Every engineer reaches a point where theory isn’t enough — you need a real environment to break things, fix them, and truly learn. That’s exactly why I built my homelab. It’s a dedicated, always-on sandbox where I can practice Cisco networking, Linux administration, Python scripting, and ethical hacking — all from home.

Here’s a detailed walkthrough of what I built, how it’s structured, and what I use it for.

The Hardware

The heart of my lab is a compact Dell Mini PC. Small, quiet, and power-efficient — perfect for a machine that runs 24/7. Don’t let the form factor fool you: it handles multiple VMs without breaking a sweat.

Component Spec
Machine Dell Mini PC
CPU Intel Core i5-7500T @ 2.70GHz
RAM 32 GB
Storage 1 TB HDD
Host IP 192.168.8.1
Hypervisor Proxmox VE

The 32 GB of RAM is the most important upgrade here. Running five VMs simultaneously — Cisco Modeling Lab, two Ubuntu instances, Kali Linux, and Windows 10 — demands memory above all else.

Network Isolation with the GL-SFT1200

One thing I was deliberate about from day one: keeping the lab network completely isolated from my home Wi-Fi. For this I use a GL-iNet GL-SFT1200 travel router — a small OpenWrt-based router that creates a dedicated lab subnet.

Home Wi-Fi ──── GL-SFT1200 ──── Lab Network (192.168.8.x)
                (separator)          │
                                     ├── 192.168.8.1  Proxmox host
                                     └── 192.168.8.3  CML (Cisco)

This means any noisy experiments — packet floods, VLAN configs, nmap scans — stay contained within the lab subnet and never touch home devices. Simple but critical.

Proxmox: The Virtualization Layer

On bare metal I run Proxmox VE, an open-source hypervisor based on KVM and LXC. Proxmox gives me a clean web interface to spin up, snapshot, clone, and destroy VMs at will — for free.

Proxmox’s snapshot feature is a game-changer for learning. Before trying something risky, take a snapshot. If things go sideways, roll back in seconds.

Virtual Machines

Each VM serves a specific learning purpose:

VM IP Purpose
CML (Cisco) 192.168.8.3 Routers, switches, OSPF, BGP, VLANs
Ubuntu 1 — Bash scripting, Vim, Python development
Ubuntu 2 — Server-side experiments, SSH, client-server
Kali Linux — nmap, network scanning, security tooling
Windows 10 — Cross-platform testing, AD practice

Cisco Modeling Lab (CML)

CML lets me build real Cisco network topologies and configure actual Cisco IOS — not just simulators. I use it to practice routing protocols, VLAN design, and prepare for certifications.

Ubuntu (×2)

My Ubuntu VMs are where I sharpen everyday Linux skills: navigating the terminal fluently, writing bash scripts, mastering Vim, and building Python tools. Having two instances lets me practice client-server interactions like SSH and SCP.

Kali Linux

Kali is the industry-standard penetration testing OS. My isolated lab gives me a legal, safe environment to explore it. I focus on nmap for network discovery and port scanning — learning to see what attackers see, so I can think defensively.

Windows 10

Real-world IT environments are hybrid. A Windows VM lets me practice cross-platform administration and verify how tools behave across operating systems.

Why Every IT Learner Needs a Lab

Documentation and tutorials only take you so far. The moment you misconfigure a router and lose connectivity, or watch a bash script actually automate a task — that’s when knowledge turns into skill.

A used Dell Mini PC and a cheap travel router — that’s all it took. In return, I got a personal mobility lab that’s always on, always mine, and always ready to break.

Start small, keep it running, and break things on purpose.