I'm glad you liked the video; thanks for watching! I've been adding to and improving the setup for a while. I started out with a single Dell OptiPlex "server" and a firewall sitting on the floor. I've come a long way since then and still have a long way to go!
Yeah, it is fun to use things in ways other than which they were intended. I can't remember exactly, but I think it is a 4 core Intel CPU and it came with 4 GB of RAM and now has 8 GB I think. It is just a regular PC inside and you can put pretty much anything on there that you could put on a regular PC.
I use to use exsi. Then I switched fully to proxmox myself. I love the interface and web kvm much more. What are the model of the two sophos on the left rack there?
The 2 Sophos boxes are both running Proxmox now. I’m letting a friend use them and that’s what he wants on them. I use ESXi on Dell servers for my operations. I’ve never used Proxmox before, but from what I’ve seen so far, I like ESXi better. I am just running the free license, so I’m missing out on some of the nice features of vSphere. Maybe I’ll end up liking Proxmox. I’m happy with ESXi for now though.
I’m actually running FreePBX with the chan_sccp plugin. It was a bit difficult to get working, but it’s been stable since then. Wouldn’t recommend for a large production environment, but it works for my shop.
OMG I would love the xServes with their rack rails! I hear ya about the Sophos. I ran UTM for many years. Since back when they were Astaro, but I did migrate over to XG back in version 16.5, and yes it was a learning curve, but since then I've learned the interface and gotten way better with it, and I really do like it. I managed to get ESXi 6.5 running on my xServe 2,1 It was easier to get running than my MacMini server was. Also, what are those 2 Sophos devices in the top left rack? It looks like an HA Pair of UTMs?
The Xserves are pretty cool. I’m the second owner. I got them directly from the first owner who I used to work for, so I know they had been taken care of. I’ve used UTM since back when they were Astaro also, around 2008 or so. I have always liked Astaro and I was not happy to hear of the Sophos buyout. I wonder what the original Astaro team would have come out with by now if Sophos hadn’t come along. Oh well. I’ve tried XG a few times, but didn’t stick with it long enough to get used to it. Just messing around with it as a VM. I know a few people who switched to XG from UTM and are liking it, but I guess I’m just bitter about being forced to make a change by the EOL announcement. I don’t like when perfectly good products are killed off. I’ll have to try that version of ESXi on the Xserve. I don’t remember how far back I went. I think they are both SG 425 boxes. They are both the same model and were running UTM 9 in an HA cluster before being decommissioned. They are now wiped and running Proxmox in a cluster. I think one of them still has the orange Astaro rack ears on it if I remember correctly.
Sort of a waste for a small office. You can get that down to a pair of vm hosts (ie ESXi, Proxmox). You can run TrueNAS as a VM. For switches I have a pair of Cisco 3700 series with PoE for IP cameras & phones. I have two servers, one is a linux for firewall, DNS, smtp gateway, DHCP, Asterisk (VOIP), VPN, ssh. The other is a ESXi host with everything else: TrueNAS, Windows VMs (AD, MS-SQL, various WinApps), Linux using Bluecherry DVR for IP camera (Better than Blue Iris - Far less CPU\memory hog), Linux Webserver, Linux SQL server (MariaDB). Between the two servers, They use about 200watts, The switches are about 200-250W because of all the PoE IP cameras & phones. I would guess your setup is probably using around 1000+ watts.
Thanks for the input. I'm just having fun. Not trying to have the most efficient setup. Just using what I have. I got most of that equipment for free. I'm going to consolidate some things eventually to get rid of the desktop hardware and move to only rack servers.
Yeah, it wasn't fun. I lost a Dell server and an HP switch. I wasn't happy at all. I'm looking forward to trying pfSense! I hear a lot of good things about it.
Haha I'm exempt, but yeah, I could stand to clean up and organize a bit. I recently moved out of a larger space and had to hastily move a bunch of stuff into that room and didn't have time to organize. I'll have an organizing party someday and get it ship shape. 👍
Love it! Reminds me of my setup when I was first starting out
I'm glad you liked the video; thanks for watching! I've been adding to and improving the setup for a while. I started out with a single Dell OptiPlex "server" and a firewall sitting on the floor. I've come a long way since then and still have a long way to go!
I just bought my 2nd Dell R720 servers for $120 shipped. Love the older Dell servers.
Congrats! I like them too!
ouch. no redundancy at all, don't run pfSense on a VM it adds more complexity not only that security risks too.
Nice vid ! Keep em coming !
Thanks! Will do!
Sophos Firewall running Proxmox...Interesting and awesome!! What are the specs of the firewall?
Yeah, it is fun to use things in ways other than which they were intended. I can't remember exactly, but I think it is a 4 core Intel CPU and it came with 4 GB of RAM and now has 8 GB I think. It is just a regular PC inside and you can put pretty much anything on there that you could put on a regular PC.
I hate sophos
I use to use exsi. Then I switched fully to proxmox myself. I love the interface and web kvm much more. What are the model of the two sophos on the left rack there?
I think they are SG 425 boxes. They are both the same model and they were running UTM 9 and were part of an HA cluster before being wiped.
@@G6TechnologyServices Not using proxmox no more or or Switching to proxmox on th UTM9?
The 2 Sophos boxes are both running Proxmox now. I’m letting a friend use them and that’s what he wants on them. I use ESXi on Dell servers for my operations. I’ve never used Proxmox before, but from what I’ve seen so far, I like ESXi better. I am just running the free license, so I’m missing out on some of the nice features of vSphere. Maybe I’ll end up liking Proxmox. I’m happy with ESXi for now though.
What PBX system are you running? I assume Cisco UCM?
I’m actually running FreePBX with the chan_sccp plugin. It was a bit difficult to get working, but it’s been stable since then. Wouldn’t recommend for a large production environment, but it works for my shop.
@@G6TechnologyServices Oh I see, I am too haha.
OMG I would love the xServes with their rack rails! I hear ya about the Sophos. I ran UTM for many years. Since back when they were Astaro, but I did migrate over to XG back in version 16.5, and yes it was a learning curve, but since then I've learned the interface and gotten way better with it, and I really do like it. I managed to get ESXi 6.5 running on my xServe 2,1 It was easier to get running than my MacMini server was. Also, what are those 2 Sophos devices in the top left rack? It looks like an HA Pair of UTMs?
The Xserves are pretty cool. I’m the second owner. I got them directly from the first owner who I used to work for, so I know they had been taken care of. I’ve used UTM since back when they were Astaro also, around 2008 or so. I have always liked Astaro and I was not happy to hear of the Sophos buyout. I wonder what the original Astaro team would have come out with by now if Sophos hadn’t come along. Oh well. I’ve tried XG a few times, but didn’t stick with it long enough to get used to it. Just messing around with it as a VM. I know a few people who switched to XG from UTM and are liking it, but I guess I’m just bitter about being forced to make a change by the EOL announcement. I don’t like when perfectly good products are killed off. I’ll have to try that version of ESXi on the Xserve. I don’t remember how far back I went. I think they are both SG 425 boxes. They are both the same model and were running UTM 9 in an HA cluster before being decommissioned. They are now wiped and running Proxmox in a cluster. I think one of them still has the orange Astaro rack ears on it if I remember correctly.
Nice Tube Monitors so old school. haha
Yeah, I wish I’d’ve kept a few that I owned in the past instead of getting rid of them.
what size is your rack cabinet?
They are both 42U.
Sort of a waste for a small office. You can get that down to a pair of vm hosts (ie ESXi, Proxmox). You can run TrueNAS as a VM. For switches I have a pair of Cisco 3700 series with PoE for IP cameras & phones. I have two servers, one is a linux for firewall, DNS, smtp gateway, DHCP, Asterisk (VOIP), VPN, ssh. The other is a ESXi host with everything else: TrueNAS, Windows VMs (AD, MS-SQL, various WinApps), Linux using Bluecherry DVR for IP camera (Better than Blue Iris - Far less CPU\memory hog), Linux Webserver, Linux SQL server (MariaDB). Between the two servers, They use about 200watts, The switches are about 200-250W because of all the PoE IP cameras & phones. I would guess your setup is probably using around 1000+ watts.
From a budget perspective I suggest 1 server and 1 hot spare. But really you should have 3-4 servers no more for something this small.
Thanks for the input. I'm just having fun. Not trying to have the most efficient setup. Just using what I have. I got most of that equipment for free. I'm going to consolidate some things eventually to get rid of the desktop hardware and move to only rack servers.
@@G6TechnologyServices makes sense just know micro PCs are basically replacing servers for home labs
opnsense has better driver support plus much better licensing - you look ripe for some consolidation and full move to remote
Thanks for the input! I'll check that out.
I lost some stuff to water....never fun. Also pfsense is the best!
Yeah, it wasn't fun. I lost a Dell server and an HP switch. I wasn't happy at all. I'm looking forward to trying pfSense! I hear a lot of good things about it.
@@G6TechnologyServices I just did a live stream about pfSense (I am a fellow RUclipsr)
Whatever you do don’t let anyone from OSHA see this video.
Haha I'm exempt, but yeah, I could stand to clean up and organize a bit. I recently moved out of a larger space and had to hastily move a bunch of stuff into that room and didn't have time to organize. I'll have an organizing party someday and get it ship shape. 👍
Lot of stuff needs to be discarded it’s EOL
I know it is all old. That's why I have it. Got most of it for free!
Get rid of the old equipment, no point in hoarding it.
I might need it.
Hate to be blunt but I see a lot of hoarding junk and old gear including in the racks.
Yes
This is way too much exposed