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TagMeInSkipIGotThis @ TagMeInSkipIGotThis @lemmy.nz
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2 yr. ago

  • Baths seem completely superfluous, but from what i've been told, if you've got kids especially younger ones they're very necessary. So its the sorta thing you'd potentially be encouraged to keep for future sale-ability.

    So, when we were renovating our bathroom, we actually added a bath - couldn't fit a separate one so its shower over bath but apparently that's better than not having a bath at all.*

    *IANA real estate expert.

  • There'd be a learning curve if you wanted to make a proper cluster; but you don't really have to. The simplest way to augment what you're already doing with the Rpi is to just add another computer as a server and put some of the docker containers on there instead of on the pi. You'd just have to know what IP is for which service, or just setup local DNS via pi-hole and point it to the right IP.

  • That's all these are, they're just small - not sure which corps would use them, maybe contact centres as they can probably be mounted behind monitors. My 3 are the G2 so have an i5-6500T @ 2.5Ghz. They've got 2 RAM slots so I have 2x8GB sticks in mine (they almost always just come with 1x8GB, so is a nice easy upgrade). The only trick is to check what size HDD they're going to come with, but even though they're small they're quite serviceable - fans, hdd & ram all easy to access.

    There's loads of them on TradeMe at the moment; and these are just the HP EliteDesk Mini's that ServeTheHome video goes through a few different types, I think Dell & Lenovo both make very similar sized & spec machines:

    https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/computers/desktops/no-monitor/search?search_string=elitedesk%20mini&sort_order=priceasc

  • I've got a few different boxes at home. From an old desktop that I can fit a fanless nVidia GPU in (for Frigate) which i'm running unRaid on as its got lots of slots for HDD. But I kinda hate unRaid, so have since gone the TinyMiniMicro route (ala ServeTheHome - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx4_QCX_khU&list=PLC53fzn9608B-MT5KvuuHct5MiUDO8IF4) and have 3 EliteDesk Minis.

    They're running XCP-NG with a Xen Orchestra VM built from source to manage the 3 boxes. On that i've got a handful of VMs, a couple of generic linux builds one for docker, and then 3 VMs running a k3s cluster and i'm slowly migrating services across to. Some stuff like Plex / Frigate etc does better with a GPU though so i'll keep the unRaid box around running those sorts of things there.

    Anywho, with the small form factor PCs - Trade Me's auction history is terrible so even though I only bought them part way through last year I can't find the vendor I bought mine from. They were really good which is why I wanted to shout them out - sent a replacement fan & stick of RAM within a day of me emailing a problem with what they'd originally sent. They show up on TradeMe & Facebook Marketplace all the time, they're all ex-lease from corps I'm guessing.

    I'd recommend these boxes over a NUC because they're cheaper, and by far over a Pi because they are so much more powerful for a similar price if you can get a good deal on a used one. They're not much louder than a Pi (and because they don't use those tiny fans the noise they do make is less annoying) and they're still reasonably lower power use from the wall too.

  • Ahaha, yeah a Bronco seems expensive until you start looking into Kamado style. Hell even the giant hooded Gas grills are ludicrous, but then they are the Ford Ranger of BBQ so I guess it comes with the territory.

    I only do low & slow once in a while, but the hope is with something as sturdy as the Bronco it'll last me a couple of decades or more.

  • BBQing gear is just one of those things that gets nerded out over too much. At the end of the day the fundamentals is heat, how much, and where you've got it. And learning how to control all of that is more a matter of time than gear.

  • Yeah they're around that, though I got mine for quite a bit less on a sale. They're definitely more of a smoker, though a kettle can be used the same too, and the Bronco can adapt to bring the coals up higher in the drum to work as a direct grill. Though I was so impressed with the build quality that I actually ended up buying a Rambler a couple years later for grilling and use one of the Espeto Sul rotisseries with that. Have been using that more than the Bronco lately, trying to perfect charcoal porchetta!

    The most direct comparison for the Bronco would be the Smokey - and for price vs build quality i'd go with the OKJ; the steel is just so much thicker, and the arrangement with the chimneys makes them so much easier to use apart from re-fuelling which can be a bit of a pain. Though i've never had much problem keeping a fire hot enough for 10 hours of cooking and rarely go longer than that anyway.

  • I've owned both Charmate, and Weber charcoal BBQs; and the latter is (or at least was when I bought this one 15 years ago) much better build quality. But if you can keep them in a garage, ideally out of any damp - or worst case under a cover and give them air time they will both last just fine. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Charmate's products, and some stuff can be improved with BBQ gasket seals etc if necessary; so bang for buck Charmate these days is absolutely the way to go.

    Only reason I gave my Charmate to my little brother is because I went ham & bought an Oklahoma Joe Bronco which is a whole different class altogether and really put the Weber stuff into a brand overpriced category for me. I do really like their Q series of gas grills though.

    One of the big things for internal rust is to make sure the ashes etc are removed once they are cold and not left in the BBQ for a long time - as they attract moisture and cause the fire grates to rust etc. And counter to most kiwi's attitudes to their BBQs, take the cooking grates out to clean them & let them dry after every cook too :)

    If you haven't already - get a chimney fire starter as they just make the whole thing so much easier and faster to get going!

  • Interesting. A lot of the UniFi gear boots with its own static IP for management, usually in the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet. If that's the same network as your router is providing IPs in then I wonder if it clashed with one of your APs IP addresses. They'd commonly just use DHCP to get one; and were already on the network so then you'd have two devices trying to listen on the same IP that could cause problems.

    If its a DHCP conflict like that, the easiest way to fix it is to leave that AP unplugged until the DHCP lease on the router expires and gets cleared. But the challenge is you don't know how long the lease is configured for and the AP might request the same IP when it boots again (because it will remember what it was); and as the router doesn't know about anything with its own static IP configured it would just give it out.

    I think that's probably the most likely scenario off the top of my head; the switch won't be doing any other L3 stuff, and if everything is back to normal with that 1 AP unplugged it sorta lines up.

  • PoE adds a bunch to the cost, on pretty much any type of switch at any level. On some Enterprise gear for a 48 port switch it can sometimes be another $1k. Sometimes it'll come down to how many ports provide power, and what PoE standards they support. The newer, higher voltage standards typically will cost more. But especially in Enterprise, PoE gives huge flexibility, mostly for Wireless Access Points these days, but used to be that every desk would have a phone powered from the switch as well.

    Anywho, other than that; there really isn't a massive difference between the two. Both will need something running the UniFi Network server for initial setup and management of them. It'd be an interesting experiment to see if they just worked without it though. Their management IP is usually a static in the 192.168.1.0/24 network and they default to using VLAN 1 for everything unless otherwise configured.

    Alternatively you could meet in the middle and go with the Edge series from Ubiquiti, eg: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/SWHUBI31306/Ubiquiti-EdgeSwitch-XP-ES-5XP-5-Port-Gigabit-Manag

    These don't require UniFi Network, you just log onto a web GUI to configure them which can be limited to only the MGMT port, and this particular model also does PoE, though probably only the older standard, not PoE+. I have one of them (the older version called ToughSwitch) and its been great. I'm pretty tempted to swap it for one of those Flex Mini's though - as that way I can manage it from my UniFi setup rather than having to do it manually.

    Actually just an edit to clarify the adapter/splitter... Back in the day you could buy a Hub, that's closer to what I would call an adapter/splitter. The way they work is it effectively just turns one port into x ports, they're a very dumb usually completely unconfigured device. But on a hub, all ports share the same collision domain so overall performance is weakened especially if you have a lot of devices connected to hubs.

    In a switch each port is its own separate connection, and it'll hold its own MAC address table to know how to get to things at layer 2. The difference is a hub is a bit like a party line (back in the analog days) where you could end up having one device talking over another. Whereas with a switch, every device has their own private line back to the cabinet.

  • Ah cool - I basically access my home services in a similar way to you, I prefer to use the VPN as I don't trust my knowledge to secure things sufficiently if I was actually making them exposed.

    I'd guess your Huawei box has 4 LAN ports, one of which is connected to the Amplifi base station, and given that's your wifi I don't think there's any need to worry about POE for the APs for now; that also reduces the ports you need down to 5-6 as well. The simplest thing to do for now is to just connect a switch into that and run with 1 VLAN until you need more.

    Bang for buck, I like UniFi gear; its not fully featured for enterprise or business but does most of what you'd need. And there's not a big difference between the 8 & 16 port options for the Lite models: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/search?sf=unifi+lite+switch&search_type= You'd just need to run the UniFi Network application on something in order to configure it.

    Alternatively you can go for something even dumber, which has the advantage of it being even cheaper: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/category/networking/switches?fs=9326997

    The frigate documentation is pretty good, even has a recommended hardware guide: https://docs.frigate.video/