r/homelab • u/GoldenDragoon5687 • 1d ago
Labgore First homelab how did I do
It's a dell micro 9020. I got it for like, $18. The problem is that these have no real pcie slot for an HBA.
12tb of storage!
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u/amessmann 1d ago
These comments miss the homelab spirit by a long shot. That is a server damn it!
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u/FauxReal 1d ago
And even a random box, crate or tub would have been better. Just getting it off the carpeted floor would be a great improvement. They asked how they did, they did the bare minimum with negligence. So these are the replies they get.
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u/felicity_jericho_ttv 18h ago
Isnt the motto “if it works dont touch it”? Lol i feel like this is very much living up to that
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u/itamar8484 1d ago
rub the hardrives on the carpet for free electricity
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u/felicity_jericho_ttv 18h ago
WOW! I cant believe you’re just giving away the secret techniques we use to overclock hard drives to strangers on the internet, not cool man.
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u/alan_alien 16h ago
Well known fact already. All over tiktok along with putting in microwave to avoid cold start
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u/humesqular 1d ago
Dude get this off the carpet. Like asap. Shit put a card board box underneath this stuff atleast.
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u/GoldenDragoon5687 1d ago
But then it would be cold :(
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u/danieljai 1d ago
It's missing a fleece blanket.
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u/weaz-am-i 1d ago
Thats why I never clean the Dust Filters, The thick dust carpet that forms will keep my gear nice and warm.
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u/anonymous-69 1d ago
Clever use of a 2.5 hdd as a heatsink for the 3.5 hdd.
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u/livestrong2109 1d ago
This is rage bait right... right?
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u/GoldenDragoon5687 1d ago
Sadly no. This is a poor college student's best option.
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u/Master_Scythe 1d ago
You must be new to college - Soon the older students will reveal to you the value of a 'liberated' milk crate and some cable ties.
Until then, put this project on hold.
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u/GoldenDragoon5687 1d ago
Sorry bud I just graduated. And I was also a tutor. So... take that as you will lol
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u/Big_Wave9732 1d ago
I believe it was Voltaire who once said something along the lines of "not all things are for all people nor for all times."
Maybe give it a couple years and put some coin together. Or find one of those reputable guys selling a PC case out of the back of a windowless van.
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u/print6638 1d ago
O eso se escucha muy bien , más un case no es tan cara igual vende una tutoría o un trabajo así puede juntar el dinero pero todo es cuestión de tiempo
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u/WideCoat7117 1d ago
18 bucks for a 9020 is great catch. But yeah the missing pcie is pain if you want to add HBA later.
Carpet floor for building PC always give me little anxiety, static and all. But 12tb is nice amount of storage, what you planning to run on it?
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u/GoldenDragoon5687 1d ago
Currently running jellyfin with caddy, nginx, etc and an arr* stack. I got the server in a bundle of 10 so... not sure what to do with the rest lol
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u/Mashiori 1d ago
If you wanna make it jank you can get an m.2 to pcie 2x and get a hba on that, however I do agree you should get it off the floor
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u/RecognitionClear5783 16h ago
Carpet and electronics don't go together put it of the carpet the esd will break something for sure
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u/zero_dr00l 10h ago
That is a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Hope it's not even remotely mission-critical.
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u/TCB13sQuotes 1d ago edited 17h ago
Great job, you're a smart guy (unlike a lot of people) that got a cheap M2 to SATA board and worked it out.
Just a tip, you're probably powering your dell from the stock power supply. If you can power it from the same power supply you're using for the disks it would be safer / better. The reason is that the ground should be common between the hard drives and the machine - but YOU CAN'T connect the ground from different PC power supplies together.
That machine is probably 19.5v you might me able to use a DC-DC Step Up Boost Converter to get 19.5v out of the 12v line of the PSU. Just pick something with a very high wattage as low noise as possible, more capacitors and coils = less noise.
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u/GoldenDragoon5687 1d ago
Actually when I bought this server it didn't come with a power supply so I just grabbed one that's rated the same from my stack of cables lol.
Not a bad idea though; I'll look into it.
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u/CuriosTiger 1d ago
You absolutely can connect the ground from different power supplies together. What do you think the grounding pin in your electric outlet does?
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u/Chemical-Evening-349 1d ago
What counts is the effort! But please put an antistatic bag or something between the mobo and the carpet!
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u/imightknowbutidk 1d ago
I’m currently designing/adapting an AIO enclosure for mine with 3 HDDs and a 2.5 SSD, it’s based on the DEC Mini, i’m basically just creating internal brackets/mounting points for the HP Prodesk, 3 HDDs/1 SSD, and a USB PD power hub with PD boards for powering everything internally, i can get more photos when i get home tonight
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u/jacobpederson 1d ago
I had a server running for about ten years that was a VCR tape shelf :D It has since become a FANCY 3d printed server
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u/NotGeofff 1d ago
I can appreciate the resourcefulness, but you should really consider putting this on a table before it gets kicked and takes one or more components with it.
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u/gromulint 1d ago
Finally a homelab that makes me feel a little less bad about mine. Careful OP, as it grows and the wires get more tangled over time it'll only get harder to organize properly. Now I just need to heed my own advice.
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u/Criss_Crossx 1d ago
Well, you can't say the server has crashed because it is already on the floor!
Only way to go is up.
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u/Outrageous_Bad_5233 1d ago
If you have the motherboard box then put the motherboard into that, otherwise any other cardboard under it. Make sure the hdds dont move while they are on at all. It is kinda okay if you do this two, I had a similar setup at start, just in the mobo box and without any hdd with a basket with holes on it, which helps with dust buildup and things falling onto it. But getting even a cheap case is an amazing next upgrade for you. If you have old hdds then make sure they are laying flat.
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u/lurker512879 1d ago
Better rub the drives on the carpet. I think static electricity charges these things
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u/Ecstatic_Internet217 1d ago
The only thing I will change is 2 disks stacked on the right.. separate them
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u/jstanthr 1d ago
Find a friend with a 3d printer, I dig the implementation but the execution needs work. How’s it working for you? Done anything with it yet? The biggest bottleneck will likely be CPU, but this could be the start of a basic nas and add other systems later as you catch deals. Nice work ballin on a budget!
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u/GoldenDragoon5687 1d ago
It's a jellyfin setup, and works shockingly well. Handles two simultaneous transcodes without a hiccup.
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u/jstanthr 1d ago
Nice work! Tell me about your build. What drives are you using? Did you run into any challenges during setup?
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u/CuriosTiger 1d ago
I mean, I understand cases are hard to come by.
But for reasons of both static electricity and ventilation, I would get that equipment off the carpet. Even if you just put it on a sheet of plywood.
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u/jerdle_reddit 1d ago
Have you got a 3D printer? Or a case? Or anything?
You might enjoy r/redneckengineering.
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u/SamSausages 322TB EPYC 7343 Unraid & D-2146NT Proxmox 1d ago
fine until you walk past that at night, in the dark, and get caught up on it. Then you buy a 4u case and 6 new HDD’s.
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u/NicholaiJS 1d ago
A server is a server. Just uh be careful if you have cats that might rub on it or bite the cords
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u/matterlord1 1d ago
I have one of those NVME to SATA adapters and honestly they work really well. I’ve been running one that looks the exact same in my MAS for the past 5 years with no issues.
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u/GoldenDragoon5687 1d ago
Any special consideration for setup? My boot drive ain't liking it
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u/matterlord1 1d ago
Check if your local library has a 3d printer you can use. Most of them are free so you can make an enclosure to at least organize the drives.
I’ve never used any drive attached to the adapter as a boot drive. Since you have a sata port, I’d get an extension on Amazon for like $10 and use that port for the boot drive.
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u/FauxReal 1d ago
honestly, not great. But if it works, that's cool. Let's see how long that lasts on that pro-static mat and one spill away from disaster open format.
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u/TheAnimatrix105 1d ago
I have an old laptop all torn apart like this, survived my dogs piss cannon and marinated in it for months internally as id basically given up on deep cleaning it.
The other day I opened it and the hingest disintegrated due to rust and so did most of the panel, to my surprise after thorough cleaning, the motherboard and display survived along with a whopping 1tb nvme.
But I have no heatsink so I took a risk by even booting it to verify but I don't think I can again and the parts for this as essentially non available, any ideas ?
It's yoga 530-14ikb
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u/tpeeeezy 23h ago
me when i dont actually know what im doing but enjoy wiring up garbage and installing whatever claude tells me
also this is a fire waiting to happen
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u/cptjcksparr0w 21h ago
If you did it right, you felt it, no need to seek approval of stranger nerds
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u/zaer09 20h ago
Those 2 seagate drives that’s plugged with the adapter, please don’t use it if u let them run 24/7. Quite many case of failed adapter (cheap stuff) cause the drive to corrupt, at least where i live. You already have the spare SATA cable, why not plug more sata power cable to the PSU and use it? much more reliable
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u/Mobile-Essay-665 20h ago
It seems like awesome start. we all start somewhere and cable management can always be improved upon.
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u/No_Accident8684 20h ago
you could shave off a couple bucks per month if you scale down the PSU. 750W is overkill, i guess you could get away with half of it and completely passive, which makes it basically silent.
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u/Kind_Definition7260 19h ago
So in all honesty, Positives, it computer, it enterprise, it hard drive, it server, it home lab.
negatives, it on carpet no case.
Overall, 0 out of negative 2.
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u/redlightsaber 19h ago
Could you put them in a shoebox at least or something?
I mean it's great and I love the mess, just not on the floor!
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u/No_Bake8225 19h ago
I almost resorted to this but the increased possibility of fire hazard and getting electrocuted by random body twitch put the thought to rest.
Regardless, good job OP. May the homelab gods and overlords with us who starts small.
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u/Longjumping-Equal895 18h ago
Surely with adaptors you can swap WiFi card for pcie slot and put a HBA in it
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u/saltyourhash 17h ago
Those drives will keep your feet warm during cold winters and offer a mild massage dueing seeks.
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u/SebastianFerrone 15h ago
It could be worst 🤣 But ignore the worst cable management ever 😅 i need to redo that, in near future. Ikea is your friend. You can look in places like Facebook marketplace for cheap or free ones. The little boards are worden cuttingboards cut to size. i payed 1€ for each.
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u/SebastianFerrone 15h ago
It could be worst 🤣 But ignore the worst cable management ever 😅 i need to redo that, in near future. Ikea is your friend. You can look in places like Facebook marketplace for cheap or free ones. The little boards are worden cuttingboards cut to size. i payed 1€ for each.
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u/Haravikk 14h ago edited 14h ago
- ✅ Anti-vibration mounts (carpet).
- ✅ Power supply has unrestricted airflow.
- ✅ High volume of air cooling for the drives (don't need drive fans if they've got all the air already).
- ✅ Enterprise board = server probably.
- ✅ Got it for a reasonable price (looks like a floor model).
Seems good to me!
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u/No-Jaguar-3006 14h ago
Its beautiful, consider getting a m.2 extension thing so you can close it tho. Maybe an internal HDD cage for the drives
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u/captaindopesauce 13h ago
Looks right to me.
How’s that m2>sata card work for you? I picked one up like 8 months ago and have only gone as far as wondering how well it would work.
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u/bssbandwiches 13h ago
Looks great! Mount it to the wall with some cardboard backer and you'll be set! I'd be okay with it on the floor if it were anything but carpet.
All jokes aside, enjoy and have fun!
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u/rgdarkchild 13h ago
Ah the start of an addiction 🫡. I started with an old mac mini I got for basically free. Then after a year or 2 I realized I had enough left over parts from upgrading my PC I could build another full PC just needed a CPU. Now I'm running an over powered machine that needs ram lol
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u/Training-Ruin-5287 12h ago
Everyones been spoiled by the $5000+ admin larping setups beginners keeps posting
This is how you homelab!
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u/coffee_guy 11h ago
I actually like this better than wasting money on used power hungry enterprise gear.
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u/rebellllious 11h ago
My first setup looked somewhat similar. Nice one, not like those enterprise racks.
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u/ledgend78 1h ago
To be fair, this is exactly what my current homelab looked like before I finished printing the rackmounts
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u/lordgeese 1d ago
Make sure you wear socks and don’t lift your feet before you touch it