Just install TrueNAS or Unraid.
I had bought a second hand supermicro case, but its Power Distributor Board failed a day later. So I decided to buy the HL15 with PSU and backplane. Iād rather not risk breaking another PDU if I buy a replacement
I intend the server to replace both my Synology NAS and the optiplex docker server. While the HL15 takes more space than the two devices combines, the ability to upgrade storage makes up for the size and it can fit inside the server rack.
2 Likes
I am going to be treating it like a NAS + storage for my homelab.
Services
- jellyfin
- minecraft
- terreria
- veloren
- backups for laptops
- nfs instead of shared google drive
- calibre (backup of my kindle library)
- gitea (backup of my github code)
In the future I want to look at ways of allowing my friends to start up the game services they want from either a discord channel or web ui (through tailscale).
2 Likes
Iāll see how much I like Houston. Otherwise, TrueNAS. SMB shares, backups, off-site sync, etc.
Replace a couple of NAS and a project test bedā¦ Basically consolidating a bunch of aging, unorganized crap into one chasisā¦ (also cleaning up the closet makes my wife happy)ā¦
It would be really cool to see 45drives or even some of the homelab youtubers take some time with the HL15 and do some more in depth tutorials on setting things up like Houston UI, Proxmox w/Houston, Truenas, etc. for those of us who are wanting to learn or are just interested.
Houston sounds like a great solution, but I highly doubt 45drives is going to have the same support (like tickets for help with issues or questions with Houston) for the homelab stuff as they do for storinators.
Maybe a new Category here on the forum for Tutorials and General Help and Support that the community could help you with issues and if the 45drives guys look at the section every so often, can also pipe in.
5 Likes
I second this. I have some stuff set up already, but whenever I update or plan new projects, I always feel like Iām doing it wrong or could be doing it better and my setup ends up feeling kludged together.
I am planning to have my HL-15 become the main TrueNas unit for the homelab. I have a Chenboro unit that CraftComputing made a video some time ago. The unit has an SSD for the main drive, a few IronWolf SSD for vdev cache and 10 SATA drives.
I am not necesssary needing the unit to run Virtual machines as I have a 3-node proxmox cluster.
Only storage. Other things for running workloads
1 Like
Same here! Itās just a big NAS to me lol. I am excited to give 45Drivesās Houston a try!
Good Morning everyone!
I am new to the 45HomeLab Forum and recently purchased an HL 15 solution, chassis and backplane only.
I am fairly new to the homelab scene but I recently replaced my old 8U rack in my home with a 42U 4post and have plans to dive deeper into homelab testing/tinkering as a refresher to my tech skills and to develop services I can use consistently at home.
My current plan for the HL 15 chassis includes a Asrock Rack ROMED8-2T, an AMD EPYC 7302p 16 Core processor and Kingston Server Premier 3200MHz DDR4 ECC Ram. I am going to start off with (4) 20TB Ironwolf NAS drives and will be hosting Plex/Jellyfin, (until I decide which I like better, Home Assistant, and a few game servers for my 2 boys.
I havenāt yet decided on an OS officially and I really like the idea of a proxmox or unraid bare metal solution, however I was also considering dropping some money on a Windows Server license, if for no other reason, to brush up on skills I had back when I had my Windows2000 MCSE, create a domain and maybe setup remote update management for the other windows clients on my home network.
I also currently run a decked out 6 port protectli 2.5 Gb appliance with Pfsense, 2 Adguard enabled Raspberry Pi 4Bās for https encrypted DNS forwarding back to Quad9 & CloudFlare, and a Ubiquity UniFi 24 port Enterprise 1Gb/2.5Gb switch.
Once my new HL 15 NAS is up, Iāll likely add a UniFi 8port aggregation 10Gb switch, so I have full 10Gb between my PC and the HL 15 and set the system up as my dedicated Unifi Controller.
In addition to the normal intentions for the HL 15, I also want to delve into Kali Linux, do some internal security intrusion lab testing, and just generally have some fun, so I will also be using it for virtualization.
Iām interested in networking with like minded folks, so please donāt hesitate to reach out if you want to share your setup or if you have any suggestions for my homelab that you feel I may be interested in.
Iām also extremely interested to see what new chassis and server offerings 45drives and 45homelab release, if you all are looking for any enthusiast beta testers for products, Iād be blessed and honored to help.
Thanks, Erik.
1 Like