TLDR Lesson learned - Just ask! Get more definitive information before telling yourself, "I can’t."

Before I get to the results from ChatGPT, let me give you a little background. I’ve been studying to take my CompTIA Network+ exam, and one thought has been constantly on my mind. "I want to build a homelab." Getting literal hands-on experience is how I learn best. But of course, along with that thought came all the excuses that stopped me from turning thought into action. "I don’t know what devices to start with, it's too intimidating," "It will be too expensive," "I don’t have enough space," etc.

Last week, I finally asked a family friend about it. Let’s call him Bob. Bob has been in IT for decades, and I knew he knew his stuff. I told Bod that I’m on a budget and want to build a lab I could potentially scale if I so choose. My goal is to get literal hands-on experience with configuring networks. The result of this conversation was this.

Yeah, it’s a little hard to read, but it’s still a good starting place. I’ll add a (hopefully) more legible version below. Key suggestions from our conversation were:

Get a good CPU

- an example would be Intel core 7 or 9 at a minimum

RAM

-16 or 32g at a minimum

Drives + Storage

-3 data drives

-1 parity drive (NAS - network attached storage; RAID)

Processors - choice is subjective

-ARM (Apple)

-AMD

-Intel

KVM

A router and wireless access point (my preference is to have hardware doing separate roles)

It’s been a week since that conversation, and I decided to round out this information a bit more by asking ChatGPT for some help. I used the information listed above, which does leave out other expenses not yet accounted for, such as cables, connectors, etc. Even though I got the what and the why in the responses, I realized there were more specifications I could have added to my prompts. This happened after looking up some of the suggested items. I realized I missed asking ChatGTP to give me results with no news of major hacking and with high reviews by 1 thousand people or more. I’ve added my prompts and a table of the responses below. With everything I mined from ChatGPT, I know I have more research and planning to do. I will, however, be ready to make use of upcoming holiday deals ;)

Prompts

Prompt 1

"ok, so say I want to set up my very first homelab (on a budget!). My goal is to get experience working with different network devices and tools. From what I understand, I'm thinking a WAP, router, managed switch (not sure how many ports), KVM (also not sure how many ports), an OBM tool, and a server (not sure the best specs) just to start with. It was suggested I get a intel cpu 7 or 9 at a minimum, and 16 to 32 gigs of ram. I might want to add a NAS to practice setting up RAID, and have a set that I can expand in the future by a server or two. Does that all even make sense? Help me chatGPT! ^^;"

Prompt 2

"Thanks! What would physical and logical topology look like for all of the devices above?"

Prompt 3

"What is the budget range for all of this?”

Prompt 4

"Could you add a rack to that too?”

Prompt 5

"Where can I find good deals on used equipment both online and in person that isn't a scam”

Prompt 6

“How much physical space should I have for this setup?”

Response

Devices

Topology

Space Requirements

Expenses

Purchasing