In order to truly learn one must put practical knowledge to work and given that most data centers refuse to let me in for "experimentation" it was time to setup a Home Lab environment. After doing many hours of research on devices to host a home server I decided to start small opting with an inexpensive Dell Optiplex micro-desktop solution to run dedicated virtual machines as a type1 hypervisor. The system I chose was "barebones" and may require some upgrading but has the capacity to do so while also having a minimal form factor and low power consumption, noise factor and heat dissipation. I'm looking forward to the arrival of my first home server and I have big plans for such a little machine that I hope will one day launch a much larger home lab environment that grows as I do.     Model: Optiflex 7050

• 2.7 GHz i5 Quad Core 7th Gen Intel Processor
• 3.3GHz with Turbo Boost
• 8GB of 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM (up to 32GB)
• 500GB 7200 rpm SATA 2.5" hard drive
• one USB 3.0 Type-C port and five USB 3.0 Type-A ports
• one DisplayPort 1.2 and one HDMI 1.4 video outputs
• Intel i219-V Gigabit Ethernet controller
• 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.2
• empty M.2 slot
• 65W power supply
• Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)

 

11/25/22 - 11/26/22 Update

A very productive first few days successfully setting up the home lab server with the following:

1. Install and make OS backups of original Win10 Pro OS recovery using Windows Media Creation Tool in the event Proxmox doesn't install.
2. Prepare bootable usb drive of Proxmox iso with Etcher boot creator.
3. Install Proxmox version 7
4. Begin installing Virtual Machines including: Ubuntu, Kali Linux and Windows 10 Pro
5. Test functionality of all VM's
6. Setup Ubuntu Server VM
7. Work out issues with ssh and authentication/permissions on login.
8. Setup Docker
9. Setup Rancher
10. Setup Portainer
11. Setup Heimdall interface for all newly added services.
12. Customize Heimdall interface.

Etcher preparing Proxmox boot media.

ProxMox Installation

Mac desktop running Windows 10, Kali Linux and Ubuntu Server through Proxmox

Heimdall web interface customized for my workflow.