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    "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?

    IT Discussion
    home lab costly cost comparison
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    • M
      mattbagan @scottalanmiller
      last edited by

      @scottalanmiller said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

      If you can limit your home to just a Raspberry Pi or even an Intel NUC you might be better off keeping it at home. But once you get to anything hard core or extensive, the power savings along generally make it all worth it.

      I have 4 pi's. One is setup with the official display running a web server, streaming my dog cams. Another running a portable kodi player with a 1TB hdd. Other two are doing nothing.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • ObsolesceO
        Obsolesce
        last edited by

        Yeah we try to stay in the lowest tier. Some months are discounted and only a few bucks for some reason. Sometimes we're over, but what can ya do.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • ObsolesceO
          Obsolesce
          last edited by Obsolesce

          Having my laptop makes a difference over the big desktop I used to have. It was running a bunch of spinners, dvdrom, etc. Got rid of that and use one drive for storage synced to a USB drive, and use a laptop. I noticed a difference even from that.

          Edit: my new phone hasn't learned my IT typing habits yet lol. It's typo-ing a lot of stuff for me. My Windows phone was good about it.

          scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • FATeknollogeeF
            FATeknollogee
            last edited by

            I was talking to a So Cal colo sales guy...datacenter power in So Cal is the among the most expensive in the country at over 9 cents per kWh.

            wrx7mW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • scottalanmillerS
              scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
              last edited by

              @tim_g said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

              Having my laptop makes a difference over the big desktop I used to have. It was running a bunch of spinners, dvdrom, etc. Got rid of that and use one drive for storage synced to a USB drive, and use a laptop. I noticed a difference even from that.

              Edit: my new phone hasn't learned my IT typing habits yet lol. It's typo-ing a lot of stuff for me. My Windows phone was good about it.

              We notice different computers being used in the house for sure.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • A
                Alex Sage
                last edited by

                Wholesaleinternet.net

                scottalanmillerS travisdh1T wrx7mW 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller @Alex Sage
                  last edited by

                  @aaronstuder said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                  Wholesaleinternet.net

                  I feel like this missed the chance to be wholesaleinter.net

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                  • wrx7mW
                    wrx7m @FATeknollogee
                    last edited by

                    @fateknollogee said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                    I was talking to a So Cal colo sales guy...datacenter power in So Cal is the among the most expensive in the country at over 9 cents per kWh.

                    That's still less than half what I pay.

                    FATeknollogeeF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • travisdh1T
                      travisdh1 @Alex Sage
                      last edited by

                      @aaronstuder said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                      Wholesaleinternet.net

                      I'm currently running my home lab with one of their servers, was not impressed with a bunch of weird hardware issues and a bad drive right out the gate with my first one. The one I'm currently on hasn't been nearly so bad.

                      TLDNR: Great for a home lab, don't put any production stuff on it.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • wrx7mW
                        wrx7m @Alex Sage
                        last edited by

                        @aaronstuder said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                        Wholesaleinternet.net

                        At first, I was thinking why would I want a colo in KC? The cost of getting my server setup would be more than a couple years of power bills. Then I realized you meant using a dedicated server lol

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • FATeknollogeeF
                          FATeknollogee @wrx7m
                          last edited by

                          @wrx7m said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                          @fateknollogee said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                          I was talking to a So Cal colo sales guy...datacenter power in So Cal is the among the most expensive in the country at over 9 cents per kWh.

                          That's still less than half what I pay.

                          That rate was their cost before markup!!

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • wrx7mW
                            wrx7m
                            last edited by

                            Which hypervisor should I run?

                            ObsolesceO black3dynamiteB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • ObsolesceO
                              Obsolesce @wrx7m
                              last edited by

                              @wrx7m said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                              Which hypervisor should I run?

                              KVM: Good Choice
                              Hyper-V 2016: Good Choice

                              Unless you are doing something either of those won't do, or you aren't familiar with one and want to learn, flip a coin and pick.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                              • black3dynamiteB
                                black3dynamite @wrx7m
                                last edited by

                                @wrx7m said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                                Which hypervisor should I run?

                                It’s best to try them all. Hyper-V, KVM, XenServer and maybe ESXi if you will be using the 60 day trail license.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • wrx7mW
                                  wrx7m
                                  last edited by

                                  I use esxi at work, so probably not that one.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Net RunnerN
                                    Net Runner
                                    last edited by

                                    Here is a nice review https://www.starwindsoftware.com/blog/choosing-ideal-mini-server-for-a-home-lab I found once I was planning my own home lab. The part with LEGO-based rack is just incredible 🙂
                                    As for hypervisor I would recommend you to go with Hyper-V first just because it's the simplest and fastest start and after having enough of it to proceed to KVM.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • M
                                      marcinozga
                                      last edited by

                                      I have Intel NUC at home, and custom built server for Plex, I didn't notice much difference in electricity bill. Running AC is much bigger issue that running server 24/7.
                                      I don't know how well Plex would run from colo, you'd need really decent connection to data center, unless you mostly stream to mobile.

                                      wrx7mW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • wrx7mW
                                        wrx7m @marcinozga
                                        last edited by

                                        @marcinozga said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                                        I have Intel NUC at home, and custom built server for Plex, I didn't notice much difference in electricity bill. Running AC is much bigger issue that running server 24/7.
                                        I don't know how well Plex would run from colo, you'd need really decent connection to data center, unless you mostly stream to mobile.

                                        My home lab wouldn't be running Plex, I already have a system for that. I want something that I would run a hypervisor on and I can build and tear down whenever.

                                        DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • DashrenderD
                                          Dashrender @wrx7m
                                          last edited by

                                          @wrx7m said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                                          @marcinozga said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                                          I have Intel NUC at home, and custom built server for Plex, I didn't notice much difference in electricity bill. Running AC is much bigger issue that running server 24/7.
                                          I don't know how well Plex would run from colo, you'd need really decent connection to data center, unless you mostly stream to mobile.

                                          My home lab wouldn't be running Plex, I already have a system for that. I want something that I would run a hypervisor on and I can build and tear down whenever.

                                          Why? You can use Vultr and only pay you you've got them going.

                                          wrx7mW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • wrx7mW
                                            wrx7m @Dashrender
                                            last edited by

                                            @dashrender said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                                            @wrx7m said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                                            @marcinozga said in "Home" Lab - Is it Cost-Effective to Run at Home?:

                                            I have Intel NUC at home, and custom built server for Plex, I didn't notice much difference in electricity bill. Running AC is much bigger issue that running server 24/7.
                                            I don't know how well Plex would run from colo, you'd need really decent connection to data center, unless you mostly stream to mobile.

                                            My home lab wouldn't be running Plex, I already have a system for that. I want something that I would run a hypervisor on and I can build and tear down whenever.

                                            Why? You can use Vultr and only pay you you've got them going.

                                            I would need to get a dedicated server to get the different hypervisor experience I am looking for.

                                            DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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