There isn’t anything that isn’t doable on a sufficiently sized desktop. IMHO a rack is more helpful when you start doing larger cable runs or networking gear th

There isn’t anything that isn’t doable on a sufficiently sized desktop. IMHO a rack is more helpful when you start doing larger cable runs or networking gear that isn’t available as a VM. With a well sized desktop (or pedestal server more likely), you can recreate most homelab setups virtually. You might use less power if you have separate low power devices as opposed to a single (large) server though, so that’s one consideration. Another those is what it is you hope to accomplish. If you want to test gear or hardware that you can’t virtualize, then a rack can be handy. But even things like pulling out hard drives from a running server can be simulated with a VM in some way. But it’s easier to brag about having a rack than a really elaborate VM configuration. Otherwise, as I missing something?