4 ms·

This is because like many things this is a rich man's hobby. See mechanical keyboards for example.

CharlesW 3y ago
There's always the $70 IKEA Lack Rack: https://www.instructables.com/The-$70-IKEA-Mini-Server-Rack/ https://www.instructables.com/The-$70-IKEA-Mini-Server-Rack/
- noobermin 3y ago
  Most of the things on r/homelab and elsewhere are not wooden racks. Most are expensive server racks retrofitted to be vanity projects to serve videos to at most 2 people in a home. It's fine, it's just that people should be honest about what these are.
  - Fnoord 3y ago
    Interesting you mention 2 people. I got kids. So I got a lot of toys in the living room. The small office I got, does contain a printer, a PC, a space for my laptop plus dock, a server, a switch, and a small cluster. But what I don't have is more space. I don't have space for a rack. Furthermore I've been replacing industrial grade fans (in switches, desktop, the cluster and the like) which make a lot of noise (and cool very well) with Noctua which are expensive and have less CFM but are silent enough.
BadHumans 3y ago
You can get into custom mechanical keyboards for under 50 dollars. I don't think you understand what you are talking about.
- bowsamic 3y ago
  Don’t be disingenuous he’s obviously not referring to that part of the mechanical keyboard community
  - BadHumans 3y ago
    I'm not being disingenuous. Calling it a "rich man's hobby" might dissuade people from partaking which I wouldn't want to happen. Yes, there is a high-end to mechanical keyboards where it can get really expensive but is cooking also a rich person's hobby because there are $1000 knives? If you don't want to play in that side of the pool you don't have to. You can get a lot of mileage out of $50-$100 in mechanical keyboards.
tombert 3y ago
I don't know if I'd call myself a "hobbyist" for keyboards, but my mechanical keyboard that I am typing this on, and that I bought in 2021, cost me $35 after tax. Obviously not the cheapest keyboard in the world, but also within the reach of nearly any employed person in a rich country like the US or UK. I posted this in a sibling comment, but it doesn't really have to be expensive regardless. I got started with the homelab stuff with a partially broken laptop. Considering that that laptop was about to go into the trash, I consider that (sort of) free to get started, but even if you don't have an old laptop lying around you can purchase a used "Craigslist Special" for basically nothing, generally less than $200, and often much much much less because you probably have a friend or coworker that has an old laptop lying around that they'd be happy if you took off their hands. Old laptops are kind of in this frustrating category of being "too good to throw away, but not good enough to use", so people will often hoard them inadvertently. Additionally, they're extremely ubiquitous; most households in the US have at least one laptop, and often at least one per person. Even rack mount servers (used) cost very little, at least upfront. My server with 128gb of RAM and 24 cores was $150, but of course the power draw is where most of the cost for that comes from, so for those you could argue that they're a rich man's hobby. ETA: For those interested, the listing I ordered from a few years ago on Amazon appears to have mutated into a different item, but this one appears to be an identical product. I think for the price it's actually a really decent keyboard. I'm able to get about 120WPM on MonkeyType with it, for what it's worth. https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Ultra-Slim-Anti-Ghosting-Spill-Resistant/dp/B09TR4Y91J/ref=sr_1_3?crid=GLHNQ2OGQ3HT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NBvUgSItTRhzpnsT5ZuTKJmcCdpgRQBzd3x1FQZmJLzgtpysHmy3LMehxsn6_DQbhKFf2F41ttJtMIp0m_NUxCx0uYTe6To7_hQzRkuHoigGYqDBkT4y-dxvNWGpb5_60PSfzhYI0rdA-ouqKF9ad-pnyszm5s2jLzhlIMbDX5gN2XUzynMnQFpb-PufD5yZKjcAajW91Fbxhba_SBr7LZzwvDgThwV7ZXMjdE9CqmZbbwNIWmVDbLV3EuO67Jpnh0HJEEauc8_YOyzm87P20zyBiQcMD5qPTXEBEKZPYQA.Fvaefsflcdhg39Q3drQXd_vjJ8oT5o_xI5dvzjqNz5w&dib_tag=se&keywords=mechanical+keyboard+blue&qid=1709924078&s=electronics&sprefix=mechanical+keyboard+blue%2Celectronics%2C68&sr=1-3 https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Ultra-Slim-Anti-G...
slyall 3y ago
Whereas a "poor mans hobby" is a a 1970s muscle car and a home workshop... Sure you can spend thousands on racks of servers and UPS/generators but you can also spend less than $500. Personally I rent a unit in a quadplex and have: Old 42" rack - $50 from old employer 10 year old HP Microserver G7 for storage - $250 new repurposed old desktop virtual machines - Free Cheap dumb switch - $50

There's always the $70 IKEA Lack Rack: https://www.instructables.com/The-$70-IKEA-Mini-Server-Rack/ https://www.instructables.com/The-$70-IKEA-Mini-Server-Rack/

noobermin 3y ago
Most of the things on r/homelab and elsewhere are not wooden racks. Most are expensive server racks retrofitted to be vanity projects to serve videos to at most 2 people in a home. It's fine, it's just that people should be honest about what these are.
- Fnoord 3y ago
  Interesting you mention 2 people. I got kids. So I got a lot of toys in the living room. The small office I got, does contain a printer, a PC, a space for my laptop plus dock, a server, a switch, and a small cluster. But what I don't have is more space. I don't have space for a rack. Furthermore I've been replacing industrial grade fans (in switches, desktop, the cluster and the like) which make a lot of noise (and cool very well) with Noctua which are expensive and have less CFM but are silent enough.

BadHumans 3y ago

You can get into custom mechanical keyboards for under 50 dollars. I don't think you understand what you are talking about.

bowsamic 3y ago
Don’t be disingenuous he’s obviously not referring to that part of the mechanical keyboard community
- BadHumans 3y ago
  I'm not being disingenuous. Calling it a "rich man's hobby" might dissuade people from partaking which I wouldn't want to happen. Yes, there is a high-end to mechanical keyboards where it can get really expensive but is cooking also a rich person's hobby because there are $1000 knives? If you don't want to play in that side of the pool you don't have to. You can get a lot of mileage out of $50-$100 in mechanical keyboards.

tombert 3y ago

I don't know if I'd call myself a "hobbyist" for keyboards, but my mechanical keyboard that I am typing this on, and that I bought in 2021, cost me $35 after tax. Obviously not the cheapest keyboard in the world, but also within the reach of nearly any employed person in a rich country like the US or UK. I posted this in a sibling comment, but it doesn't really have to be expensive regardless. I got started with the homelab stuff with a partially broken laptop. Considering that that laptop was about to go into the trash, I consider that (sort of) free to get started, but even if you don't have an old laptop lying around you can purchase a used "Craigslist Special" for basically nothing, generally less than $200, and often much much much less because you probably have a friend or coworker that has an old laptop lying around that they'd be happy if you took off their hands. Old laptops are kind of in this frustrating category of being "too good to throw away, but not good enough to use", so people will often hoard them inadvertently. Additionally, they're extremely ubiquitous; most households in the US have at least one laptop, and often at least one per person. Even rack mount servers (used) cost very little, at least upfront. My server with 128gb of RAM and 24 cores was $150, but of course the power draw is where most of the cost for that comes from, so for those you could argue that they're a rich man's hobby. ETA: For those interested, the listing I ordered from a few years ago on Amazon appears to have mutated into a different item, but this one appears to be an identical product. I think for the price it's actually a really decent keyboard. I'm able to get about 120WPM on MonkeyType with it, for what it's worth. https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Ultra-Slim-Anti-Ghosting-Spill-Resistant/dp/B09TR4Y91J/ref=sr_1_3?crid=GLHNQ2OGQ3HT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NBvUgSItTRhzpnsT5ZuTKJmcCdpgRQBzd3x1FQZmJLzgtpysHmy3LMehxsn6_DQbhKFf2F41ttJtMIp0m_NUxCx0uYTe6To7_hQzRkuHoigGYqDBkT4y-dxvNWGpb5_60PSfzhYI0rdA-ouqKF9ad-pnyszm5s2jLzhlIMbDX5gN2XUzynMnQFpb-PufD5yZKjcAajW91Fbxhba_SBr7LZzwvDgThwV7ZXMjdE9CqmZbbwNIWmVDbLV3EuO67Jpnh0HJEEauc8_YOyzm87P20zyBiQcMD5qPTXEBEKZPYQA.Fvaefsflcdhg39Q3drQXd_vjJ8oT5o_xI5dvzjqNz5w&dib_tag=se&keywords=mechanical+keyboard+blue&qid=1709924078&s=electronics&sprefix=mechanical+keyboard+blue%2Celectronics%2C68&sr=1-3 https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Ultra-Slim-Anti-G...

slyall 3y ago

Whereas a "poor mans hobby" is a a 1970s muscle car and a home workshop... Sure you can spend thousands on racks of servers and UPS/generators but you can also spend less than $500. Personally I rent a unit in a quadplex and have: Old 42" rack - $50 from old employer 10 year old HP Microserver G7 for storage - $250 new repurposed old desktop virtual machines - Free Cheap dumb switch - $50