Core Lab Hardware Shop

Welcome to the Core Lab Hardware Shop. Unlike generic tech review sites, this is not an aggregated list of manufacturer press releases or sponsor-gifted products. Every single piece of hardware in this vault is either actively running 24/7 in my production rack or has been rigorously stress-tested on bare metal across my multi-stack homelab.

This is the actual mini-pc I have, the GMKtec Mini PC, M7!

Capabilities:

• Virtualization: With 32GB DDR5, this is a perfect Proxmox or LXC/Container host (8 cores / 16 threads) as well.
• Expansion: It features Ocu-link, meaning you can attach an external GPU later if you want to turn this into a dedicated AI node or gaming rig. Basically it's got limitless flexibility.

GMKtec M7 Mini PC (AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H Dual 2.5GbE USB4)

• Homelab Role: High-Density Proxmox VE Compute Node and Virtualization Host
• Silicon and Media Engine: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (8C/16T Rembrandt Zen 3+ up to 4.7GHz, 45W TDP) with integrated AMD Radeon 680M (RDNA2 12 CUs). Hardware decode for AV1, HEVC/H.265 (10-bit), and VP9.
• High-Speed I/O and Networking: Dual 2.5GbE RJ45 LAN (Realtek RTL8125BG), dual 40Gbps USB4 ports (supports external PCIe eGPU and 8K displays), HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, pre-installed 32GB DDR5 dual-channel SO-DIMM and 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Enterprise-grade AMD PRO security features with AMD Memory Guard transparent encryption. Exceptional cluster workhorse that balances 8 Zen 3+ high-performance cores with dual 2.5GbE interfaces for dedicated storage and VM migration networks.

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GMKtec M6 Ultra Mini PC (AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS Dual 2.5GbE)

• Homelab Role: Dedicated Virtualization and Container Node
• Silicon and Media Engine: AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS (Zen 4, 6C/12T up to 5.0GHz, 35W to 54W configurable TDP) with AMD Radeon 760M (RDNA3 8 CUs). Native AV1 hardware decoding and hardware-accelerated HEVC/H.265 transcoding.
• High-Speed I/O and Networking: Dual 2.5GbE RJ45 ethernet ports, full-speed USB4 (40Gbps with PCIe tunneling and external GPU support), dual PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 NVMe slots, dual DDR5 5600MHz SO-DIMM channels.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: A top-tier micro-server for multi-node Proxmox VE clustering. The dual 2.5GbE NICs allow strict network isolation between management/corosync clustering traffic and VM bridge traffic without needing a USB adapter.

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Synology DiskStation DS1819+ (8-Bay NAS)

• Homelab Role: Turnkey 8-Bay Storage Appliance and Backup Target
• Silicon and Architecture: Intel Atom C3538 Quad-Core (2.1GHz, 64-bit Denverton architecture, 15W TDP) with hardware AES-NI encryption engine. Expandable dual SO-DIMM DDR4 ECC unbuffered memory up to 32GB.
• Storage Fabric and Expandability: 8 hot-swappable 3.5-inch / 2.5-inch SATA drive bays (expandable to 18 drives via dual DX517 expansion units). Features a PCIe 3.0 x8 slot for optional 10GbE SFP+/RJ45 NICs or dual M.2 NVMe SSD cache adapters.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The battle-tested 8-bay chassis operated in Core Lab as the primary secondary backup monolith. Ideal for homelabbers who require DSM's zero-maintenance Btrfs snapshots, Synology Drive, and Hyper Backup target replication without DIY operating system overhead.

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AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8C/16T AM4 Server Workhorse)

• Homelab Role: 24/7 Production Server Bare-Metal Workhorse
• Silicon and Architecture: AMD Zen 2 architecture on TSMC 7nm (8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3.6GHz base to 4.4GHz boost, 32MB L3 cache) with an ultra-efficient 65W TDP profile.
• Memory and PCIe Fabric: 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes for dedicated bifurcation (e.g. running an RTX 3060 at x8 and an LSI HBA or 10GbE NIC at x8). Full native unbuffered ECC DDR4 memory support across compatible AM4 motherboards (such as MSI X570).
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The exact bare-metal silicon driving the Core Lab primary server monolith (codex). Running dozens of Docker stacks and ZFS pools continuously with sustained idle power draw below 45W, it remains the gold standard for high-density, low-TDP AM4 production servers.

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AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (Zen 5 3D V-Cache)

• Homelab Role: Personal High-Performance Workstation and Hybrid Lab Host
• Silicon and Architecture: AMD Zen 5 architecture (8 Cores, 16 Threads, 4.7GHz base to 5.2GHz boost) featuring 2nd-generation 3D V-Cache technology with 96MB of L3 cache mounted underneath the CCD for dramatically superior thermal dissipation.
• Platform and PCIe Topology: Native PCIe 5.0 lanes on AM5 platform supporting Gen5 NVMe storage and cutting-edge GPUs. Integrated RDNA2 display engine with AV1 hardware decode support for headless troubleshooting without a discrete GPU.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Powers the primary author workstation at Core Lab. While primarily famed for world-class single-threaded latency and simulation performance, the massive L3 cache accelerates local code compilation, Docker builds, and synthetic dataset processing.

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AMD Ryzen 5 5600 (6C/12T AM4)

• Homelab Role: Budget Compute Node and Secondary Daily Driver
• Silicon and Architecture: AMD Zen 3 architecture on TSMC 7nm (6 Cores, 12 Threads, 3.5GHz base to 4.4GHz boost, 32MB unified L3 cache) with an accessible 65W TDP envelope.
• Memory and Efficiency: Dual-channel DDR4 memory support with PCIe 4.0 lanes for fast NVMe storage and add-in cards. Phenomenal power-to-performance efficiency on budget B450, B550, and X570 platforms.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Operating across secondary daily driver workstations in Core Lab. Delivers near-5600X compute throughput at a fraction of the cost, making it the premier choice for budget homelab nodes, development desktops, or secondary Proxmox nodes.

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AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (Zen 3 AM4 12C/24T)

• Homelab Role: High-Density Multi-Tenant Compute Server
• Silicon and Architecture: AMD Zen 3 architecture (12 Cores, 24 Threads, 3.7GHz base to 4.8GHz boost, massive 64MB unified L3 cache across dual CCDs) with a 105W TDP.
• Platform and Expansion: Full AM4 platform maturity with 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes and validated support for unbuffered ECC DDR4 RAM on enterprise and enthusiast AM4 boards.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The ultimate AM4 server upgrade path. Provides massive parallel thread density for compiling, running heavy virtual machines, CI/CD runners, and extensive Docker deployments without requiring expensive server sockets or power-hungry enterprise platforms.

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RTX 3070 & TI variants I have in my personal workstation & gaming PC, and have played on and tested with local AI extensively. They are best for gaming vs local AI, as they are somewhat knee-capped from VRAM. They do transcode like nobody's business however!

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 / 3070 Ti GDDR6X

• Homelab Role: Dedicated Tdarr Transcoding and Intermediate AI Inference
• Silicon and Compute Engine: GA104 Ampere silicon (6144 CUDA cores, 192 Tensor cores, 48 RT cores) paired with 8GB of high-bandwidth GDDR6/GDDR6X VRAM on a 256-bit memory bus.
• Encoder Fabric and Acceleration: 7th-generation NVIDIA NVENC hardware encoder with full support for HEVC/H.265 (8-bit and 10-bit), H.264, and VP9. Unlocked driver support enables uncapped concurrent transcode streams.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Field-tested in Core Lab as a dedicated Tdarr distributed transcode worker node. Delivers blazing-fast batch library encoding to HEVC while remaining fully capable of serving mid-sized local vision and audio models.

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Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB (Dual AV1 Encoders)

• Homelab Role: Dedicated AV1 and HEVC Hardware Transcoding Accelerator
• Silicon and Media Engine: Intel Alchemist ACM-G11 silicon (8 Xe cores, 128 execution units, 1024 shaders) paired with 6GB 96-bit GDDR6 VRAM. Features dual multi-format Intel Xe Media Engines with full native hardware encoding and decoding for AV1, HEVC/H.265 (up to 10-bit 4:2:2), and H.264.
• Form Factor and Power: Compact single-slot ITX form factor powered entirely by the 75W PCIe motherboard slot. Requires zero 6-pin or 8-pin auxiliary PCIe power cables.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The undisputed budget king of modern media servers. Fits easily into 1U/2U rackmount chassis or compact NAS cases, handling dozens of simultaneous 4K HDR Jellyfin and Plex transcode streams at under 35W operational power.

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Recertified Enterprise SAS Hard Drives (14TB to 20TB)

• Homelab Role: High-Density ZFS RaidZ2 Storage Monolith Arrays
• Drive Architecture and Interface: Enterprise-grade dual-port 12Gbps SAS 3 interface with 7200 RPM spindle speed and helium-sealed drive mechanics. Designed for 2.5-million-hour MTBF and 550TB/year enterprise workload ratings.
• Sector Formatting and Controller Fit: Native 512e or 4Kn enterprise sector formatting. Requires an SAS Host Bus Adapter (HBA, such as an LSI Broadcom 9300-8i in IT-mode) and SFF-8643 to SFF-8482 cabling with SAS-compatible power.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The absolute lowest cost-per-terabyte storage medium for homelabs. By pairing recertified enterprise SAS drives with an inexpensive LSI HBA, homelabbers can build 80TB to 100TB+ redundant ZFS arrays at less than half the cost of retail consumer NAS drives.

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Recertified Enterprise SATA Hard Drives (14TB to 20TB)

• Homelab Role: Plug-and-Play Mass Storage for DIY NAS and Turnkey Systems
• Drive Architecture and Interface: Standard 6Gbps SATA 3 interface with 7200 RPM spindle speed, 512MB cache, and CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording) technology with hermetically sealed helium enclosures.
• Compatibility and Workload: 2.5-million-hour MTBF and rated for 24/7 multi-drive vibration mitigation. 100% plug-and-play compatible with consumer motherboards, Synology, QNAP, and Terramaster enclosures without SAS HBAs.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The ideal balance of enterprise-grade endurance and universal consumer compatibility. Eliminates the need for specialized SAS HBAs while delivering the same high-capacity 550TB/year workload reliability for OpenMediaVault and TrueNAS storage pools.

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Samsung 990 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD (1TB to 2TB)

• Homelab Role: High-IOPS Host Storage, VM Datastores and Fast Application Metadata
• Controller and Silicon: Samsung in-house Piccolo controller manufactured on 5nm process technology with 8th-generation 236-layer V-NAND. Delivers up to 7,250 MB/s sequential read and 6,300 MB/s sequential write performance.
• Interface and Power: Hybrid PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 compatibility. Dramatically improved power efficiency with over 70% better performance-per-watt than the preceding 990 EVO, resulting in low operating temperatures without bulky heatsinks.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Ideal for container storage pools, high-write database volumes (MySQL, PostgreSQL), and Proxmox root disks where sustained random read/write IOPS are paramount.

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Fractal Design Define 7 XL Full Tower Storage Chassis

• Homelab Role: Flagship 18+ Drive High-Capacity Self-Hosted Storage Monolith
• Chassis Architecture and Layout: Dual-layout design converting effortlessly between Open Layout (optimized for watercooling) and Storage Layout (engineered specifically to house up to 18x 3.5-inch HDDs and 5x 2.5-inch SSDs simultaneously).
• Cooling and Motherboard Support: Industrial sound-dampened steel panels with swappable ventilated top cover. Supports up to 480mm front/top radiators, SSI-EEB / E-ATX dual-socket enterprise motherboards, and full-length expansion cards.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The crowned king of homelab tower cases. Houses the entire Core Lab production array in near-silent operation in a standard home office, completely eliminating the screaming 40mm fan noise of traditional datacenter rackmount servers.

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Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO XL Full Tower Chassis (White)

• Homelab Role: Dual-Chamber High-Airflow Workstation and Secondary Storage Host
• Chassis Architecture and Isolation: Dual-chamber layout physically isolating power supplies, cabling, and up to 7x 2.5-inch/3.5-inch drive bays behind the motherboard tray, maximizing direct front/side laminar airflow across GPU and CPU.
• Cooling Capacity: Supports up to three simultaneous 420mm liquid cooling radiators (top, side, bottom) and 11x 120mm or 140mm chassis fans. Reversible chassis orientation allows left or right desk placement.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Houses the author's primary workstation and development rig. Provides an ultra-clean modular build environment with tool-less drive cages and unobstructed intake ventilation for high-TDP processors and triple-fan graphics cards.

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Fractal Design HDD Tray Kit (Type-B 2-Pack)

• Homelab Role: Official Storage Expansion Trays for Define 7 and Meshify 2 Series
• Physical Build and Dampening: Heavy-gauge stamped steel construction finished in matte black. Includes pre-drilled mounting holes for both 3.5-inch mechanical drives and 2.5-inch SSDs.
• Vibration Isolation: Equipped with genuine Fractal acoustic rubber dampening grommets and dedicated mounting screws to eliminate rotational drive vibration from transferring into the case chassis.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: An essential accessory for anyone expanding the Fractal Define 7 XL into its full 18-drive Storage Layout. Deploying multiple 7200 RPM enterprise drives requires these specific vibration-isolated brackets to maintain whisper-quiet homelab acoustic profiles.

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Arctic P12 PWM PST 120mm Pressure-Optimized Fans (5-Pack)

• Homelab Role: High-Static-Pressure Server and Drive Cage Ventilation
• Acoustic and Motor Engineering: Engineered specifically for high static pressure (2.2 mmH2O) to force air through dense drive bays, radiators, and mesh filters. Features an FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) rated for 24/7 continuous operation.
• Wiring and Integration: Arctic PST (PWM Sharing Technology) allows daisy-chaining multiple fans directly onto a single motherboard fan header. Integrated 0dB fan mode stops rotation when PWM signal drops below 5%.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The budget benchmark for homelab airflow. Installed across multiple chassis in Core Lab to cool 18 tightly packed 7200 RPM hard drives, keeping drive temperatures safely below 38 degrees Celsius under continuous ZFS scrub loads with near-zero motor whine.

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Corsair RM850x 850W Gold Modular Power Supply

• Homelab Role: 24/7 Clean Server Power Delivery and High Drive Inrush Current Support
• Electrical Topologies: 80 PLUS Gold and Cybenetics Platinum certified. Built exclusively with 100% industrial-grade Japanese 105 degrees Celsius electrolytic capacitors, DC-to-DC LLC resonant topology, and ultra-tight voltage regulation.
• Cabling and Zero-RPM Mode: Fully modular cabling with abundant SATA and Molex power outputs for multi-drive backplanes. 135mm magnetic levitation fan remains completely stationary during low and moderate homelab workloads.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: A rock-solid power supply for DIY NAS servers. Provides clean power ripple and ample 12V single-rail amperage to effortlessly absorb the heavy simultaneous inrush current of 15 to 18 mechanical drives spinning up on boot.

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Binardat 8-Port 10GbE SFP+ Managed Switch

• Homelab Role: High-Bandwidth 10Gbps Core Fiber and DAC Distribution Fabric
• Switching Engine and Capacity: 8x 10Gbps SFP+ optical/DAC cage ports backed by a full 160Gbps non-blocking switching fabric and 119 Mpps packet forwarding rate.
• Network Management and VLANs: Full Web GUI and CLI management interface supporting 802.1Q VLAN trunking, link aggregation (LACP), QoS, IGMP snooping, and port isolation.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The ultimate budget 10GbE fiber backbone for home networks. Connects the Core Lab server monolith, primary workstation, and high-speed multi-gig uplinks with zero packet loss using direct attach copper (DAC) cables and low-power optical transceivers.

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Ubiquiti UniFi USW-24 Managed Gigabit Switch (Gen 2)

• Homelab Role: 24-Port Fanless Silent Gigabit Rackmount Aggregation Switch
• Port Density and Uplinks: 24x Gigabit RJ45 ethernet ports paired with 2x 1G SFP fiber ports for silent, reliable rackmount port aggregation. Backed by a 52Gbps switching capacity.
• Acoustics and Monitoring: 100% fanless passive cooling architecture. Integrated 1.3-inch LCM colour touchscreen on the front bezel provides instant port status, link speed, error counts, and UniFi Network AR inspection.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Deployed in the Core Lab network rack as the silent aggregation heart. Delivers rock-solid layer-2 switching across IoT devices, streaming clients, and workstation ports with zero acoustic footprint in living areas.

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Ubiquiti UniFi USW-16-PoE (Gen 2)

• Homelab Role: Silent PoE+ Edge Switch for Access Points and Security Cameras
• Power Delivery and Ports: 16x Gigabit RJ45 ports including 8x auto-sensing 802.3at PoE+ ports (42W total power budget) and 2x 1G SFP optical uplinks. 36Gbps switching capacity.
• Form Factor and Management: Fanless silent cooling design with integrated 1.3-inch touchscreen display. Seamlessly configured and monitored through the UniFi Network Controller.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The dedicated switch powering Core Lab access points and surveillance cameras. Delivers uninterrupted 802.3at PoE+ power with centralized power-cycling capabilities directly from the mobile app or dashboard.

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Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Enterprise 8 PoE (2.5GbE Multi-Gig)

• Homelab Role: Multi-Gigabit 2.5GbE PoE+ Access and 10G SFP+ Core Uplink Switch
• Switching Silicon and Fabric: 8x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports with 802.3at PoE+ power paired with 2x 10G SFP+ uplinks. Delivers 80Gbps switching capacity and 59.52 Mpps forwarding rate.
• Power Budget and Desktop Mounting: Generous 120W total PoE budget capable of powering high-throughput Wi-Fi 6E/7 access points and PTZ cameras. Compact desktop or wall-mount enclosure with quiet fan cooling.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Bridges the gap between 2.5GbE multi-gig nodes (mini PCs, NAS units, high-speed APs) and the 10Gbps SFP+ core fiber switch, providing full line-rate switching without bottlenecks.

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Ubiquiti UniFi U6 Pro Wi-Fi 6 Access Point

• Homelab Role: High-Density Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Access Point
• Radio Specs and Spatial Streams: Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (4x4 MU-MIMO on 5GHz, 2x2 MIMO on 2.4GHz) delivering up to 5.3 Gbps aggregate over-the-air throughput. Powered via standard 802.3at PoE+.
• Processor and Client Capacity: High-performance Qualcomm silicon capable of sustaining 350+ concurrent client connections and isolated multi-SSID VLAN trunking.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The flagship wireless workhorse of Core Lab. Effortlessly blankets the premises with stable gigabit Wi-Fi, keeping IoT devices strictly confined to isolated guest/IoT VLANs while enabling low-latency roaming for mobile and workstation clients.

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Ubiquiti UniFi U6 Lite (Wi-Fi 6 AP)

• Homelab Role: Compact Low-Profile Wi-Fi 6 Edge Access Point
• Radio Specs and Spatial Streams: 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 spatial streams on both 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands, providing up to 1.5 Gbps aggregate throughput. Powered via compact 802.3af PoE.
• Form Factor and Installation: Ultra-compact ceiling and wall mount enclosure compatible with standard nanoHD skins and low-profile mounting brackets.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Perfect for secondary coverage zones, detached garages, or home offices where a discrete, low-profile footprint is required to eliminate dead zones without overspending on enterprise hardware.

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Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-PRO (802.11ac Wave 2)

• Homelab Role: Heavy-Duty Secondary Wi-Fi Workhorse with Dual Gigabit Ports
• Radio Specs and Bridging: 3x3 MIMO 802.11ac dual-band technology delivering up to 1750 Mbps aggregate throughput. Powered by 802.3af PoE or 48V passive PoE.
• Dual Ethernet Ports: Features two Gigabit RJ45 ports (Main PoE port and Secondary bridging port).
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: A legendary, bulletproof enterprise access point. The secondary RJ45 ethernet port enables bridging a hardwired IoT hub or switch without pulling an extra cable through finished walls.

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UGREEN USB 3.0 to 2.5GbE Network Adapter (RTL8156B)

• Homelab Role: Multi-Gigabit Ingress WAN / LAN Interface for Mini PCs and Firewalls
• Controller Silicon: Realtek RTL8156B v2 chipset (c2522 firmware revision). Fully supported in upstream Linux kernels via the native cdc_ncm and r8152 driver modules.
• Build Quality and Thermals: Solid aluminium chassis acting as a passive heatsink to prevent thermal throttling under sustained multi-gigabit throughput.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Tested and verified in Core Lab for high-speed multi-gig internet connections (e.g. Bell Canada 1.5Gbps / 3.0Gbps PPPoE fibre ingress on mini PCs and OPNsense appliances), delivering continuous line-rate bandwidth without dropped frames.

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Intel i226-V Quad-Port 2.5GbE PCIe NIC

• Homelab Role: Multi-Segment Dedicated OPNsense Firewall and Proxmox Hypervisor NIC
• Controller Silicon and Driver Support: 4x discrete Intel i226-V (Foxville) 2.5GbE controllers on a single PCIe 3.0 x1 add-in card. Supported natively in the Linux kernel via the igc driver module and FreeBSD / OPNsense kernels.
• Network Segmentation and Offloads: Full support for SR-IOV virtualization, IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging, hardware TCP/UDP checksum offloads, and jumbo frames up to 9K.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The undisputed gold standard for dedicated homelab firewalls and virtualized routers. Eliminates single-cable VLAN trunking bottlenecks by dedicating discrete physical 2.5GbE interfaces to WAN, LAN, DMZ, and IoT networks.

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trueCABLE Cat6 Unshielded (UTP) Pure Copper Bulk Cable

• Homelab Role: High-Speed Infrastructure Bulk Cabling and Patch Runs
• Cable Construction and Metallurgy: 23 AWG Solid Bare Copper conductors (100% pure copper, strictly zero copper-clad aluminium / CCA). CMR Riser rated, ETL verified, and tested up to 550MHz bandwidth.
• Multi-Gigabit and PoE Rating: Certified for 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps, and 10Gbps runs (up to 55 metres). Meets strict IEEE 802.3bt Type 4 (PoE++) standards, supporting high-wattage access points and PTZ cameras without overheating.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The exact bulk cabling deployed across Core Lab infrastructure. High-quality pure bare copper is essential for reliable 2.5GbE and 10GbE links, eliminating intermittent packet loss and voltage drop common with cheap CCA cables.

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CyberPower 1500VA AVR Pure Sine Wave UPS

• Homelab Role: Clean Battery Backup and Automated USB NUT Server Telemetry
• Inverter Architecture and Power: 1500VA / 1000W Pure Sine Wave output with Line-Interactive Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) to smooth out brownouts and voltage sags without draining battery reserves.
• Connectivity and Telemetry: USB communication port natively supported by Network UPS Tools (NUT) and apcupsd. Provides real-time battery runtime, load wattage, line voltage, and automated graceful server shutdown hooks.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: Protects the Core Lab server monolith, primary workstation, and core network switch. When utility power drops, the USB NUT daemon notifies all Docker containers and safely unmounts ZFS pools before battery exhaustion.

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An RTX 3060 12GB is in my server right now, and is the workhorse of my system for transcoding, media server functions and local AI usage. The RTX3090 is a monstrous increase over the 3060 and would be overkill for a media server, but perfectly applicable with it's extra VRAM as a local AI / LLM operator.

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GDDR6 GPU

• Homelab Role: Multi-Purpose Homelab Workhorse: Local LLM Inference, Media Transcoding and AI
• Compute Silicon and VRAM: GA106 Ampere silicon (3584 CUDA cores, 112 Tensor cores) equipped with an exceptional 12GB of 192-bit GDDR6 VRAM delivering 360 GB/s bandwidth.
• Transcode and AI Engines: Dual NVENC 7th-generation hardware encoders and 5th-generation NVDEC. Effortlessly hosts 8B and 14B parameter local language models (Llama 3, Qwen) fully in VRAM with Whisper speech-to-text sidecars.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The cornerstone hardware accelerator of Core Lab. Operates inside the primary server monolith, running Whisper audio transcription, batch HEVC transcoding, and Ollama local LLMs concurrently around the clock.

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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 / 3090 24GB

• Homelab Role: Flagship Consumer AI Compute, 70B LLM Quantization and Neural Training
• Compute Silicon and Memory Bandwidth: 24GB to 32GB of high-speed GDDR6X / GDDR7 VRAM on a massive 384-bit memory bus, delivering over 936 GB/s to 1,700+ GB/s of raw memory bandwidth with 10,496+ CUDA cores.
• AI Model Capacity: Capable of fitting quantized 70B parameter models (such as Llama 3 70B at Q4_K_M) entirely in GPU memory, yielding rapid interactive inference tokens per second without system RAM fallback.
• Deployment Note / Architectural Fit: The ultimate consumer AI powerhouse for self-hosted researchers and homelabbers looking to run heavyweight open-weights models and local diffusion pipelines at workstation speeds.

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