What is a homelab?

A homelab is a collection of locally connected systems that serve a purpose. The purpose may be learning, entertainment, or even just managing family photos. No matter what you are trying to accomplish, having a homelab will teach you how to build and manage computer systems and give you a space to study and grow throughout your career.

How much will it cost?

A homelab will cost anywhere between free and a fortune. In this article we will discuss building a homelab as cheaply as possible using our old hardware or the cheapest hardware we can find.

There are 2 main steps to creating your first homelab. We will explain the how and why for each step in order to give you a full picture.

Step 1: Finding a computer

You need a computer; the more powerful the better. An old laptop may work, or an unused PC that’s lying around the house. If you have no spare computers, there are other ways to obtain one. Look around postings on Facebook Marketplace or contact a local PC recycler to see if they are willing to give you one.

Whether you are buying, building, or scavenging for a computer, it will need to meet some system requirements before we begin. We first need to make sure we can physically connect our computer to the network, and finally we need to make sure the hardware actually supports virtualization.

Connecting to the network

Find your router or switch, which should be located somewhere near the device your internet service provider gave you when you signed up for internet access. This device should have multiple ports and allows us to connect directly to our network.

It is highly recommended that your device be able to connect to the network via an ethernet cable. Most hypervisors will assume you are using a cabled connection, and some won’t even work over WiFi. We will also avoid any unnecessary headaches from trying to use WiFi over a wired connection. For the purposes of this guide, we will continue with a wired connection for our homelab.

If you are using a computer with no RJ-45 connector, you can also obtain a usb-to-ethernet adapter, which are usually very cheap. This is the device you are looking for, or something similar. This is an affiliate link, though any of the devices like it will work just fine.

Step 2: Let’s virtualize

What is virtualization?

Virtualization allows us to simulate hardware, which grants us the ability to use a single computer to simulate many. Each simulated computer, called a “VM”(virtual machine), acts as it’s own computer, with USB ports and hard drives. The hypervisor (the computer we simulate on) will allow each VM to use it’s own hardware. For example, to use a USB port on a VM, we give it permission to use a USB port on the hypervisor.

Why virtualize?

Virtualization is the best cost/resource value out there for homelabs, period. It costs nothing (at least for our purposes) and can be run on most hardware we can find. It can multiply one computer into many, and will allow us learn various operating systems at once without having to constantly change our homelab setup. You can create and destroy computer systems quickly, which allows you to tinker as much as you like without potentially breaking your only resource for a lab.

Can we virtualize?

We must also make sure our hardware can run virtualization software. To do this, we must look at our BIOS settings by pressing the correct key at boot-up. Each BIOS has a specific key press that shows up when you first boot the system; the most common keys to get there are F10, F2, F12, F1, or DEL. So if the BIOS is too fast to see, keep hitting those buttons after turning on your device and you’ll get there.

Once in the BIOS we can search for the virtualization option. This may take some time, but don’t give up! Search for VT-x (Intel) or AMD-V (AMD) support somewhere in the options. This setting is usually called “virtualization technology” within the BIOS. If you cannot find it, it’s likely your computer will not support virtualization technology.

Choosing a hypervisor

Now that we have a computer that supports virtualization, it’s time to install and configure a hypervisor. A hypervisor is a special kind of software used to virtualize machines. In this guide, we will use a type 1 hypervisor, or bare metal, which means the hypervisor is installed directly onto a computer. Let’s look at our options:

• Proxmox: An open-source hypervisor which integrates both KVM (traditional virtual machines) and LXC (Linux containers). Proxmox is a beginner friendly debian based virtual machine manager.
• ESXi: A closed-source, enterprise grade hypervisor. This is the hypervisor you may want to use if your goal is to to become a virtualization systems administrator.
• Hyper-V: A built-in hypervisor for Windows that you can use on your primary PC, or as a standalone installation. This requires Windows Pro or better to use, which will cost roughly $200 by itself. Most consumer machines will have Windows Home and won’t have access to this feature, so be sure to check your version before going the native route.

For our purposes, the most simple and effective option will be Proxmox. It has a large feature set out of the box, is easy to manage, and costs nothing.

In our next section, we will guide you through installing a hypervisor, as well as starting up a VM for the first time.