Intro#
In the last semester of college, we had to run multiple Windows Server and Windows machines for our Microsoft class. I didn’t have a powerful enough laptop to run several VMs, so I decided to buy a refurbished desktop from eBay. I installed VMware on it, created a few VMs, and made them accessible for school work.
I call it my “very useless” homelab because it had a lot of problems,but that was the start of a new revolution: my current homelab, which will be available here soon!
Even though this first setup was messy, it taught me a lot. I ran into issues like double NAT, two separate Wi-Fi networks, and a rack that was louder than I expected. Those mistakes were exactly what pushed me to redesign everything into a cleaner and more future-proof homelab.
Network Topology#
This topology was created at the time, and now that I’m looking back at it, I can see a few problems. The good thing is that the links between the devices are colour-coded to match the real cable colours in my rack.
Problems#
- It doesn’t show which ports are connected between devices (for example, which switch port goes to which router/interface).
- The VLANs could be labeled more clearly (Guest / MLAN / Management), including VLAN IDs and subnets.
- It’s not very easy to follow at first glance, so it takes time to understand what’s going on.
Hardware#
Like most people who start a homelab, I didn’t buy everything brand new. I started by hunting for cheap second-hand gear from eBay and Facebook Marketplace, and sometimes even free equipment that people were giving away. After a while, I collected enough hardware to build my first rack.
Cisco Networking#
I went with Cisco because I had just passed my CCNA and wanted to keep practicing networking with real equipment at home.
- Cisco Router 1921
- 2 × Cisco Catalyst 3560 (24-port switches)
- Cisco Business 140AC Access Point
Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM)#
I originally bought the Raspberry Pi to set up a VPN. At the time, I didn’t realize there were so many other ways to do it. I also added a PoE HAT to eliminate one extra power cable, and I used a rack-mount bracket to mount the Raspberry Pi inside my rack.
Refurbished PC: Lenovo ThinkCentre M800#
This was a cheap way to get more resources so I could run multiple VMs smoothly.
- Intel Core i7-6700 @ 3.4GHz, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD
This was my first time setting up a rack, and I wanted everything to look clean and organized. I bought a 12U rack and a PDU (power distribution unit) so I could power everything properly and avoid damaging my gear because of bad power.
Problems#
- The old networking gear was really noisy for a room (and I didn’t have another place to put the rack).
- I left too much empty space between devices, and honestly… I don’t know why I did that.
You’ll see how I improved this setup later in my “goated” homelab.
Network#
Subnets#
| Subnet Name | Router Interface | Gateway IP | Subnet / Mask | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guest | G0/0.11 | 192.168.0.1 | /26 | Guest devices (internet-only) |
| MLAN | G0/0.22 | 172.16.0.1 | /27 | Personal devices |
| Management | G0/0.33 | 172.16.0.33 | /28 | Network devices + servers |
I decided to add a Cisco 1921 router to my home network and create my own isolated homelab network called MLAN. My family devices stayed connected to the ISP modem/router, and my lab devices stayed on the Cisco network. It worked, but the design wasn’t great, and I ended up dealing with double NAT just to reach the internet.
Another mistake I made was using two different Wi-Fi networks: one from the ISP modem and one from my Cisco access point. If I wanted to access my lab environment, I had to manually switch my Wi-Fi from the ISP network to the Cisco AP. Looking back, I don’t really understand why I did it this way, because there was no easy communication between the two networks.
At the time, I also thought using “cool” device numbers and subnets was fun, but later I realized that clarity and simplicity matter more than making the IP plan look fancy.
Problems#
- Double NAT made internet access and troubleshooting more difficult.
- Two separate Wi-Fi networks meant I had to keep switching between them.
- The design wasn’t very simple or easy to manage.
VPN and WoL#
I used my Raspberry Pi to run WireGuard VPN for remote access, and I configured Wake-on-LAN to wake up my server when needed.
Overall#
As I started getting frustrated with these problems, and since I was about to begin my IT career, I decided to turn my desktop into a Proxmox server. After doing some research, I realized I could get better performance and use my hardware more efficiently by running VMs and containers (CTs) on a bare-metal hypervisor instead of using VMware on top of Windows.
That decision became the beginning of my next homelab setup, where I started fixing the issues from this first build and improving everything step by step. I also wanted something more future-proof, so I could deploy whatever I wanted whether it was for learning, practice, or even small production-style services.
In the next homelab build, I’ll cover things like:
- Migrating from VMware to Proxmox (VMs + containers)
- Cleaning up the network design and reducing complexity
- Making remote access easier and more reliable
- Backups, disaster recovery (DR), and high availability (HA)
- Better organization, documentation, and automation
Stay tuned for my next homelab article, where I’ll share how this “terrible” first setup turned into a more future-proof, good-looking, and reliable homelab, with backups, DR, HA, better remote access, and automation that makes homelabbing easier (and way more fun).