This is a meandering post without an immediate happy outcome.

I am working on a five node ProxMox 8.1 cluster with three nodes as a Ceph cluster to host my media collection. I’m learning a bunch about Ceph and Proxmox which I’ll post about later. The media collection I am importing into Ceph is a little over 16Tb from ripping my VHS, DVD, BluRay collections of movies and tv shows. Movies end up being less than a third of that content.

My new to me Thinkpad T480 is doing great. The better processor and the upgraded Nvidia MX150 GPU are both getting a workout with several of the new LLM models. I maxed out the RAM, Wifi, Hard Drive, and swapped around adding all the best components/features to one laptop consolidated from several different junkers I purchased. Those components include IR Camera, WWAN, backlit keyboard, good batteries, and a nice case.

I’ve been using an older Lenovo Thinkpad T460p laptop that I bought brand new May 2017 for $2210 USD with a pretty impressive discount for the time. The Thinkpad T460p released April 2016 over a year earlier from when I bought it. I over bought on the CPU/processor and bought extra power adapters and batteries upfront. It has been a great laptop but starting to show its age and I’ve been looking for a new laptop with a little more pep. Older USB is starting to be limiting and I’d like to go beyond 32Gb RAM.

This is a project I’ve been thinking about for a long time… how to get 10gbpe+ networking in a homelab without breaking the bank.

First option is just getting some DAC Cables and dual port 10Gbpe NICs then build a point-to-point ring network. That is relatively cheap and would set me up for future switched networks. DACs could be swapped out for GBics that use copper (thermal issues) or fiber (delicate).

Next is a relatively cheap at a couple hundred dollars switch with likely a low number of SFP+ ports. This is ~$200-$500 with anywhere from 2 to 16 ports at 10Gbps. Often switches with 10Gbps advertised only have one or two ports at that speed so shop carefully. You still have the cost of the NICs and cabling but only need one port on the NIC.

Lastly, you could go all in with an enterprise switch like the HP ProCurve 5406zl which is a module hosting monster of a switch. These are massively upgradable but come with a lot of complexity to set up and manage. They are also incredibly loud (intended for server rooms) and suck a ton of power which generates lots of heat (thermal load). These are getting cheaper but are heavy to ship and still usually several hundred dollars with modules that can cost thousands. Don’t expect a warranty on these as they are being pushed out of enterprise usage as end of life.