Current running one box with Proxmox split into several VMs:
- 1 core devoted to HTPC VM
- 2 cores devoted to Linux VM for hosting game servers
- 1 core devoted to Portainer and ~25 containers
- 1 core reserved for running VMs for fun (Windows, different Linux distros)
My main concern is with my Portainer machine handling quite a bit at this point. I haven’t noticed any performance degradation yet, but I’m wondering if I could benefit from introducing another machine to my homelab to host some services.
How do you tend to organize, separate, and split resources between your hosted services? What steps did you take to begin growing your homelab? Next big step for me is getting an HDD enclosure to serve out more storage then my one HDD allows, but I’m posing this question from a CPU/RAM resources perspective.
I’ve been downsizing.
A few years ago I had three Xeon E5 rack servers with 64GB of RAM each and a bunch of HDDs.
I then cut it down to three mini PCs with 16GB of RAM each.
Just recently I cut it down even further to just my single Linux desktop running Kubernetes in the background.
Why? I realized that my interests are all on the software side and more hardware doesn’t contribute much to improving my experience either building or using the lab.
I also tend to make improvements in my software stack when resources are more restricted and my lab became so much more reliable and efficient over the years.
I downsized as well for the same reasons. Less equipment means less care and feeding. My main desktop is powerful enough to have a few VMs running in the background while I play games.
There is a mini-pc I use for my workbench that I use to show references for any other hobbies and it also controls my CNC when needed.
My CAD work and games require a powerful workstation so all my money went into that. Also, electric bills can start to add up when servers are running 24x7. Plus, they can be loud.
I am going to invest in another mini-pc soon to act as a another router and firewall, but that is about it.