geordieboy25
Prominent Member
Hi guys, pretty new here but i thought i would start a blog to show my plan for my server room/lab.
I'm basically building it with old hardware more for learning with hands on expereince than anything else.
I have been gathering freebies and cheap hardware together in an attempt to get a server room setup in my garage.
I'm basically looking for somewhere where i can test out new things, play around with hardware and teach myself new operating systems.
Inside my house i have a HP Prolient N40L which i use as a file server and its quiet enough to leave on but i know that i can do a lot more with this which i may at a later date (DNS & DHCP etc)
In my garage i have quite a few bits now:
HP Prolient ML350 case (empty)
1 x 2u server case, AMD X2 5200, 2gb ram, PSU and 160gb hard drive (not setup yet)
1 x 1u server case, mini itx (approx 1ghz cpu), 512mb ram and silent psu.
1 x 1u server case, empty but with psu
2 x supermicro 1u servers (1 is a p4, other untested) may gut them and buy atom boards.
1 x SFF RM Nimbus P4 2.8Ghz pc, 512mb ram, 40gb ide, tape drive, dvdrw, 3xGig nics
1 x Cisco SR2024 24 port gigabit switch
1 x Netgear GS724T v2
1 x sonicwall 3060
and the following cisco gear
1 x 1601 router
1 x 1603 router
2 x 1721 routers
1 x 2621 router
1 x 2503 router
2 x 2516 routers
1 x 2950 switch
1 x 7906 phone
I just bought another pair of 500mbps homeplugs and plugged one into the garage throught a 4 way power plank as i only have 1 socket in there.
Suprisingly i got a full strength signal in there which was a worry but all seems well.
Now, the fun starts with setting it all up.
I want to learn about ubuntu server, firewalls, hosting (testing etc nothing serious) and cisco labs.
I'm looking to setup a ubuntu server machine, a pfsense firewall, a centos hosting machine and then a cisco lab.
I'm currently studying the CompTIA Network + exam and im hoping this will give me some hands on experience which will see me move into cisco networking etc.
I;m looking to hear if anyone has any comments, suggestions or any project ideas that i could follow etc to help with my learning.
Cheers!! (pics will follow during setup)
I'm basically building it with old hardware more for learning with hands on expereince than anything else.
I have been gathering freebies and cheap hardware together in an attempt to get a server room setup in my garage.
I'm basically looking for somewhere where i can test out new things, play around with hardware and teach myself new operating systems.
Inside my house i have a HP Prolient N40L which i use as a file server and its quiet enough to leave on but i know that i can do a lot more with this which i may at a later date (DNS & DHCP etc)
In my garage i have quite a few bits now:
HP Prolient ML350 case (empty)
1 x 2u server case, AMD X2 5200, 2gb ram, PSU and 160gb hard drive (not setup yet)
1 x 1u server case, mini itx (approx 1ghz cpu), 512mb ram and silent psu.
1 x 1u server case, empty but with psu
2 x supermicro 1u servers (1 is a p4, other untested) may gut them and buy atom boards.
1 x SFF RM Nimbus P4 2.8Ghz pc, 512mb ram, 40gb ide, tape drive, dvdrw, 3xGig nics
1 x Cisco SR2024 24 port gigabit switch
1 x Netgear GS724T v2
1 x sonicwall 3060
and the following cisco gear
1 x 1601 router
1 x 1603 router
2 x 1721 routers
1 x 2621 router
1 x 2503 router
2 x 2516 routers
1 x 2950 switch
1 x 7906 phone
I just bought another pair of 500mbps homeplugs and plugged one into the garage throught a 4 way power plank as i only have 1 socket in there.
Suprisingly i got a full strength signal in there which was a worry but all seems well.
Now, the fun starts with setting it all up.
I want to learn about ubuntu server, firewalls, hosting (testing etc nothing serious) and cisco labs.
I'm looking to setup a ubuntu server machine, a pfsense firewall, a centos hosting machine and then a cisco lab.
I'm currently studying the CompTIA Network + exam and im hoping this will give me some hands on experience which will see me move into cisco networking etc.
I;m looking to hear if anyone has any comments, suggestions or any project ideas that i could follow etc to help with my learning.
Cheers!! (pics will follow during setup)