Upgrading My Homelab: Planning for the Future

Explore the evolution of my homelab! In Part 1 of this series, I share my current setup, challenges, and the goals driving my upgrade journey.

Upgrading My Homelab: Planning for the Future
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When it comes to personal IT infrastructure, few things are as rewarding as a well-optimized homelab. Whether you use it for testing, development, or just staying hands-on with technology, your homelab is a dynamic reflection of your needs and ambitions. However, as workloads evolve and requirements grow, the time inevitably comes to upgrade. For me, that time is now.

In this first post of a three-part series, I’ll walk you through my homelab’s current setup, the challenges I’m facing, and the goals and requirements shaping my upgrade plans.

Why a Homelab?

For me, a homelab is much more than a set of servers and networking gear—it’s a cornerstone of my professional growth and a space to innovate. It has allowed me to:

  • Explore New Technologies: From virtualization to software-defined networking, my homelab has given me the freedom to experiment without risk. For example, I’ve been able to deep-dive into VMware Cloud Foundation, Azure Local, and hybrid cloud tools like Azure Arc-enabled servers.
  • Build Practical Skills: Staying hands-on is critical in IT, and my homelab ensures I can practice troubleshooting, deploying, and optimizing systems. For instance, setting up data protection systems like Veeam has honed my expertise in backup and recovery.
  • Test Real-World Scenarios: I’ve used my lab to replicate client environments and validate proof-of-concept solutions. This has not only saved time but also improved confidence in implementations.
  • Support Personal Projects: Beyond professional benefits, my homelab supports my hobbies, from hosting media servers to automating my home network.

These benefits aren’t unique to me—anyone in IT can use a homelab to experiment, learn, and grow. Whether you’re looking to advance your career or solve unique challenges, a homelab is an invaluable resource.

Moving on from this, let’s take a closer look at the specifics of my current setup and the limitations that are driving the need for an upgrade.

Current Homelab Overview

My existing homelab has served me well for the past 5 years. It includes:

Hardware

  • Fortigate Fortinet 100D Firewall
  • Ubiquiti Unifi 24-Port Switch (US-24-G1) for out-of-band connections and single uplink devices
  • 2x Dell S4048-ON 10GbE 48-Port Top-of-rack switches
  • 4x Dell PowerEdge R730xd Servers
    • 2x Intel Xeon E5-2650v4 12C/24T @ 2.20GHz Procs
    • 16x 32GB (512GB) DDR4 ECC RDIMMs
    • 2x 200GB Intel S3600 SATA SSD OS Disks
    • 4x 800GB Intel S3710 SATA SSD Cache Disks
    • 8x 4TB 7,200 RPM SATA HDDs
    • Dual Port Intel i350 1GbE NIC
    • Dual Port Intel x520 10GbE NIC
    • Dual Port Mellanox ConnectX-3 Pro 10GbE NIC
  • Dell Optiplex 7060 Micro PC
    • Intel i7-8700T 6C/12T @ 2.40GHz Proc
    • 2x 32GB (64GB) DDR4 SODIMMs
    • 1TB M.2 NVMe Disk
    • Single port Intel I219-LM 1GbE NIC
  • QNAP TSV-1271U-RP 12 Bay 2U NAS with 12x 6TB SATA HDDs

Software

  • Primarily virtualisation solutions, initially Windows Server Hyper-V with Storage Spaces Direct, then Azure Stack HCI and more recently VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF).
  • Data Protection systems such as Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam Enterprise Manager, Veeam One, Veeam Service Provider Console, Veeam Cloud Connect and Veeam Recovery Orcestrator.
  • SDN solutions like NSX and Microsoft SDN
  • Aria Suite solutions for VCF; Aria Operations, Aria Operations for Logs, Aria Operations for Networks and Aria Automation
  • Hybrid Cloud tooling like Azure Arc-enabled Servers, Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere, Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes and more.
  • Storage solutions like Dell Data Domain (DDVE) and Minio

Challenges

  • High power consumption and increasing maintenance requirements. The Dell PowerEdge R730xd servers use about 300W each, their 4TB HDDs are 8-9 years old and with so many of them, replacements are costly.
  • Insufficient performance and capabilities for newer technologies. Nested labs are challenging due to poor performance, and the time required to deploy new workloads hinders motivation and reduces productive lab time. Addressing this with more performant hardware is critical.
  • Limited scalability to accommodate future needs. These servers can’t support newer CPUs, NVMe drives without adapters, and finding more of them in New Zealand is a challenge. A scalable and modular setup is essential for future-proofing.

Below is a diagram of my current homelab setup for a visual representation of its components and layout.

Rack layout screenshot from NetBox, showing front and rear views of a 24U rack. The front view includes servers, switches, and a UPS (UPS01) at the bottom. The rear view displays network connections, power distribution units, and server rear panels. Components are labeled and visually aligned with their respective U positions.

While this setup has been reliable, it’s clear that I’ve hit its limits. Tasks that were once manageable now feel constrained, prompting the need for an upgrade. So let’s look at the next step of defining what I hope to achieve with this upgrade.

Goals for the Homelab Upgrade

Before diving into hardware options, I’ve taken time to define clear goals for the upgrade:

  • Enhanced Performance and compatability
    • Support more demanding workloads, such as nested labs and kubernetes.
    • Compatability with Azure Local Bare Metal(such as TPM 2.0 modules)
    • Reduce performance barriers to spend less time waiting for applications to deploy and patch.
  • Scalability and Flexibility
    • Add capacity for future growth without overhauling the entire system.
    • Embrace modularity for easier upgrades and reconfiguration.
  • Energy Efficiency
    • Reduce power consumption to lower operating costs.
  • Robustness and Reliability
    • Incorporate redundancy and fault tolerance to minimize downtime.
  • Cost-Effectiveness
    • Strike a balance between upfront investment and long-term value.

Requirements for the New Setup

To achieve these goals, I’ve outlined specific requirements for my new homelab:

  • Hardware
    • At least Intel Xeon Scalable /AMD EPYC Gen 1 or newer and 16 cores per host.
    • 512GB RAM per host, ideally compatible with DDR4 so that I can re-use existing parts.
    • All-flash storage, either SSD or ideally NVMe.
    • Energy-efficient components.
    • TPM 2.0 modules to support hardware security features
    • RDMA-capable Network Cards, at least 2 ports 25GbE.
    • Minimum 3 hosts.
  • Software
    • Compatibility with Azure Local and VCF 5.2

Looking Ahead

With these goals and requirements in mind, the next step is to evaluate potential hardware options. In the second post of this series, I’ll dive into the research process, share the components I considered, and reveal the final hardware I chose to power my upgraded homelab.

Upgrading a homelab is always an exciting journey, and I’m thrilled to share mine with you. Whether you’re planning your own upgrade or simply curious about what goes into modernizing a homelab, I hope this series provides insight and inspiration.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Choosing and Building the Right Hardware!