Happy Saturday... I joined this community months ago and haven't really had time to dig in yet. I bought a RPi 5 with 8gb RAM and 256gb SSD and recently came across a decent deal for (3) USB 3.0 - 30 TB Ext SSDs under $70 to use as my NAS. Curious if anyone here has experience with a similar setup. I'm hoping that it will work for my intended use. I plugged one of them into my Parrot OS Laptop and it was recognized right away so that's encouraging. Also, just realizing the "Courses" section available to this community. Pretty stoked to see that I have so many resources at my fingertips here. Should help keep me on track.

I have an Intel S3420 server board that I am trying to add ram to and it will not post. Both are registered 1333 ddr3 ECC unless I am wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated, it on my Proxmox machine. Two different sticks in the pic below. Smaller is 4Gb and larger is 8Gb

I’ve upgraded the old Intel X520 NICs in my Lenovo P520 workstations to Intel XXV710 network adapters, which natively support 25 Gbps per port (in addition to 10 Gbps and 1 Gbps). The XXV710 is designed for much more efficiently and successfully allows the processor to enter deep C-states. Even though the card is faster, your Lenovo P520 will likely consume less power in idle mode. While I’m not upgrading to 25GbE just yet, this prepares my setup for future developments. The Intel XXV710 features superior hardware offloading and excellent SR-IOV support. The Proxmox advantage: you can split the physical 25G port into dozens of "Virtual Functions" (VFs) and pass them directly through to your VMs. This provides your VMs with near 100% hardware speed at extremely low CPU overhead. Furthermore, if you utilize SDN (Software-Defined Networking) within Proxmox and set up virtual network tunnels between nodes, these packets are processed by the XXV710's hardware rather than being handled by your P520's processor. In short: you get increased speed, lower latency, a lower idle power bill, and better integration with modern Proxmox features.

Thoughts on going with refurbished hard drives for a nas/media server to keep the cost down ? I see shucking was a popular strategy but does not seem to make sense with the current prices. Any reccommendations on the best places to buy refurbished drives ?

What an improvement 😁 Why the Asus RT-BE88U is my Ultimate Choice and upgrade for my Homelab and Fiber Future The Asus RT-BE88U (WiFi 7) is uniquely positioned to handle both the extreme speeds my upcoming fiber connection and the complex internal traffic of a homelab user. It serves as the perfect high-bandwidth foundation for my environment. 1. Merlin firmware 2. The 10Gbps SFP+ & Multi-Gigabit Backbone 3. 10 GB to my Qnap QSW-M804-4C The dedicated 10Gbps SFP+ port is a game-changer for any Proxmox or NAS user. By using a direct optical or DAC (Direct Attach Copper) connection to my server, I achieve: - Zero-Latency Internal Transfers: Move huge VM images, backups, and 4K media at full 10Gbps speeds. - Future-Proofing: It enables a complete high-speed path from my ISP’s fiber modem, through the router, directly into my server infrastructure. - Expanded Connectivity: Combined with an additional 10Gbps WAN/LAN port and four 2.5Gbps ports, I have plenty of high-speed lanes for all my wired nodes. 2. Advanced VLAN Segmentation & Security Professional VLAN (Virtual LAN) management allows me to organize my network like a homelab data center: - Network Isolation: Easily separate my IoT devices and smart TV from my main lab environment. This ensures that media devices stay in their own segment while still accessing my Pi-hole/Unbound setup. - Optimized Traffic: VLANs reduce "broadcast noise," ensuring that intensive lab tasks don't interfere with the stability of my daily internet usage or streaming services. 3. WiFi 7 and Multi-Link Operation (MLO) With my upcoming fiber connection, MLO ensures my wireless network finally matches your wired speed. By allowing devices to connect to multiple bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz) simultaneously, MLO provides: - Wire-like Stability: If one band encounters interference, traffic seamlessly continues on another, eliminating buffering. - Extreme Throughput: Aggregated bandwidth allows WiFi 7 devices to reach multi-gigabit speeds wirelessly, perfect for high-speed fiber lines.