Home Lab and Router build

[krawl]

Hi All,

First time poster - A word of warning, I am quite green when it comes to builds

I am currently studying at university and I learn more from doing than reading text. It has come to the point where I need to invest in some hardware so I can practice what I am learning (most likely failing on a number of occasions).

I am chasing some advice and information regarding a potential home build which I would like for the below

• I want to run a home router; I am interested in learning a bit more about setting up a network, applying vlans, applying different network security mechanisms.
• I want to jump into the deep end with visualisation - the only experience I have at the moment is running vmware on my mac (so pretty much no experience)
• I want to be able to run kali images to work on pen testing and various hack the box challenges
• I want to be able to run a potential media server - I have a box (old now) that has a large array of media on it. It has been turned off for a while and I would like to have access to that media
• I want to be able to run up other servers where required - for network testing purposes, potential ability to look at hosting web servers for my own use, etc

Pretty much I am looking at running three or four prolonged virtual machines with the ability to run some up when required.

I am chasing some advice on wether or not to group the home router in with the vm set up, or look at investing into two sets of hardware?

I am also chasing up some advice or a barebones list of what I should be looking at for the hardware that will run the virtualisation? I have done a large amount of research and seem to be going in circles. I am trying to keep it as budget as possible. I am also looking at storing it in a small wall mounted rack that is ~300mm deep and standards width. I can always put something on a shelf if required.

Any help would be much appreciated - Also, if possible I am in Australia, so some nice and easy to source parts would be appreciated.

lastly, can anyone recommend any beginner information for virtualisation?

Cheers

 

[istqian]

You can get a Server with multi LAN Ports and a CISCO L2/L3 Switch.
All your needs will be OK.

For a server, 300mm deep is not that good. you can build a server. but it is ok to buy a second hand server.
Xeon E5 V3 platform is recommended as it is not so old yet powerful, parts is cheap.

All you can get is ebay. SuperMicro server is recommended.

 

[Connorise]

I would go with any l2/l3 switch. It might be either manageable or not manageable. As per the server chassis, you can take a look at small SuperMicro chassis or Intel NUC servers if you are looking for small servers or buy a full-width rack/tower servers, here is the article of the choosing servers for a home-lab, especially if the size is critical - How to Choose a Server for a Home Lab | StarWind Blog. Alternatively, you can try to update your existing old box to have a good CPU and virtualize all things you need.