Home Lab - update one

As mentioned previously, I've decided to build a home computer lab for experimenting with new & interesting technologies. Parts have started to arrive, namely the chassis, memory, and storage media. The UPS is scheduled for delivery on Wednesday, along with a 240GB SSD for my gaming rig. The remaining parts (motherboards and network gear) should arrive Thursday.

I ordered the new SSD over the weekend. I'm down to only 35GB of free space on my existing SSD, and I want to dual-boot Windows and Fedora. So I'll copy my Windows installation to the new drive and throw Fedora on the old 180GB one. My previous plan was to use my laptop (already running Fedora) to configure & manage the lab. After this, I'll be able to use the desktop - complete with 27" monitor - for that role.

I'm also returning the two 4TB Western Digital SE drives in in favor of four 4TB WD Reds. Why? Mostly because the latter were something like $55 cheaper each after a Newegg promo discount, making them an affordable way to double my capacity. But also because I don't really need 7200RPM drives with 1.2 million MTBF for a lab. You'd better believe those will by my choice for work, though!

That's it for now, and probably until next week. Between Easter and Opening Day, I won't have much time to actually play with my new toys.

Home Lab

After months of hearing from a coworker the joys of having a home computer lab, and weeks of lurking in /r/homelab, I've finally purchased gear to build my own. It's been some time since I last played with new technology on my own terms, and not because work required it. I'm eager to regain that experimental spirit. Of course, some of what I learn may also benefit me professionally. But my focus will be on the trying of fun things.

The computers

I'm starting with two machines, identical nodes that I'll use as virtualization hosts. But enough talk; how about a parts list?

• Motherboard & CPU: ASRock C2750D4i
• Memory: 32GB Crucial DDR3-1600 ECC
• SSD: 60GB Corsair Force LS SATA3
• HDD: 4TB Western Digital SE 7200RPM SATA3
• NIC: Intel I350-T2
• Chassis: U-NAS NSC-400

The ASRock is a really cool mini-ITX server board with an integrated Intel Avoton C2750 octa-core(!) processor. It supports up to 64GB of RAM, sports twelve SATA ports, and offers twin Intel I210 ethernet adapters plus another dedicated management adapter with IPMI. The Intel I350 adds another two gigabit connections so I can perform networking tricks. I went with small-ish SSDs because they'll only hold the host OS (probably CentOS 7). VMs will be stored on the big, fast, enterprise-grade spinners. And the sweet U-NAS chassis will let me throw in even more storage when the need arises.

The network

Because I'm also a networking nerd, I picked up a TP-LINK TL-SG2424 24-port gigabit ethernet switch. It's only a "smart" switch, not a managed one, but it should be sufficient for the kind of experimentation I intend to do. It'll connect to my wifi through the neat little TP-LINK TL-WR710N mini pocket router. That may also become a traveling companion for those vacations when I want to connect my Chromecast to hotel wifi.

The rest

All of this equipment represents a fairly significant investment, so for the first time ever I'll be making use of a UPS. The CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD should be more than capable of protecting all of this kit plus my gaming rig. And it's probably worth mentioning that I'll use my Samsung notebook (running Fedora 21) to configure & access everything.

That's it for now. Just a matter of waiting for all of the pieces to arrive, then putting them together. My next update should include pictures. I hope to be ambitious enough about this to provide near-real-time commentary every step of the way. Feel free to follow along and share your thoughts!

Scripting the backburner.xml file for Amazon EC2

A couple of people have contacted me about the PowerShell script I wrote while setting up 3DS Max Design to run in the cloud. Here it is, complete with comments. I'm also posting the backburner.xml file it modifies.

Android and Car Chargers

My car charger died recently, so it was time to shop for a replacement. The requirements started out pretty simple. I just wanted the ability to charge two devices (my phone, and either a passenger's phone or a Bluetooth headset) at once. That it's. But as I shopped, things got a little more complicated...

Rendering from 3ds Max Design 2011 on Amazon EC2

I've posted a few details of my current project to Google+, but never a full-length description. This is my first practical experience with cloud computing, and one of the most enjoyable things I've done in my fourteen years in IT. Perhaps the experience will help others.

Initial thoughts on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus

Much has been written about Google's latest showcase device already. Most of those reviews are far more thorough and professional than anything I could hope to write. But when has that ever stopped someone from sharing their thoughts on the internet? So in that grand tradition, I present my completely biased opinion of the coolest bit of tech I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

Yes, I'm a total Google fanboy.

A review of Picasa 3.9 (beta)

Google rolled out the latest version of Picasa yesterday, which brought with it Google+ integration. I installed the program last night, and spent several hours tagging all of my pictures with places and faces. That probably sounds more ambitious than it actually was, as I don't really have that many photos. The process did give me enough time, however, to evaluate the good and the bad points of the application.