A History of My Homelab

#1

Post by vhaudiquet » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 12:13 AM UTC

Re: A History of My Homelab

#2

Post by tehlike » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 7:42 AM UTC

Pretty nice.

These days data center capacity is measured with wattage. What's yours? My homelab is about 650Ws as is, and should cost around 300$/mo in electricity (california premium).

Re: A History of My Homelab

#3

Post by elthor89 » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 8:10 AM UTC

I really liked reading about the history of your homelab. How do you like the 3d printed rack enclosure? Is it strong enough to hold the weight and heat from the server?

Re: A History of My Homelab

#4

Post by zhainya » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 8:29 AM UTC

Great article. Really well written.

Re: A History of My Homelab

#5

Post by vjay15 » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 9:02 AM UTC

Amazing, from a pi to a full blown rack, my dream homelab journey.

Also, the article about you joining canonical links to the homelab instead!

Re: A History of My Homelab

#6

Post by vhaudiquet » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 10:46 AM UTC

elthor89 wrote: post #3

I really liked reading about the history of your homelab. How do you like the 3d printed rack enclosure? Is it strong enough to hold the weight and heat from the server?

I used PETG to print it, which should support the heat without problems. I also added two fans behind, so that the disks and enclosure stays cold. For now, I only have 4 drives in it, and it does not move at all and holds perfectly fine.

Re: A History of My Homelab

#7

Post by vhaudiquet » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 10:51 AM UTC

tehlike wrote: post #2

Pretty nice. These days data center capacity is measured with wattage. What's yours? My homelab is about 650Ws as is, and should cost around 300$/mo in electricity (california premium).

Fortunately, the R740 is around 230W, and the switches, routers, and everything around seems to only take 40W. Which means I'm below 300W, and I guess we have cheaper electricity in France as I don't pay as much as you (I think less than 50€/month for the homelab)

Re: A History of My Homelab

#8

Post by vhaudiquet » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 10:52 AM UTC

vjay15 wrote: post #5

Amazing, from a pi to a full blown rack, my dream homelab journey. Also, the article about you joining canonical links to the homelab instead!

Thanks for noticing that! I'll try to fix right away (of course it is not happening on my local dev environment...)

Re: A History of My Homelab

#9

Post by intothemild » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 2:01 PM UTC

vhaudiquet wrote: post #6

elthor89 wrote: post #3

I really liked reading about the history of your homelab. How do you like the 3d printed rack enclosure? Is it strong enough to hold the weight and heat from the server?

I used PETG to print it, which should support the heat without problems. I also added two fans behind, so that the disks and enclosure stays cold. For now, I only have 4 drives in it, and it does not move at all and holds perfectly fine.

Just to add to this, I would personally use ABS/ASA, or a fibre variant of those, like Carbon or Glass (if you don't have an enclosed printer). PA (like PA612) is also a good option. Basically anything that can handle higher temps.

PETG starts to deform at ~75-85'c. The upper end of that should be fine, but the lower end.. certain things can get close to that temp. So if you've got good airflow, and nothing is passively getting to that temps you're probably good.

The best thing might be a design that has some core that holds the components.. print that in a higher temp filament, and print the outer shells in something a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Also.. remember to check if the filament you're using has any electrical conductivity.

Re: A History of My Homelab

#10

Post by vhaudiquet » Wed, Dec 31, 2025, 2:33 PM UTC

intothemild wrote: post #9

vhaudiquet wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used PETG to print it, which should support the heat without problems. I also added two fans behind, so that the disks and enclosure stays cold. For now, I only have 4 drives in it, and it does not move at all and holds perfectly fine.

Just to add to this, I would personally use ABS/ASA, or a fibre variant of those, like Carbon or Glass (if you don't have an enclosed printer). PA (like PA612) is also a good option. Basically anything that can handle higher temps. PETG starts to deform at ~75-85'c. The upper end of that should be fine, but the lower end.. certain things can get close to that temp. So if you've got good airflow, and nothing is passiv…

Yes, I would have loved to use a 'better' material, but my printer is not enclosed and I'm not sure it can print CF filaments (I think I would need to change the hot end at least). But soon I will hopefully get my hands on a new BambuLab printer which should let me play with those materials!