware - 2:30 U.2 to M.2 adapter - 2:56 Proxmox Server Build 2025 - 3:02 Looking at the physical adapter - 3:23 Configuring Intel optane as Promxox swap space - 3:53 Turning off default swap storage - 4:28 Identifying the optane drive - 4:43 mkswap command to designate the drive as swap - 4:48 Turning on swap functionality for the optane hard drive - 5:00 Viewing the summary of swap storage - 5:14 Making the swap storage configuration as persistent - 5:28 Checking system memory and swap storage - 5:53 Swappiness! 5:57 Describing our use case with RAM starved system - 6:26 Adjusting swappiness value - 6:45 Making the swappiness change persistent - 7:07 vm.page-cluster setting - 7:23 Changing the vm.page-cluster setting - 8:32 Saturating memory in Proxmox and using Intel Optane as swap - 8:52 Tools to saturate memory - 9:59 Proxmox host is still very responsive - 11:31 The outcome and thinking about what this gives you in the home lab - 12:37 Responsiveness of virtual machines in Proxmox with Intel Optane as swap - 13:38 Comparing VMware memory NVMe memory tiering with Proxmox swap - 14:45 Is it worth adding Intel Optane to your Proxmox host? 15:39 Pros of using Intel Optane as Proxmox swap memory - 16:25 Cons of using Intel Optane as Proxmox swap memory - 16:43 Wrapping up Proxmox Swap on Intel Optane 17:22 Proxmox Home Lab Server Build 2025 - 17:38
Proxmox Swap and Memory Hack for Home Labs!
Many are thinking about migrating from VMware ESXi over to Proxmox and there are starting to be many solutions and ways to migrate with many new tools including Proxmox migration, including the built-in migration wizard that is native to Proxmox as of 8.x. However, Veeam Community Edition provides a free way to migrate your VMware virtual machines over to Proxmox. It is freely available and makes the process super simple. I guide you through the process of adding your Proxmox VE server to Veeam, backing up your VMs, and restoring your VMware backups over on Proxmox. You will be up and running on Proxmox in no time. My Proxmox Server Build for 2025 components (I get a small commission on affiliate links): - Minisforum BD795M – https://amzn.to/3PQXFa8 - RackChoice 2U Micro ATX Compact – https://amzn.to/3CeIW5H - Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 V2 – https://amzn.to/4aFXhET - Noctua NH-L9i-17xx, Premium Low-Profile CPU Cooler – https://amzn.to/4hAKIwG - Crucial 96GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit – https://amzn.to/40w3ONQ - Intel X520-DA2 10 GbE network adapter – https://amzn.to/4jv05ZA - Kingston 240 GB drive for boot – https://amzn.to/4hv6sKG - Samsung EVO 990 Pro 2TB – https://amzn.to/40OwtiA See the written write up of the walkthrough to migrate from VMware to Proxmox using Veeam here: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/02/migrate-vmware-to-proxmox-using-veeam-for-free/ Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to Migrating from VMware to Proxmox - 0:00 Veeam Community Edition Overview - 0:34 Why Veeam instead of other tools and methods? 1:49 There are a few limitations with the new import wizard - 2:15 Downtime is required for the duration of the migration - 2:33 You can manually copy over disks and convert them - 2:46 Is Proxmox Backup Server an option? 3:00 How Veeam simplifies everything - 4:05 Veeam 12.2 added Proxmox support - 4:35 1st Step - Dealing with VMware Tools - 4:50 2nd Step - Run a full VMware Backup - 5:42 3rd Step - Make sure your Proxmox host is ready - 6:16 4th Step - Add your Proxmox VE Server host to Veeam - 6:46 5th Step - Restore your VMware VM backup over to Proxmox - 9:20 Walkthrough of restoring VMware backups on Proxmox - 9:42 How to build a Proxmox Home Lab Server in 2025 and my project - 17:05 Wrapping up migrating from VMware to Proxmox with Veeam - 17:31
Convert VMware to Proxmox // Use Veeam Community Edition for Migration
I take a detailed look at the Terramaster T12-500 Pro NAS device. This thing is a super beefy NAS device with lots of horsepower and drive bays along with 2 10 gig network connections. It also has a complete backup suite of software that provides a backup solution for PCs, physical servers, files, and virtual machines. Also, it has really great bonding options for the multiple network connections. Does it live up to the specs on paper? Terramaster T12-500 Pro NAS: https://amzn.to/4hNDB47 Western Digital 10TB WD Red Plus NAS internal Hard drive: https://amzn.to/3WOu7xG Samsung EVO 990 Pro 2TB: https://amzn.to/40OwtiA Crucial DDR5 32 GB memory kit: https://amzn.to/40PMmns Written review of the Terramaster T12-500 Pro: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/02/terramaster-t12-500-pro-nas-review-beefy-specs-with-backup-server-built-in/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to the Terramaster T12-500 Pro 0:00 Who is Terrmaster? 0:30 My previous reviews - 0:37 Shared datastore for VMware - 0:55 Specs of the Terramaster T12-500 Pro - 1:26 RAID options - 2:06 File systems - 2:21 Encryption and encoding - 2:30 Dual 10 gig network adapters - 2:46 Price - 3:10 Synology branded disks - 3:44 Build quality - 3:50 Inside the NAS and accessing internals - 4:23 Connectivity with 10 gig, USB, etc - 4:40 Setting up the Terramaster T12-500 Pro - 4:53 TOS 6 is a clean and intuitive UI - 5:16 The drives I installed and using dissimilar drives - 5:23 Closer look at the link aggregation features of the Terramaster NAS - 5:50 The utility value of the Terramaster NAS - 9:49 Terramaster Backup Suite - 10:26 Terramaster Security and their security posture tool built-in - 11:17 Performance of the Terramaster T12-500 Pro - 11:36 Power consumption of the T12-500 Pro - 11:46 Can you install TrueNAS? 12:19 Pros of the Terramaster T12-500 Pro - 12:50 Cons of the Terramaster T12-500 Pro - 15:17 Wrapping up - 17:00
Terramaster T12-500 Pro NAS Review: Beastly NAS for Home Lab or SMB
I am building my own server for Proxmox and asking you guys to join in on the journey. We walk through a few things with the build. Why are we using Proxmox? Why choose to build vs buy something like a mini PC? Also we detail motherboard, case, CPU cooler, network card, storqage for boot and VMs and other topics. Minisforum BD795M – https://amzn.to/4i2VEDH RackChoice 2U Micro ATX Compact – https://amzn.to/3CeIW5H Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 V2 – https://amzn.to/4aFXhET Noctua NH-L9i-17xx, Premium Low-Profile CPU Cooler – https://amzn.to/4hAKIwG Crucial 96GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit – https://amzn.to/40w3ONQ Intel X520-DA2 10 GbE network adapter – https://amzn.to/4jv05ZA Kingston 240 GB drive for boot – https://amzn.to/4hv6sKG Samsung EVO 990 Pro 2TB – https://amzn.to/40OwtiA Forum thread I have on this build: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/home-lab-forum/build-your-own-proxmox-home-lab-server-with-minisforum-bd795m Blog post with more details: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/01/proxmox-home-server-build-2025-ryzen-9-7945hx-96gb-and-10gbe/ Today's video sponsor NAKIVO - https://bit.ly/3S65NF3 Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ NAKIVO video sponsor - 0:40 Why Proxmox for your server build? 1:22 It will run VMware too - 2:09 Why build instead of buy a mini PC? 2:33 Full-size 2U server case and reasons why - 3:48 Minisforum BD795M motherboard - 4:05 Details on the Ryzen 9 7945HX processor - 4:18 The rack I am using - 5:21 The power supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 V2 - 5:55 CPU cooler - 6:15 RAM Crucial DDR5 96 GB - 6:29 Intel X520 DA2 10 GbE networking - 7:10 Kingston 240 SSD for boot - 7:36 Data drive for VMs in Proxmox - 8:04 Looking at the BIOS of the Minisforum BD795M - 8:29 Core performance boost - 8:48 Power draw notice - 9:25 CPU temp and power draw much lower when Core performance boost is disabled - 9:55 PCI-e slot on this board with the AMD 7945HX proc shows that bifurcation is possible! 10:20 32 processors showing in Proxmox! 11:00 Linux stress utility with S-TUI utility to run a stress test - 11:21 68 watts at full load with core performance boost turned off! 11:33 148.8 watts with Core performance boost turned on: 11:47 Looking at the build with hardware installed - 11:59 Thread on the VHT forums documenting what I'm doing - 12:49 Links for all hardware in the description - 13:21
My Proxmox Server Build 2025! Minisforum BD795M with 32 threads, 96 GB memory, 10 gig
There are myriads of tools out there to manage Kubernetes. However, some are better than others. In this video we take a look at the best Kubernetes management tools for beginners in 2025 as we highlight tools. Get to know kubectl, Open Lens, K9s, Headlamp, Lens, and Aptakube, pros and cons, benefits, etc. Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to the best Kubernetes management tools for beginners - 0:00 6. kubectl - 0:44 kubectl plugins - 1:31 Hands on with kubectl - 1:51 Pros of kubectl - 3:53 Cons of kubectl - 4:25 5. Open Lens - 4:45 Open source packages for installing Open Lens - 5:14 Pros of Open Lens - 5:52 Cons of Open Lens - 6:03 4. K9s - 6:21 Hands on with K9s - 6:55 Pros of K9s - 9:03 Cons of K9s - 9:31 3. Headlamp - 9:51 In cluster deployment - 10:19 Pros of Headlamp - 10:32 Cons of Headlamp - 10:44 Hands on with Headlamp - 11:09 2. Lens from Mirantis (Kubernetes IDE) - 13:28 Hands on with Lens - 14:39 Pros of Lens - 17:09 Cons of Lens - 17:29 1. Aptakube - 18:07 Stands out with multi-cluster management - 18:21 Only a paid product - 19:07 Hands on with Aptakube - 19:24 Demonstrating Aptakube multi-cluster management - 20:09 Pros of Aptakube - 21:11 Cons of Aptakube - 21:45 Wrapping up the best Kubernetes management tools in 2025 - 22:07
Best Kubernetes Management Tools for Beginners 2025!
In this video we take a look at 10 tips to get started in a home lab in 2025. We look at what I think are the top ten tips and tricks to successfully spin up and use a home lab, including mini PCs, RAM, power backups, open source software, and much more! Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction - 0:00 Mini PCs - 0:38 RAM - 2:10 Network adapter brand and drivers - 3:17 Network switch - 4:26 Storage - 5:30 Licensing - 6:43 Backps - 9:03 UPS power backup - 10:35 Open Source Software - 11:22 Documentation - 12:22
10 Tips to Get Started with a Home Lab in 2025!
Recently, I took on a home lab project to create my own home grown docker dashboard to have a very simple and lightweight way to see all containers across all my docker hosts. There are many great docker management tools like Portainer that allows managing and configuring your docker containers. However, there are limitations with Portainer and other tools to view all your containers with customizable information. I wanted just a simple web dashboard that can give me a searchable tool to get very quick information about my docker container infrastructure. Check out the link to the Github page here: https://github.com/brandonleegit/docker-dashboard Written blog walk through: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2024/12/docker-dashboard-new-tool-lets-you-see-containers-across-multiple-hosts/ NAKIVO Backup and Replication: https://bit.ly/3S65NF3 Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to the docker dashboard project - 0:00 Video sponsor - NAKIVO Backup & Replication - 0:35 Why not use something already available? 1:19 Looking at the dashboard and an overview of its features - 2:29 Overview of architecture of the dashboard - 6:35 Walking through the docker dashboard dockerfile - 7:15 Looking at the getservices.sh script - 9:40 Looking at the nginx.conf file - 11:37 Talking about the build requirements and prerequisites - 12:18 The directory structure - 12:38 Starting the process to build the container image - 12:52 Running the docker build command - 13:33 Running the docker run command - 13:58 Docker compose example - 16:06 Why use this as your docker dashboard? 16:12 Try it out, test it for me, and submit PRs! 17:13
I created a Custom Docker Server Dashboard! Download Now!
I'm going all in on containerization in 2025. What is the state of container vs VM in 2025? Take a look at a few of the advantages of containers vs VM and also how it is making the focus on hypervisors more and more irrelevant. We look at running a Kubernetes cluster across Proxmox and ESXi hosts to prove the point. Do you need to get rid of your hypervisor though? Let's find out. Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction - 0:00 VMware vs Broadcom setting the stage: 0:40 Why focus on hypervisor and VMs less critical - 1:11 Containerized technologies becoming more the standard - 1:53 Can be run anywhere - 2:14 Looking at K3s node running in Proxmox and in ESXi - 2:30 Containers don't care about the hypervisor - 3:50 Containers are easy to move - 4:25 Illustrating the point of pulling containers - 4:39 Refactoring between different hypervisors with virtual machines - 5:58 Cutting costs using open source hypervisors running containers - 6:43 Containers allow you to much more easily spin up new apps - 7:11 Automation is much better with containers and Kubernetes - 8:30 Cross platform and environments - 8:51 DevOps much better and almost require containerization - 9:19 Should you rip out your hypervisor? 9:34 How do you start? 10:13 Experiment with docker and standalone hosts - 10:29 Pi-hole might be a good project as an example to start with - 10:40 Setup a Kubernetes cluster or single-node cluster - 11:00 Run containers on different platforms and move them around - 11:22 Integrate DevOps tools with containerization - 11:39 I have seen a significant reduction in resources in home lab with containers - 12:04 Wrapping up the discussion on container vs VM in 2025 - 12:35
Container vs VM: Hypervisor War is Over!
It is that time again! My home lab tour 2024 takes a look at the journey my home lab has taken in 2024. I have fully migrated workloads to mini PCs in 2024, focused on containerizing everything that is critical in my lab, and doubled down on learning DevOps and GitOps as well. See what mini PCs I am using, storage solutions, networking, applications, DevOps and GitOps tools, and more! See the written blog post covering the home lab tour in 2024 here: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2024/12/home-lab-tour-2024-hardware-software-containers-and-more/ Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to this year's tour! 0:00 Mini PCs - 0:35 Standalone ESXi and Proxmox servers - 1:26 Unifi EdgeSwitch XG16 for 10 gig top of rack - 2:04 Ubiquiti 48 port 2.5 switch - 2:19 Hypervisors - 2:46 NVMe memory tiering in VMware - 3:10 Experimenting with Proxmox - 3:31 Containers and orchestration - 3:53 Docker Swarm - 4:05 Docker Swarm video - 4:11 Kubernetes distro of choice - 4:35 GitOps - 4:53 Storage changes - 5:22 Ceph storage - 5:34 File and Block storage and Ceph dashboard - 6:00 Software solutions - 6:22 Pi-Hole - 6:40 FreshRSS - 7:17 Hashicorp Vault - 7:49 GitLab - 8:41 Portainer - 9:34 DroneCI - 10:18 phpIPAM - 10:39 Grafana for dashboarding - 11:08 ArgoCD - 11:43 FluxCD - 12:13 Portainer GitOps - 12:35 Backup solution - 13:08 Duplicati - 13:45 MinIO for S3 compatible storage - 13:59 Fun things like Plex, Minecraft, etc - 14:22 Reflecting on things learned in 2024 - 14:40 2025 plans in the home lab - 16:03
Home Lab Tour 2024: Servers, Apps, Docker, and more!
In this video, we talk about my top 5 home lab projects that I have tackled in 2024. These projects have taken my home lab environment to the next level. I have learned a lot and adopted containers as my primary tool for running production home lab services. Take a look at the projects and see how these came about in my home lab journey in 2024. Read the written blog post on the topic here: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2024/11/top-5-home-lab-projects-i-have-tackled-in-2024/ Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to my top 5 home lab projects in 2024 - 0:00 Sponsor message - 0:32 1. Learning new hypervisors in 2024 - 1:17 2. Doubling down on containers in 2024 - 2:44 Talking about container advantages - 3:57 Walking through my containerized environments - 4:11 3. Learning container orchestration in 2024 - 6:09 Looking at my Docker Swarm cluster with shared storage - 6:39 Talking about Microk8s - an easy Kubernetes distro - 9:22 4. Open-source software-defined storage - 10:12 Looking at my Microk8s cluster in Lens - 11:02 5. Switching to mini PCs in 2024 - 11:59 Details of my mini PC setup - 12:14 Wrapping up thoughts on my top 5 home lab projects in 2024 - 12:46 What were your best home lab projects in 2024? 14:03
Top 5 Home Lab Projects I tackled in 2024
We take a look at the new native Windows monitoring found in Netdata. It is one of the easiest solutions you can choose to start monitoring your environment quickly, now including Windows hosts. In just a few minutes you can install the Netdata agent and see your metrics streamed to the cloud. They also have a Netdata home lab license that is very cheap to monitor unlimited endpoints in the cloud dashboard. NAKIVO Backup & Replication 25 VM license winners (reach out to me on discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3) @gojdff @cbf305 @matthiascord5601 @Ferdaze @chankk-wb3qd Check out my written post covering Netdata Windows monitoring here: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2024/11/netdata-2-0-adds-native-windows-monitoring-support/ Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introducing one of the best Windows monitoring tools - 0:00 Introduction to Netdata - 0:51 Native Windows Server monitoring - 1:05 Makes monitoring very simple install and start monitoring - 1:22 Difference in difficulty with open source solutions - 1:58 Looking at an open source monitoring stack - 2:12 Custom config is more challenging and you have to stitch it together - 3:00 How Netdata 2.0 monitoring adds native Windows monitoring - 4:00 Native Windows application monitoring (Microsoft SQL Server, IIS, Hyper-V) - 5:06 Adding a node using the GUI installation option (downloading) - 5:49 Copying netdata over to Windows Server - 6:24 Entering the claim token and room ID - 6:42 Looking at live metrics from Windows Server - 7:40 Installing using the command line installer - 8:00 Pasting in and running the Netdata silent installer - 8:12 Looking at metrics in the Netdata cloud dashboard - 8:48 Looking at Microsoft SQL Server metrics in Netdata - 9:13 Looking at the settings for a Windows Server host - 10:09 Built-in alerting and look at rules - 10:27 Looking at ping host rule and alerting - 10:48 No built-in alerting as of yet for MSSQL - 11:24 Creating custom alert rules - 11:54 Looking at apps view on the Windows Server node - 12:40 Talking about the Netdata home lab license - 13:12 Limitations that exist or considerations - 13:54 Wrapping up thoughts on Netdata 2.0 native Windows monitoring - 15:19
Best Windows Monitoring: Netdata 2.0 Native Windows Agent
If you are looking for a great backup solution that can protect modern workloads both in the home lab and in production environments, I am going to introduce you guys to quite possibly the best backup solution you have never heard of - NAKIVO Backup & Replication. Learn more about NAKIVO Backup & Replication here: https://bit.ly/3S65NF3 Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/ ★ Subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxcWtpd1IGHG9RbD_9380A?sub_confirmation=1 ★ My blog: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com ★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vspinmaster ★ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-lee-vht/ ★ Github: https://github.com/brandonleegit ★ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/VirtualizationHowto/100092747277326/ ★ Discord: https://discord.gg/Zb46NV6mB3 ★ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brandonleevht/ Introduction to NAKIVO Backup & Replication - 0:00 What is NAKIVO? 1:01 What sets NAKIVO apart? 1:26 Deployment options for deploying NAKIVO - 1:46 Running it on a Synology NAS or other NAS device - 2:12 Agentless backups for major virtualized environments - 2:48 Ransomware protection and immutable backups - 3:42 Advantage of immutable backups - 4:28 The storage model of NAKIVO Backup & Replication - 4:48 Microsoft 365 backups with NAKIVO - 5:19 NAKIVO can monitor your VMware virtual environment - 5:37 Other features, including instant VM restores, global dedup, etc - 6:04 Showing how you can install NAKIVO on a Synology NAS - 6:52 Viewing the NAKIVO backup console - 7:21 Adding new items to NAKIVO inventory - 7:51 Overview of creating jobs based on inventory - 8:22 New Backup Job wizard - 8:57 Scheduling options and multiple schedules - 9:27 Backup job options screen - 10:20 Running a job for a VM or multiple VMs - 11:40 Running the NAKIVO VM recovery job - 11:57 Looking at recovery job options - 12:45 Wrapping up the overview of NAKIVO Backup & Replication - 13:17
Best Backup Solution You Haven't Heard About!
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