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If you have built computers in the past or live in a household with multiple computers, you may want to build a NAS (Network Attached Storage) to provide storage accessible to all machines on the network. This can be used to run a media server, a game server, or simply a file server.

In this article, we will talk about how you effectively plan an Unraid build so you can avoid some common mistakes during the journey. Some hardware will be recommended for your build, and some good considerations for the server's future to ensure you don't build yourself into a corner. Some great resources for going further with your Unraid server will also be shared to keep you learning.

If you are building a NAS or storage appliance for your homelab or server application, the Dell H200 HBA card can be a great way to get extra storage connectivity out of a single PCI-E lane. This means that from a single machine, you can pack a lot of storage to build some high-throughput machines.

If you are looking to start a homelab a Raspberry Pi computer is a great option as it is low noise, low power and is easily expanded with further modules if you need new storage or other features out of your Raspberry Pi like connecting cameras or displays. As a homelab device, it is a great way to start building out a lab and working on your projects in a cheaper and smaller form factor. Or if you want the challenge you can try and run as much as possible to get the most out of this small device.

I have been running a homelab for some time now, and it has taken a few different iterations during its lifespan. It’s grown from a single server setup to a multi-node HA configuration that guzzled power and hard drives using old enterprise machines. Recently I’ve gone through a move and done some planning to downsize and make my homelab a bit more compact, and it got me thinking a bit about all the things I have learnt from the lab and its different forms. I wanted to write up this post to share some of the lessons I have had running and learning with this homelab to hopefully help you make a better decision about starting a lab or the one you are running right now that needs a pick me up to get building on it again.

While learning about servers or the homelab community, you might have heard mentions and recommendations of the LSI 9211-8i HAB card. The card has had a long history, and some information on it has become unclear. This article will aim to clarify some of those details so you can know what the card does and how you can use it in your setup. We will learn about the typical applications for these cards, which business is currently making these HBA cards, and how that affects some of the information about these cards, finally, how we can flash these cards with firmware to get new features or lock some features of the cards depending on your application.