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hey everyone welcome back to
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virtualization how2 I'm Brandon Lee and
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today I'm sharing 10 essential tips to
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help you get started with a home lab in
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2025 if you're diving into it for the
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first time or experimenting with
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self-hosting or maybe studying for
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certifications these tips are some that
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I wish I would have had when I first
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started so let's dive in and talk all
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things home lab in 2025
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Number One Mini PCS forget big noisy
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servers you simply just don't need them
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today's modern mini PCS are powerful
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they are efficient and they are compact
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in size with up to 96 gigs of ddr5
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memory multi-core processors 10 gig
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networking they can handle workloads
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very easily they're also much quieter
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and easier on your electric bill
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compared to Enterprise servers and trust
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me once I made the switch to many PCs
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which I was hesitant to do I've never
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looked back especially in the hot summer
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months here in the Southeastern part of
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the United States I'm also really
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encouraged by what 2025 can potentially
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hold for mini PCS the mini forum msa2 is
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just one example of an exciting Mini PC
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that is set to drop in 2025 with 32
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threads of processing power and 96 gigs
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of memory and it takes all of the good
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components of the mini Forum ms01 that
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we've all loved such as the two SFP plus
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10 gig ports and two 2 and 1/2 gig ports
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that are all intel-based networking I'm
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also really encouraged as I posted an
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article just a couple of days ago that
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crucial is actually going to release 64
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GB sodm modules this is something we've
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never had before poten potentially
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giving us 128 gigs of memory in a Mini
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PC form factor I'm really excited about
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this year moving forward in this space
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number two is RAM is most important
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versus CPU so let's talk about resources
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while CPUs are important Ram is actually
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the real King in home lab environments
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running multiple VMS or containers you
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can quickly take up quite a bit of
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memory and it it doesn't matter if
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you're using VMware proxmox hyperv xcp
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and or something else now if you are
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running VMware esxi you can take
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advantage of nvme memory tiering which I
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did a video on if you want to check that
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out it allows you to stretch your RAM
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even further by using an additional nvme
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m.2 Drive the moral of the story is if
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you're on a budget budget for the
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additional memory it's a much better
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investment than chasing the fastest CPU
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so I generally recommend to ones to dial
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back the CPU configuration if that's an
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option and take that cost savings and
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buy another stick of ddr5 memory you're
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not going to notice a bit milder CPU
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when it comes to running virtual
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machines and containers for most use
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cases number three the network adapter
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brand is very important make sure your
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network adapter is compatible with the
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platforms that you want to run many mini
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PCS ship with real Tech network adapters
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now while this isn't a big deal if
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you're planning on running and
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installing proxmox or XC PNG these don't
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work out of the box with VMware esxi and
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I know many are soured on VMware esxi
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and probably moving to proxmox but if
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you want the hardware that's cross
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compatible look for those Hardware
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adapters with Intel network adapters
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they have that broad compatibility that
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will allow you to work with VMware while
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you can use a USB network adapter with
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VMware config figurations I wouldn't
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suggest that for long-term setups if if
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it's anything outside of just playing
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around installing hypervisors playing
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for a couple of days and then tearing it
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down I have found USB network adapters
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to not be reliable over the long term
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just really weird quirks and issues can
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crop up so if it's your production home
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lab environment that you're looking to
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build hardware for I would certainly
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suggest to stick with onboard network
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adapters the number four tip is
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networking in general for networking a
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budget friendly switch with one or 2 and
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1/2 gig Network ports and a couple of 10
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gig ethernet ports is ideal microti and
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similar Brands offer great options
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however do keep in mind that with many
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of these budget friendly switches you
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typically don't get a manage switch
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meaning you can't really log into the
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switch interact with a CLI or a web
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interface and do a whole lot of
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configuration and often many of those
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don't even allow you to create VLS now
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VLS allow you to segment your network
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into separate environments like servers
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iot wireless LAN or something else they
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are probably something that you're going
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to want to implement sooner than later
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so do keep that in mind if you're going
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to invest the money in a switch I would
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certainly suggest to get a budget
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friendly switch but it actually is worth
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it to get a switch that is VLAN capable
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as you're not going to regret that in
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your home lab moving forward number five
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is Storage storage is often
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underestimated in home Labs if you're
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running multiple VMS or containers
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you're going to need storage that is has
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enough capacity that will allow you to
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run the workloads that you want to run
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but also that performs well options like
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local drives Nas devices or software
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defined storage like Seth is an
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excellent option make sure though that
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your setup can grow with your lab
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whatever your intentions are plan for
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and budget for for the additional
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capacity you may need I recommend that
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starting out you invest in cheap nvme
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local storage for your virtual machines
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if you're starting out with a Nas device
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look at hybrid configurations for
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storage that can give you a good mix of
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speed and capacity for running VMS and
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containers some of the newer nasas will
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allow you to have both spindle hard
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drives spinning rust discs as we like to
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say and then also pair that with NVM
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drives that can be used for caching on
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write or read operations and when you're
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talking about virtualization you can
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really tell a huge difference with that
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caching layer that allows those virtual
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machines or containers to interact with
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first number six is licensing 2024 into
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this year is going to be a tricky one
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especially if you do want to have access
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to VMware licensing previously you could
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pay $200 a year and get access to the
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entire VMware catalog of products but
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not so any more there is a new Cloud
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Foundation certification requirement
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before you can gain access to VMware
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licensing even if you spring for the
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vmug subscription now vmug subscription
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will allow you to get a pretty sizable
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discount off of that certification but
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just know that the investment this go
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around is not only going to be
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monetarily but it's also going to be the
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time and energy and effort that's going
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to be required to study and and
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potentially pass or fail these
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certification exams so do keep that in
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mind now if you're using other free and
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open source options like so many are
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these days such as crmx and xpg just to
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name a couple then you don't have to
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worry about licensing those are free and
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open- Source options that are going to
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provide a very powerful and robust
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virtualization layer for your H lab
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environment but do keep that in mind
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when you're thinking about if you're
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looking at VMware certifications or
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running VMware inside your home lab
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environment also when it comes to
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licensing don't forget about really cool
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tools that I think are worth the
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investment in the home lab to up your
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tooling game tools like painer which
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also allows for a free three node
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Business Edition license that you can
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easily sign up for on their take three
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uh link off of their website allows you
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to have those three Business Edition
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licenses also I think uh net data also
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has a great option for monitoring a home
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lab for 90 bucks a year you can buy that
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home lab license with net data and you
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can actually have that Enterprise class
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monitoring for your home lab for
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unlimited nodes there's no limitations
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on it and that I think is really really
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cool those are just a couple of options
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that you have I think that are licenses
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that are worth it to buy for the home
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lab to have that affordable monitoring
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as well as Docker Management in the case
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of bainer number seven is backups you
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never know when an experiment will go
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sideways or you will experience a
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hardware failure so have a backup
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solution from day one tools like proxmox
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backup server VH or even a simple Nas
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device can save you hours of work if
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something breaks and you have those
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backups in place remember experimenting
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is part of the fun but recovering from
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mistakes is much easier with backups in
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place but aren't backups only for
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production environments not home lab
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well technically the answer is probably
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yes but when you have a handcrafted
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configuration on a virtual machine that
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may have taken you hours to build and to
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get working correctly you don't really
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know all the steps you took to build the
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configuration would you want to lose
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that potentially probably not many of
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the backup Solutions like vhm and Niko
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backup replication offer NFR licenses
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that allow you to back up a number of
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VMS in your home lab for free if you
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have something like a sonaly nass device
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you get access for free to the active
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backup solution that allows backing up
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VMware and hyperv if you want to get
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into running Docker containers you can
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also use tools like duplicati for Docker
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container data and then also if you're
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getting into kubernetes you can download
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a solution from VH that is totally free
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called Casten K10 for kubernetes backups
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number eight is a UPS protect your lab
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hardware and network Hardware with a UPS
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sudden power outages can corrupt setups
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data or even damage Hardware a UPS not
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only provides backup power if you have a
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power flicker or you have an allout
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power outage but it gives you time to
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shut things down gracefully and properly
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some even have Network monitoring
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features which is a nice bonus for lab
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enthusiasts that can even orchestrate
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shutdowns during a power outage event If
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you experience those so a UPS is a wise
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investment I think in a home lab even a
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small 1500 voltamp UPS will actually run
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quite a few mini PCS and keep those up
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at least for a couple of minutes number
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nine is start with open source and free
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tools we've already touched on this but
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if you're just starting out stick to
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those open source tools just to get your
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feet with things like proxmox xcp and
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using free tools like Docker and
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kubernetes these are powerful and
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ready-made options that have no
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licensing fees especially in the home
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lab and they allow you to learn these
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advanced concepts without spending any
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money on licensing or the software to
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get started again many are using proxmox
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or XC PNG for home labs and are using
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Docker and kubernetes for running
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application containers also there are
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many free and open- Source projects out
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there that you can take advantage of
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like my last video my Docker dashboard
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project check that out be sure to
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download the docker dashboard once you
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have a home lab up and running and you
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can see all of your Docker containers in
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a single glance across all of your
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Docker hosts number 10 is
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documentation documentation is that step
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that we all hate but it's my final tip
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document everything you'll be surprised
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if you document everything as you're
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installing as you're connecting
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everything tracking your configurations
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IP addresses VLAN setups and even
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troubleshooting that you may have to do
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make sure you document those tools like
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notion obsidian and even a simple
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spreadsheet work great and then also
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along with learning Docker there are
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many dockerized open source Solutions
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out there like PHP ipam that make it
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much easier to keep up with your network
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configuration ation like IP addresses
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and vlans and all of those Network
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configurations that we all know and love
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good documentation will save you time a
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lot of frustration as your lab grows and
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you just 6 months later forget how
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something was configured and your
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scratching your head you'll have the
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ability to pull out your documentation
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and immediately get the answer to those
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configuration questions and that's it 10
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tips to get started with a home lab in
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2025 from choosing the right Hardware to
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protecting your setup with with backups
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and power management I hope these tips
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will help you to hit the ground running
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if you have questions or your own tips
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to share let me know in the comments
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below if you enjoyed this video don't
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forget to like subscribe and hit that
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notification Bell for more content like
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this video well thanks for watching
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everyone please do stay safe out there
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keep on home labbing and I will see you
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in the next video
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