Since I don't have the money to buy a server or two, nor do I have the space in my apartment when I go back to school, the only way I can practice network administration and security is by virtualization. The great thing about virtualization is IT'S FREE!. What better way to learn than by not spending any money at all and using your own computer's resources. I'm using Oracle VirtualBox and setting up Pfsense for a virtual router/firewall and Windows Server 2016. I might add a virtual OS like Ubuntu or Windows 10 if I need to. But for now, having a virtual server and router should get me started.
Luckily, my school is partnered with Microsoft Dreamspark and offers our computer science department a big list of Microsoft software. So for now, I downloaded Microsoft Server 2016, HyperV even though I probably won't use it, and SQL server in case I ever want to get into database management. I opted for Windows 2016 instead of Ubuntu server mainly for the GUI. If I'm going to practice, I'd like to have a GUI and visually see how things work before I dive into just using a terminal.
VirtualBox Settings
The downfall to virtualizing these two is that I'm limited by my computer's hardware since I have to share the resources. I have a gaming rig so the processor isn't exactly built to run a server, but luckily I have 16gb of RAM so both servers should be fine. Both have two CPUs and 4gb of RAM along with plenty of hard drive space. If I had the money, I'd have a dedicated system running HyperV, then running these two operating systems more efficiently. I took a basic Networking and Server Administration course last year where we worked with virtualizing servers, but we were using actual workstation systems with Xeon processors and plenty of RAM so we weren't limited at all.
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Both Pfsense and Server 2016 are running without any issues with the host OS
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At idle, I can see that with both machines running, it isn't stressing my system at all. We'll see how long this lasts once I start getting programs setup and have delegated tasks for them.
Plans For Both
Here's my dilemma. I actually don't have a plan for what I want to accomplish. My main goal was getting them to work first. I am on r/homelab daily and am jealous of people having huge racks setup in their home. I've been following this guide to get my homelab setup. So I guess once I have everything working and talking to each other without affecting the real network, I'll have some ideas of projects to start working on.
I'm taking another more advanced networking course in the Fall, so maybe I can practice what I've learned in that class on my personal homelab.
You Don't Know Unless You Try
Even without a goal in mind, I'm still enjoying every moment of this. I'd like to be experienced in all types of software and understand how things work rather than just saying "It's not for me." You never know if you like something until you try it.
Its fun and a good learning experience to work with new technology!
Keep an eye out for a tag we'll be promoting soon - #teamcharlotte
Maybe we can band with other locals and work together.
Yeah definitely! No one I know from school has heard about this site and I don't know anyone that wants to get their own homelab set up. It'd be great to have like-minded people collaborate.
A majority of the time you can't wait for someone to hand you the tools to do what you want. Sometimes you just have to use what is around you and go for it.
Most of the time it is alright not to have a plan but just to get started. Too many people have gotten stuck because they took so much time in developing the plan, that they are scared of failing, so they don't execute.