<h2 id=hardware>Hardware</h2><p>I was looking start my homelab with a mini pc and I finally found a good deal on the second hand market:</p><p>HP EliteDesk 705 G4 with AMD Ryzen 5 2400GE, <strong>16GB</strong> RAM DDR4 2666 Mhz (sodimm/laptop), with 90W power supply for only <strong>450 lei (~90€ / ~95$)</strong>.</p><p>It offers a very good price to performance ratio because the CPU has <strong>4 cores 8 threads at 3.8 GHz</strong>. The CPU performance is the most important thing for me.<br>I got one for testing, and then I get 2 more:</p><p><a href=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/minipcs-horizontal.b398660b22bde58bceace0fd595c4de2.jpg class=fancybox><picture><source srcset=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/minipcs-horizontal_hu2609188977948449556.webp type=image/webp><img class=img-fluid src=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/minipcs-horizontal.b398660b22bde58bceace0fd595c4de2.jpg alt=minipcs loading=lazy height=930 width=3961></picture></a></p><p>Then I found another deal for TeamGroup 512 GB NVMe M.2 SSD for only <strong>120 lei (~24€ / ~25$)</strong> (new/sealed).</p><p><a href=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/ssds.1fe86705afcbc2c58ecb6ae4aa1c75fe.jpeg class=fancybox><picture><source srcset=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/ssds_hu7805926632893103691.webp type=image/webp><img class=img-fluid src=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/ssds.1fe86705afcbc2c58ecb6ae4aa1c75fe.jpeg alt="ssd image" loading=lazy height=933 width=1874></picture></a></p><p><strong>Perfect !</strong></p><h2 id=software>Software</h2><p>I started researching for a good and free VM hypervisor, easy enough to configure and use.<br>I tried out
<a href=https://www.proxmox.com/ target=_blank rel=noopener>Proxmox</a>
but then I found
<a href=https://xcp-ng.org/ target=_blank rel=noopener>XCP-NG</a>
with
<a href=https://xen-orchestra.com/ target=_blank rel=noopener>XEN Orchestra</a>
on
<a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjGQNuuUzvmsrt8VrocFvN2DaZlwk8sgz&si=p8WJCt4I9TRDOrgO" target=_blank rel=noopener>Lawrence Systems’s youtube channel</a>
and the search was over. It has multiple features that convinced me it is the best choice for me:</p><ul><li>Free and open source</li><li>User interface easy and somewhat similar to VPS providers’s interfaces</li><li>Ability to replicate and migrate VMs on different hosts</li><li>Snapshots</li></ul><h2 id=3d-printing-the-case>3D Printing the case</h2><p>After a while I found a good deal on a 3D Printer and I started learning how to 3D print, mess around with settings, then I learned how to model basic small and simple parts.</p><p>I started searching around on
<a href=https://www.yeggi.com/ target=_blank rel=noopener>yeggi.com</a>
(search engine for 3D models) for compatible cases for this MiniPC and I found the best one:</p><p><a href=https://www.printables.com/model/827617-hp-mini-staggered-rack-mount target=_blank rel=noopener>“HP Mini Staggered Rack Mount” by @dsluo_362876</a></p><p><a href=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/minipc-case-model.69a466ada23ca1f6a9bb70391120309a.jpg class=fancybox><picture><source srcset=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/minipc-case-model_hu17320638519990072788.webp type=image/webp><img class=img-fluid src=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/minipc-case-model.69a466ada23ca1f6a9bb70391120309a.jpg alt="minipc case model image" loading=lazy height=1357 width=2432></picture></a></p><p>The idea is great: incorporate the MiniPC and it’s power supply in the same case. The execution is great ! The model is very good quality.</p><p>One problem: My 3D printer BambuLab A1 Mini has a small bed size at 180x180x180 mm and I have to rotate the model at 45 degrees, and cut the very thick top part of the case.</p><p><a href=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/model-too-big.f7d9a2a5a92c9651436d1911a94a0700.png class=fancybox><picture><source srcset=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/model-too-big_hu5611133157586873853.webp type=image/webp><img class=img-fluid src=/posts/minipc-rack-part-1/model-too-big.f7d9a2a5a92c9651436d1911a94a0700.png alt="model too big" loading=lazy height=721 width=1220></picture></a></p><p><strong>Problem solved</strong> ! It fits perfectly in the bed ! It’s print time !</p><p>I stopped the print after 2-3 cm just to make some fitment checks make sure I dont print the whole thing for nothing it it does not fit.<br>This is a very <strong>good practice</strong> and I recommend you do the same !<br>Good thing I did this because I found out that <strong>the power supply I have is bigger in every dimension</strong> than the one the author had. He wrote the power supply dimensions in the model description but I did not read it.</p><p>I’m stuck! I need to modify the model to fit my power supply but I don’t know how to do it and I don’t have the source files, I only have the STL mesh file.</p><p><strong>To be continued…</strong> check part 2</p><hr width=100% id=EOF><p style=color:#777>Last modified on 2024-11-19</p>