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9 contributions to Home Lab Explorers
Check out my quick mini rack cooling mod that has made a difference
How I Fixed Heat Buildup in My 10-Inch Mini Rack with a Simple Cooling Mod #homelab #homeserver #minirack https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2026/03/how-i-fixed-heat-buildup-in-my-10-inch-mini-rack-with-a-simple-cooling-mod/
Check out my quick mini rack cooling mod that has made a difference
1 like • Mar 9
I ran into this exact problem with my commercial mini rack. I ended up 3d printing my own rack and have lattice sides that allow the air to flow out. I originally did exactly what you did with the fans in front. (excuse the cable chaos behind, I'm installing 3D-printed OpenGrid panels on the wall to cleanly mount the power supplies and cable runs.) With the front fans I could keep my MS-A2 around 67°. Now, with the open sides and side push through cooling, it hovers around 58°
Do you think that home labs are going away in 2026 and beyond? Your thoughts?
Are Home Labs Dead in 2026? The Comment That Forced Me to Rethink Everything #homelab #homeserver #ramprices https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2026/01/are-home-labs-dead-in-2026-the-comment-that-forced-me-to-rethink-everything/
Do you think that home labs are going away in 2026 and beyond? Your thoughts?
2 likes • Jan 30
@Robert Schwanz Same here. I've setup 3 small'ish VPS instances at RackNerd (between $35 to $45 per year) and as I start relying more and more on whatever tech stack I'm testing, there are some that just make sense to put out there for more availability. Plus, that reduces those requirements on my on-prem homelab which lets me learn new things. As Brandon and others have stated, I believe this trend is going to have those of us in this area learn how to do more with the same (don't want to say less).
I bought a 10 inch rack for home lab - who is running one too?
I Bought a 10 Inch Home Lab Rack for 2026 and It Surprised Me https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2026/01/i-bought-a-10-inch-home-lab-rack-for-2026-and-it-surprised-me/
I bought a 10 inch rack for home lab - who is running one too?
1 like • Jan 8
I had a full 19" rack in my basement stuffed full of servers back in the 2000's....slowly downsized over the last 2 decades. Not hosting less 'stuff', just taking advantage of the power of the new mini-pc's and NAS appliances. I bought a DeskPi 10" rack last year, but alas it was still cooking my 3-node Proxmox cluster. I've recently printed out a 10" rack on my new 3D printer that has more ventilation options. Still needing to relocate everything into it. Here's the current rats nest. I've also printed a bunch of OpenGrid mounts for the back wall where I'll do all my power brick/cord management. (Anyone want to buy a used 10" 5U DeskPi rack?)
1 like • Jan 8
@Brandon Lee yea, they're just too small to stuff a UPS into. I have seen some small ones but they'll only give you 5 to 10 minutes of runtime. I have 3 Cyberpower 1500VA UPS units sitting on a top shelf and they're spread across one for my Synology NAS and old HP Micro server running TrueNAS, one that powers my Proxmox nodes, Raspberry Pi's and the switch/KVM in the rack and the third UPS handles all the PoE switches and misc lights/fans. Shortest battery runtime for my network is 180 minutes. I also have another two identical UPS units over where my internet comes in and powers those switches, the comcast business router and my firewall.
What home lab upgrades do you recommend?
These are upgrades in the sense of not just hardware but also services that I have "upgraded" in the home lab to make things better, faster, quieter, more efficient, etc. Check out the 5 Home Lab Upgrades that Changed Everything for Me https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/10/the-5-home-lab-upgrades-that-changed-everything-for-me/
What home lab upgrades do you recommend?
2 likes • Oct '25
I've done all of those (except 4 - CEPH) in the last 12 months. I'm currently using NFS storage on my Synology (dual 10GB nic) for my Proxmox storage as the mini-PC's I have only support 1 internal nvme drive. I originally had 2x2TB USB3 SSD drives on each node, but CEPH was such a memory hog (I know..it releases as needed) but all my alerting was thrown off on the hosts and I just didn't like those external usb SSD's hanging off. For my use, I'm ok with NFS mounts.
2 likes • Oct '25
of course the downside to NFS mounts is that for HA to work, the VM has to restart if it's migrated to another host..
5 Things to Know before you install OPNsense
How many of you are running OPNsense in their home lab? 5 Things You Should Know About OPNsense Before You Install It
2 likes • Sep '25
Been using Opnsense for about 2 years now on a fanless pc (Intel(R) Celeron(R) N5105 @ 2.00GHz (4 cores, 4 threads) that supports 4x2.5gb nics. I migrated to this when my Comcast Business line went to 1gb speeds and my old EdgeRouter X couldn't handle the speeds. I also wanted to implement Geo-blocking since I expose quite a few services to the public but only need US based connections and that alone slashed outside probing quite a bit. I haven't used many of the plugins other then moving my DHCP service from my ActiveDirectory servers to Opnsense firewall. It's been pretty much a set it and forget it system for me that doesn't require a lot of babysitting like firewalls I've run over the past few decades.
1-9 of 9
Andrew Hargreave
3
41points to level up
@andrew-hargreave-3882
40+ Years in IT industry (small/med/large companies). Father of 3 boys, married for 38yrs. Serial entrepreneur looking for next adventure.

Active 3h ago
Joined Jun 19, 2025
Chicago IL Far West Suburbs
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