Nolan Robidoux

Cryptominer and oilfield worker beginning a new chapter: AI, vibe coding, homelabber.

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

Documenting my "homelab" felt like it has taken nearly as much effort as creating it thus far. 5 days of substantial AI-assisted sessions enumeration the moving parts, saving configs, network maps, thought processes and the future.

#homelab

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

@sysracks Try cryptominers :)

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

If there is a joy to routine 1,700+ miles drives, surely one of them must be having discussions over #Starlink with #ChatGPT to discuss my #homelab and #localAI.

So much work gets done over 20+ hours.

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

Never in my life did i think I'd be sitting here watching my screen after using AI to "recompile" an AI from https://t.co/dJqvyVVsdM so I could use it on my machine so it can fit into my 64GB of VRAM. Some time today I should have a 100+B any-to-any model locally. 🤞
#homelab #ai

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

The world of servers and sysadmin is super interesting to me. I've barely entered but if these people ever feel like... God!

Completely understand.

• Architecting worlds within worlds
• Creators of universes

Sounds like gibberish, until you know.

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

@sysracks Get off the computer

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

My K8s infra is paying off! 🥳 Using it to self-host some tools for Hermes:

• Supermemory
• searxng
• firewall (web search and extract)

As well a bunch of datastores:

• MySQL
• Arango
• Redis
• Postgres + pgvector
• InfluxDB

Exciting times ahead!
#homelab #ai

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

Been dealing with lack of motivation lately but in the last 3 days...

- migrated k8s from class c to class a addresses
- K8s MySQL pod up and synced with VPS
- Email VM synced with VPS and interacting with MySQL pod

Slowly but surely, progress.
#homelab

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

Hopefully in a few minutes llama.cpp will be up and running; Hermes installed and my little army of agents completing multiple websites...🤞

I'm also enjoying that I'm accomplishing this during down time at work, 1,700+ miles away.

Thanks tailscale!

#homelab

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

I defnitely under-appreciated the effort needed to "properly" setup my homelab. I feel a lot was accomplished today.

- 3x Bind9 LXCs
- 3x K8s HA/Proxy LXCs
- 1x HA email server
- 3x K8s CPs
- 3x K8s workers (shared cephfs)

Tomorrow... hello world webpage!
#homelab

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

@sherah68450 👋

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

I've finished it! 🥳 I'm 1,700 miles away and forgot to take a pic before I left (All 4 servers are racked.) but I did get this one.

In the words of Borat, "Very nice!"

#homelab

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

@sysracks What's even better is if there were so many cables no one decided to trace it and never knew it was disconnected on both ends.

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

I removed all my R630s and rails from my rack to install the outer rails for my Supermicro SYS-1028GQ-TXR; removed 8 bolts so I could adjust the depth to get the rear of the rails inside after mounting the front.

Disassembly for removal. 🤯

Must be an easier way.

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

Things are coming along nicely. Currently wondering how rails work. 🤔

Seems Dell made some nice ones; intuitive. Supermicro... not so much. No clue how to mount MCP-290-11809-0N

#homelab

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

Christmas in July!

Let's see how far I can take this in 24 hours. I'd like to enjoy a little of my 4 days off. 😀

I think I'm missing a server... or two, but basically all the hardware for my "homelab."

I quote it because.. you'll see. 😉
#homelab adventures.

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

I have ~9 hrs left on my drive; wondering how ambitious my plan is: 24 hrs to a pile of pkgs, and finishing my "homelab."

IDK of one can call it that 😆.

2 servers on a cooler to:
- 4 servers
- 2 firewalls
- 2 1G + 10G switches
- racked, conf'ed, cabled
- LXCs, VMs, k8s, etc

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

(Pardon my reposts... image missing, kinda was the point.)

I don't think I'll get over this for awhile. I think this is the coolest thing ever.

Remote administration!

Setting up my self-hosted email server in North Dakota while in Texas.

Large tablet in the future!

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

AI is great. Get an answer in seconds instead of hours.

"Is there a way for Codex to code directly on my VPS?"

10,000 words later: sshfs

"Can my VPS access my local AI?"

Tailscale

"Can I use my phone for my server sysadmin?"

Termius and Tailscale android apps
#homelab

[Nolan Robidoux @NolansLab]

My "homelab." Sketching it out, making sure I didn't forget anything. On my days off in a week.... this is coming together!!!

Currently I possess 4 of the items in this diagram. 😀The rest in the mail... I do need a rack. 🤔 25U?

We'll see.
#homelab