HomeLab Part 1: Why Build a HomeLab?
When I first started my career in IT over 17 years ago, the idea of building a home lab was completely out of the question and not even something I would consider. This was prior to virtualization technology or high-powered compute being available for end users.
This typically meant any learning or testing was confined to old PCs, retired workplace servers, and even a few production environments (which I would not recommend today 😉).
As virtualization became the norm and used server equipment became widely available and more feasible (i.e., affordable, lower power usage, and smaller), the idea of building a personal data center seemed more of a reality than a pipe dream.
There are many reasons to build a home lab, including but not limited to:
Industry certifications.
IT professionals who want to stay current and up to date with the latest technology.
IT beginners who are looking to learn and grow their careers.
People who love the idea of self-hosting a website, private cloud, media centers, or applications.
Replicating a production environment and testing new technology or updates.
Securing a home network.
A hobby limited only by your imagination and budget.
Simply loving computers and flashing lights!
Personally, I resonate with all the examples above, and luckily, so does my wallet. My current role as an IT manager does not involve or require me to make any changes to our environment, and for good reason! I have excellent direct reports on my team who take care of this. The primary reason I built a home lab is the same reason I started loving computers in the first place: the tinkering and endless possibilities.
As I continue to focus on building a great team, developing IT and business strategies, and focusing on projects, I have noticed that my technical prowess has begun to fade. Hence, the desire to home lab as a hobby and a source of passion.
In the next few posts, I will be focusing on how I selected my hardware, which virtualization tech I am using, networking, and of course, what I have built so far.
