I’ve been lurking here for a while, taking notes and getting inspired, and I finally finished setting up my very first homelab setup in my basement!
Everything is wired in a star topology back to this 9U wall-mounted rack.
Here is a full breakdown of the hardware and software running the house.
Hardware & Nodes
Node 1: Main Server — Dell Optiplex 3060 SSF
CPU: Intel Core i5-8500
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Networking: Intel i210 NIC (plus onboard)
Add-ons: Nvidia Quadro P400 (hardware transcode/acceleration) & Coral USB TPU (for object detection)
Storage: 500GB NVMe SSD (OS / Boot), 1TB SATA SSD, 1TB WD Purple HDD (NVR storage)
Hypervisor: Proxmox VE
Services & Workloads:
LXC: Frigate NVR (processing 4 cameras with Coral TPU acceleration)
LXC: Pi-hole (DNS / Adblocking)
LXC: TP-Link Omada Controller
VM: Home Assistant OS
LXC (Debian Docker host): Node-RED, Mosquitto MQTT, InfluxDB, Homebox
Node 2: Lab / Testing — Dell Optiplex Micro
CPU: Intel Core i5-6500T
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Storage: 500GB SSD
Hypervisor: Proxmox VE
Use Case: My dedicated playground for testing different Linux distros, spinning up temporary VMs, and breaking things without impacting home production.
Networking & Infrastructure
The entire house runs on a TP-Link Omada stack:
Router: Omada ER605 v2
Main Switch: Omada SG3428X / SG3428 28-Port Managed Switch
Access Points: 3x TP-Link EAP650
Floor Distribution: Smaller managed switches on each floor to keep VLAN segmentation clean throughout the house.
VLAN Setup:
VLAN 10: Main / Private Network
VLAN 20: Smart Home / IoT (isolated)
VLAN 30: CCTV / Cameras (no internet access, routed straight to Frigate)
Rack & Cabinet
Enclosure: 9U Wall-mount Rack
Mounted neatly in the basement with patch panels and organized patch cables.
I'm really happy with how clean it turned out and how efficient the power draw is with these Optiplexes.
Let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions for future upgrades!
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1wl2i7w
Source: r/homelab · by /u/GuavaThink3018