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> With luck, the options for doing so without paying a monthly tithe to dozens of vendors will improve over the next decade! This is why I've started digging d

> With luck, the options for doing so without paying a monthly tithe to dozens of vendors will improve over the next decade! This is why I've started digging deep into setting up a homelab environment, with the goal to be implementing local source control, automation pipelines, AI inference models, and hosting. I feel it's important to keep skills fresh rather than paying others to do. It is important to focus on what you're good at, but it's also important to know what is really going on at the infrastructure layer. BTW. on premise compute for homelab environments is incredibly cheap right now! (Looking at you 'second hand Dell Optiplex' gear)

roland35 3y ago
It's cheap as long as you don't look to closely at your electric bill ;)
- closewith 3y ago
  Depending on where you live, that home lab is also a handy resistance heater.
- calrain 3y ago
  This is where the right model hardware shines. There are low power machines that idle on 8 watts (Dell Optiplex Micro Form Factor), and my whole lab costs around USD$100 a year to run on local power prices. You're right, it's really important to pick components that are low power. With Home Assistant automation, you can even start and stop machines so they only draw power when you need, e.g. for a testing pipeline. I couldn't recommend more the channel "Jim's Garage" on YouTube to help someone get started in this space. Fantastic content!
  - skydhash 3y ago
    Most services, you can run on these small low power devices, especially if you’re the only user. As you said, if you want to build something that requires a more power hungry devices, you power it on and turn it off after. There’s no need to run a local datacenter.
- quickslowdown 3y ago
  I have a rack mount server, 3 "gaming" desktops, a mini dell, a ton of raspberry pis, and a few miscellaneous devices running. My bill is $10 more than my brother who's a nurse and has 2 computers, a Switch, and a TV. I know in theory the electric bill could/should be way higher, but I just haven't found this to be the case.

roland35 3y ago

It's cheap as long as you don't look to closely at your electric bill ;)

closewith 3y ago
Depending on where you live, that home lab is also a handy resistance heater.
calrain 3y ago
This is where the right model hardware shines. There are low power machines that idle on 8 watts (Dell Optiplex Micro Form Factor), and my whole lab costs around USD$100 a year to run on local power prices. You're right, it's really important to pick components that are low power. With Home Assistant automation, you can even start and stop machines so they only draw power when you need, e.g. for a testing pipeline. I couldn't recommend more the channel "Jim's Garage" on YouTube to help someone get started in this space. Fantastic content!
- skydhash 3y ago
  Most services, you can run on these small low power devices, especially if you’re the only user. As you said, if you want to build something that requires a more power hungry devices, you power it on and turn it off after. There’s no need to run a local datacenter.
quickslowdown 3y ago
I have a rack mount server, 3 "gaming" desktops, a mini dell, a ton of raspberry pis, and a few miscellaneous devices running. My bill is $10 more than my brother who's a nurse and has 2 computers, a Switch, and a TV. I know in theory the electric bill could/should be way higher, but I just haven't found this to be the case.