The Accident
The first home lab started way before I realized I was starting this journey.
My gaming rig needed some upgrades and I was stuck with hardware that was incompatible with my new setup. I decided to re-use these extra parts, buy some extra components, and come out with a second PC I could use for whatever I felt like doing.
This iteration was running Ubuntu Server, no virtualization. I put in Minecraft servers. I programmed on it “remotely”. Whatever my flavor of the week idea was, that box would handle it.
That’s really the spirit of this hobby. You end up empowered to create, and the easier it is to create, the more you do.
Start with what you have
You dont need to spend a lot of money. You dont need a crazy setup all you need is to see something you would like to have and create it.
Make mistakes
You will mess up. A huge part of the fun is sharing your problems with other people and hearing about how others have solved it.
Write it down!
Your homelab is like going to the gym. You put a lot of work in, you come out better than you were, and your biggest complaint is that you didnt take enough progress photos.
You will thank yourself for taking the time and writing down what went wrong. I like to keep scratch pad files whenever im deep in a problem. Rough ideas can and should be jotted down and saved so you can refine them later.
The homelab journey is different for everyone, but it usually starts the same way: with curiosity, spare hardware, and a willingness to break things in the name of learning. What’s your homelab story?