Description

Ever wanted to run your own private cloud but thought it was out of reach due to cost? Think again! In this session, we’ll show you how to build a powerful, cost-effective private cloud in your own home using Proxmox, TrueNAS, and pfSense—all without breaking the bank.

Whether you’re a developer, a sysadmin, or just a tech enthusiast, this session will walk you through everything you need to know, from acquiring affordable hardware to setting up and managing your home lab. By the end of this session, you’ll be well-equipped to create a reliable and secure private cloud at home.

This talk offers a step-by-step guide to building a private cloud at home using cost-effective methods, focusing on acquiring affordable hardware, utilizing free software, and managing the setup in a home lab environment.

• Acquire Cheap Hardware - Learn how to source and select affordable hardware that meets the requirements for running a home lab capable of supporting a private cloud infrastructure.
• Utilize Free Software - Discover how to leverage Proxmox, TrueNAS, and pfSense—powerful and free tools that allow you to create a fully functional private cloud without costly licenses.
• Use a Homelab - Understand how to set up, configure, and maintain a home lab environment, turning your inexpensive hardware and free software into a robust private cloud solution. Attendees will leave this session with a clear understanding of how to build and manage their own private cloud on a budget. They will learn how to select the right hardware, utilize powerful open-source software, and set up a home lab that enables them to experiment with and deploy cloud-based applications securely and efficiently. Whether for personal projects, learning, or small-scale deployments, attendees will gain the skills to create a reliable private cloud environment at home.

Notes

Cheap Hardware

Network Storage Computer Applications

Home Lab: Build

• Cheaper over time with deals
• full control
• easy to swap parts
• more time required for research and assembly Buy
• higher upfront cost
• limited options fixed components
• ofted restricted by proprietary designs
• ready to use out of box

What do you need

• network
  • router
  • modem
  • switch
  • server
• Storage
  • SSD
  • HDD
  • NVME
  • Other
• Servers
  • RAM
  • Power
  • CPU
  • Network
  • Other
• Utilities
  • Backup Power
  • Total Power
  • Cooling

Where to look

• electronics recycling
• Government Surplus
• University Surplus
• Facebook Marketplace / Online Ads
• ____ Refurbished & Unix Surplus
• eBay

Homelabs subreddit

What to do

Buy nothing

• use old computer
• use a raspberry pi
• steal

Choosing right CPU

• VT-x/AMD-V/ARM Support
• Cores & speed
• Power consumption
• Upgradability
• Cost vs Performance

CHoosing Memory

• use ECC RAM
• What is minimum capactiy & max capacity
• Does the motherboard accept UDIMM, RDIMM, LDIMM, and what configs?
• What Ram is currently available from other projects
• are any processes or workloads memory intensive or is Ram general use
• speed vs latency vs capacity vs cost

Choosing Right Storage

• Redundancy
• NAS / SAN / DAS (NAS will work)
• HDD / SSD / NVME
• Expansion Arrays
• Compression / Duplication / Caching
• Backup

Choosing right network

• Does the network card pre-process packets?
• Does the network adapter support multiuple queues for sending and receiving packets?
• Is the network card, sitch, and router fast enough for this projects needs?
• Does the config provide enough ports for management setup
• Does the config provide redundancy at the card or port level
• if network card fails how hard its it to replace

Bad buys

• used UPS
• Raid Cards - make sure they are complient - less = better
• Hard Drivers
• Fossils

Utilize free software

• pfSense
  • Security
  • Router + Firewall
  • VPN Support
  • Traffic Shaping
  • Network Services
  • Load balancing & fialeover
  • Monitoring and logging

note: your home netwrok is used by others

Implement Netowrk Segmentation Enable Firewall protection Monitor network activity Secure Remote Access Practice good cable management

Storage

• Storage Media Types
• Storage Capacity
• Connectivity and interfaces
• Storage architecture
• Networked storage solutions
• Energy Efficiency

Plan your storage capacity Implement Data Reduncandy (RAID) use reliable file systems Regularly Backup Ensure Data is encypted Monitor Storage

Software

• TrueNAS - Network Attached Storage - ZFS File System - Cross platrowkr file sharing - Vitrualization & container - data protection & backup - Storage Scalability - High Availability - Encryption - Data Deduplication - Footgun be careful - Web based UI Avoid RAID cards if possible if not possible use RAID cards that support pass-through

Compute

probably dont need or want much compute

• virtualization
• scalability
• performance
• Security
• Operating systems
• REmote management
• cost efficiency

Software

• Proxmox
  • Virtualization (KVM & LXC)
  • Web based management & clustering
  • Storage support (local, shared, Ceph, ZFS)
  • High availability
  • Backup resotre & snapshots
  • networking and firewall
  • Role based access control

Use Home Lab

setup modem pay isp install networking hardware setup hardware attach stoarge setup compute

Use Case

media server personal cloud vitrualization and container orchestaration Home automation - Home automate app network and security testing web and app hosting backup and disaster recovery development and testing lab self hosting productivity tools machine learning

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