Things to know about building a home lab?

So I'm getting ready to build a home lab. I'm looking at a server with 144 GB RAM, two 3.33Ghz hexcore processors, and six 2TB hard drives. Gonna load ESXi onto it, and load all my machines on there. Also gonna get a basic laptop, nothing fancy, just something to use for vSphere. Will get a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for configuring the physical server, and then dual-monitor it with the laptop for everything else.

I'm not planning on getting a rack, as it's only one server. I'm probably just going to get some two-by-fours to set it on so it won't be directly on the ground. Should I get a fan to move some air, or will there be enough air flow leaving a few feet between the back of it and the wall?

Is there any danger of it catching on fire if I leave my home at a standard 70ish degrees room temperature?

How many dedicated circuits will I need to power this setup?

Is there anywhere I can get some free ISOs for personal use (legal avenues only)? How about tools?

Lastly, is there anything else that I may not be thinking of, that I should know before getting into this? Any tips, suggestions, derision, all comments welcome!

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Comments

EagerDinosaur

If your server is going to be running 24x7, then the cost of electricity could be an issue. Noise as well, servers designed for data centres can be pretty difficult to live with.

EnderWiggin

EagerDinosaur wrote: »

If your server is going to be running 24x7, then the cost of electricity could be an issue. Noise as well, servers designed for data centres can be pretty difficult to live with.

My home has utilities included in the rent, so I'm good to go there. The noise is definitely something I hadn't thought of, I'll be sure to find it a place that is out of the way! Thank you!

dhay13

I have a Dell Poweredge 2950 that is very noisy but I did add resistors in each of the 4 fans and quited it down quite a bit and it still runs great and temps are fine. I don't push mine very hard though.

Ertaz

Picked this up in October from my sans instructor:

https://files.sans.org/summit/pen_test_hackfest_2016/PDFs/Building-Your-Own-Kickass-Home-Lab-Jeff-McJunkin.pdf

xxxkaliboyxxx

This is what I used to start my virtual lab. Great foundation to get your lab going. This guy/gal was out of work and did this as a 6 month project.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Malware/comments/5xehnc/hi_ive_been_writing_a_book_for_the_past_6_months/

Edit: he was not out of work when he built the guide....I think.

EnderWiggin

Those are some great resources, thanks y'all!

I just ordered the equipment suggested in the SANS PDF. That saved me a few hundred bucks, plus it'll be less intensive than a full-sized server.

Now I'm gonna start a deep-dive on the Reddit book, so I can be ready to hit the ground running when the equipment arrives in a few days.

Thanks again!