Rack-Based Enterprise-Style Lab

Enterprise Lab Environment

I built this enterprise-style lab to gain practical experience with the technologies used in modern IT environments. It serves as a platform for testing, learning, documenting, and troubleshooting infrastructure while strengthening my skills in systems administration, virtualization, storage, networking, and Microsoft 365.

Purpose

My lab is designed to mirror many of the technologies found in production environments. Rather than simply running services, I use it to practice deploying, maintaining, troubleshooting, documenting, and improving infrastructure. This hands-on experience complements my professional IT role and allows me to continuously develop my systems administration skills.

Rack Layout

5-Bay Storage Enclosure2 × 2TB HDD + 1 × 1TB HDD
Wi-Fi RouterNetwork access
Power StripRack power distribution
24-Port Ethernet SwitchCore lab switching
24-Port Patch PanelStructured cabling
Dell PowerEdge R210Proxmox VE host
Dell PowerEdge R210TrueNAS storage server
HP ProDesk 600 G3Proxmox VE host
Mac MiniWorkstation / lab system

Infrastructure Diagram

Internet / Router
24-Port Switch + Patch Panel
Dell R210
Proxmox VE
Dell R210
TrueNAS
HP ProDesk 600 G3
Proxmox VE
Raspberry Pi
Twingate Connector
Kali Linux
MurphysNAS File Share
Immich
Plex
Jellyfin
Pi-hole
Ubuntu Server
Twingate Connectors
Gitea / Documentation

Dell PowerEdge R210 — Proxmox VE

CPUIntel Xeon X3430
Memory32GB RAM + swap
Storage2 × 1TB HDD
RoleProxmox VE cluster member

Services: Twingate Connector, Kali Linux.

Dell PowerEdge R210 — TrueNAS

CPUIntel Xeon X3430
Memory16GB RAM + swap
StorageBoot drive, internal HDD, external storage enclosure
RoleNetwork storage and media/photo services

Services: MurphysNAS file share, Immich.

HP ProDesk 600 G3 — Proxmox VE

CPUIntel Core i7-6700T
Memory32GB RAM
Storage500GB SSD
RoleProxmox VE cluster member

Services: Plex, Jellyfin, Pi-hole, Twingate Connector, Ubuntu Server.

Raspberry Pi

OSRaspberry Pi OS Linux
Storage120GB SD card
Memory1GB RAM
RoleLightweight network service host

Services: Twingate Connector.

Skills Demonstrated Through This Environment

  • Windows Administration
  • Linux Server Administration
  • Proxmox Virtualization
  • TrueNAS Storage Management
  • Docker & Self-Hosted Services
  • Microsoft 365 Administration
  • Secure Remote Access (Twingate)
  • DNS & DHCP Services
  • SMB File Sharing
  • Infrastructure Documentation
  • Network Troubleshooting
  • Hardware Deployment & Maintenance